The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) is a Communion of 150 Churches in 99 countries. The role of the Communion Office (CO) is to serve these churches in different ways. The CO has three departments: the Department for Planning and Coordination (DPC), the Department for Theology, Mission and Justice (DTMJ), and the Department for World Service, as well as the Office of the General Secretary.
The Department for Planning and Coordination (DPC) is responsible for the overall coordination of the planning, monitoring, and reporting of the LWF Head Office of the Lutheran World Federation.
In pursuance of its responsibility for coordination, DPC oversees and supports the work of the Communion Office in the area of Finance, among others. The Office for Finance (OF) establishes budgets, ensures budget monitoring, financial reporting, produces audit statements, and administers treasury and investments.
Due to the forthcoming retirement of the incumbent, we are looking at hiring a Finance Officer able to organize the accounting activities of the OF and ensure maintenance of the accounting ledger system, the Sage system, prepares the monthly reports, audit reports, and provides training to staff on the effective use of financial systems and procedures. Based on seniority, the Finance Officer is the natural deputy to act for the Head of Finance during his/her absence.
Required Qualifications
- Professional qualification such as ACCA, CMA, CPA or equivalent.
- Degree in Accounting, Finance, or Business Administration.
- Practical experience in the preparation of audit statements is a must.
- Working experience gained from an audit firm and knowledge of accounting systems in Switzerland is important.
- Working knowledge of Sage accounting software or similar accounting software is desirable.
Additional Study and Experience
- Minimum 5 years of experience as Finance Officer, Finance Controller, Audit Senior, or similar.
- Proficiency in English is required. Knowledge of either Spanish or French is important.
LWF Core Skills
- Analytical thinking/ Level advanced
- Achieving results/ Level advanced
- Working effectively with others/ Level advanced
Required Skills
- Regulatory Compliance/ Level expert
- Capacity building/training/ Level advanced
Position Environment and Dimensions
- Internally: As a member of the Finance Team, reporting to Head of Finance, mainly interacts with Finance team and staff in Geneva.
- Externally: Interacts and relates with LWF auditors in Geneva, Sage systems providers, donors, bankers, service providers, suppliers, and other outside parties as needed.
Key Responsibilities
- Financial control and analysis of income and expenditure items in line with the working budgets.
- Technical input on the preparation of reports to donors and for internal reporting to management.
- Provide input in the preparation of budgets and budget monitoring of projects, programs, and cost centres.
- Organize OF accounting activities through effective maintenance of the accounting ledger system, the Sage system, preparing the monthly and annual financial statements.
- Carry out quality checks on financial statements to ensure compliance with the LWF finance manual and audit instructions.
- Support Head of Finance to collate and analyze cost center budgets, paying particular attention to the accuracy, completeness, and funding gaps.
- Regularly monitor accounting standards that are relevant to LWF including assessment of potential impacts in the consolidated financial statements.
- Responsible for discussion and implementation of technical changes in the accounting standards to comply with IFRS or any other financial reporting standards applicable to LWF.
- Maintain an overview of technical accounting tasks and oversee general accounting entries.
- Verify payment vouchers and their coding and ensure that all payments are supported by the right documentation.
- Responsible for financial control and accountancy for the programs in the office of the General Secretary and for DPC.
- Coordinate the income accounting with departments and follow up to ensure income is posted to the accounting system.
- Prepare payroll journals and input the data into the accounting ledger.
- Reconcile balance sheet items on a monthly basis with particular attention on the payables, membership fees, suspense accounts, staff accounts, bank reconciliations, and other balances.
- Ensure that monthly charges are posted to the GL, for instance, office rent, IT charges, Sage costs, payroll-related accruals, and central service allocations.
- Prepare monthly posting vouchers for the investment portfolios.
- Prepare monthly and quarterly financial reports from the accounting system and distribute to budget holders.
- Undertake internal review on all transactions booked, validate the GL reports from Sage and compare them with approved budgets.
- Develop financial reports in Sage system as needed for departments, auditors, or budget holders.
- Support TMJ department with preparation of financial statements for audits.
- Responsible for year-end closing with particular reference to coordinating closing calendar and reconciliation of project balances in line with LWF’s accounting principles.
- Prepare audit statements for LWF Geneva departments, as well as audit notes. Prepare the consolidated LWF financial statements for audit purposes.
- Work closely with auditors to finalize audit reports and provide information and explanation required during audits.
- Prepare the chart of accounts for programs, projects, as well as cost centers for the Geneva budgets. Control and correct data entries in Sage.
- Ensure efficient functioning of the Sage based accounting ledger with help from IT office and Sage systems vendor.
- Prepare Sage financial reports, provide input on improvement of systems, tools, templates, and procedures required for effective financial controls.
- Grant security access to Sage according to responsibilities.
- Take an active role in processes related to accounting system upgrades, especially in view of the Geneva needs.
- Accounting and budgets monitoring for the foundations.
- Validate payment vouchers in the absence of any other finance staff in Strasbourg.
- Review financial reports and produce financial statements and audit statements for the Foundations (Strasbourg Foundation and Endowment Fund/LWB Stiftung).
- Assist in updating the Finance-related guidelines, procedure manuals, and forms.
- Organize staff induction sessions on finance guidelines and use of Sage.
- Prepare accounting codes, structure, and budgets for the LWF Assembly.
- Maintain the accounting ledger and reconcile all accounts, including the Assembly-related fees.
- Train the local assembly finance offices, together with the host Church on basic bookkeeping required for purposes of the Assembly.
- Prepare final Assembly financial statements and all related documents for a final audit.
As may be assigned by the Head of Finance including providing backup during the absence of Head of Finance and other finance colleagues.
The role has been enriched to fit the needs of the Office for Finance. Capability to work in a small team and be able to provide timely and accurate reports required for management decisions. The role requires intentional efforts to collaborate closely with all relevant colleagues in order to achieve desired results with minimal staff capacity.
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