Senior Accountant - Treasury
ABOUT ALU
ALU provides higher education for a higher purpose. Our students declare missions, not majors.They develop the real-world skills to take on the world’s most pressing challenges. And they take ownership of their learning from day one through our peer and student-led approach – because ALU believes in the power and agency of young people to start shaping the future right now. Together with a world-class faculty and staff, our students are igniting a ripple of positive impact across Africa and the world.
We are dedicated to fostering an open yet secure environment, balancing the safety of students, staff, and visitors with respect for individual rights, and safeguarding responsibilities.
HOW WE WORK
The ALU Team works in starkly different ways to traditional academic bureaucracies. We approach education from first principles, empower individuals to design, test, and implement creative new ideas, and work closely together to craft transformative learning experiences. We are deeply passionate about our students and excited by the challenge of building something entirely new.
The African Leadership University is committed to ensuring the safety and Well-being of all students under our care. As part of this commitment , we have a comprehensive safeguarding policy in place , which outlines our Zero-tolerance approach to any violation of safeguarding.
ABOUT THE TEAM
The Finance function at ALU is focused on building a disciplined, scalable operating model across Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Treasury, Payroll, and FP&A, supporting a multi-entity, multi-country institution.
The Senior Accountant role sits within the core finance structure, at the intersection of Treasury and Accounting. It is responsible for ensuring effective cash management, payment execution, and financial control, while supporting the integrity of financial records and reporting.
Working closely with Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Payroll, and FP&A, the role plays a key part in maintaining liquidity, enabling smooth day-to-day operations, and supporting the broader finance team in delivering accurate and timely financial information.
ABOUT THE ROLE
The Senior Accountant - Treasury is a core execution and control role within the finance function.
This role is responsible for day-to-day treasury operations, cash management, and bank control, while supporting broader accounting and month-end close processes.
This is a hands-on operator role, requiring strong attention to detail, ownership, and the ability to work across fragmented systems and incomplete data environments. This role will be the anchor for treasury execution, bank integrity, and cash control across the institution. The role sits at the intersection of Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, and Treasury, ensuring that cash positions are accurate, reconciled, and actionable on a daily basis.
You will play a critical role in:
Establishing cash visibility and control
Driving bank and wallet reconciliations to completion
Supporting payment execution discipline
Anchoring month-end close
As the function matures, this role will take on ownership of core accounting areas (intercompany, tax support, and balance sheet), contribute directly to month-end close, and assume responsibility for reporting across selected entities/subsidiaries.
This role reports directly to the Finance Operations Director (FOD) and operates under the oversight of the VP Finance (VPF). This role has one reportee, the Treasury & Compliance Coordinator.
ROLE RESPONSIBILITIES
- Treasury Operations Ownership & Cash Control
Own the end-to-end integrity, visibility, and control of cash across all ALU entities, accounts, and payment channels
Define and enforce treasury operating standards, including:
Daily cash visibility requirements
Reconciliation timelines and ageing thresholds
Payment execution protocols
Review and validate daily cash position reports prepared by the Treasury & Compliance Coordinator
Provide forward-looking cash insights, including:
Liquidity constraints
Funding gaps
Timing mismatches between collections and disbursements
Act as the central point of coordination for cash impact across functions:
Accounts Payable: payment readiness
Accounts Receivable: collections and cash application
Payroll: salary and statutory disbursements
FP&A: cash forecasting and reporting
Ensure all teams operate against a single, aligned cash position
- Oversight of Payment Execution
Oversee execution of all treasury activities performed by the Treasury & Compliance Coordinator, including:
Payment processing (across all ALU jurisdictions)
Bank platform activity
Cash monitoring
Validate payment batches prior to release, ensuring:
Proper approvals
Complete documentation
Alignment with cash availability
Enforce discipline across bi-monthly payment cycles (15th and month-end)
Validate payment batches against supporting documentation and approvals
Act as control gatekeeper, flagging:
Out-of-process spend
Policy breaches
Payment prioritisation issues
Ensure full traceability and audit ready documentation
- Bank, Wallet & Reconciliation Control
Own end-to-end bank reconciliations across all entities and accounts. Emphasis on the accuracy and completeness of all reconciliations across:
Bank accounts
Mobile money / card channels
Intermediary payment platforms
Review reconciliations prepared by the Treasury & Coordinator and:
Challenge unreconciled items
Enforce timely resolution
Approve final balances for reporting and close
Drive clearance of historical reconciliation backlogs
Ensure all balances tie to NetSuite GL and supporting schedules
Escalate systemic issues (data gaps, integration issues, timing breaks)
- Month-End Close – Treasury Integration
Own treasury deliverables within the month-end close process, ensuring:
All bank accounts are reconciled and signed off
Cash balances tie accurately to the general ledger
Cut-off is properly applied to receipts and payments
Review and approve:
Cash schedules
Bank reconciliations
Payment cut-off reports
Coordinate with FP&A and reporting teams to ensure accurate cash representation in management accounts
Support preparation of cash and liquidity reporting for management accounts
Progressively take ownership of:
Balance sheet reconciliations
Journal entries (cash, accruals, prepayments, intercompany)
Support preparation of cash and liquidity reporting for management accounts
Progressively take ownership of:
- Intercompany Accounting & Balance Sheet Integrity
Manage intercompany accounting and reconciliations across ALU entities
Ensure timely and accurate balances for consolidation and reporting
Investigate and resolve intercompany mismatches
Maintain clean, auditable supporting schedules for key balance sheet accounts
- Tax & Compliance Oversight
Oversee preparation of tax schedules and statutory obligations (VAT, WHT, CIT support) prepared by the Treasury & Compliance Coordinator
Prepare annual tax computations and supporting schedules
Support statutory filings and external audits with required documentation
Work with internal and external stakeholders to ensure compliance readiness
Maintain organised documentation for all tax-related processes
- Entity / Subsidiary Reporting
Take ownership of financial reporting for assigned entities/subsidiaries
Ensure completeness and integrity of:
Trial balance
Balance sheet
Supporting schedules
Support consolidation readiness and reporting accuracy
Statutory audits
Donor audits
Tools & systems
Tool
Expected Use
NetSuite (ERP)
Bank GL, journals, reconciliations
Banking online platforms
Payment execution and balance tracking
Payment channels
Mobile money, card processors, and other platforms
Salesforce
Billing and collections validation
Google Suite (Slides / Docs)
Core working and reconciliation tools
Excel
Advanced financial modelling, scenario analysis, and sensitivity tables
Procurement applications
Payment schedules and ageing analysis
REQUIRED EXPERIENCE
Essential qualifications
Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or related field
4–6 years of experience in accounting or treasury roles
Strong experience in:
Liquidity management and cash control
Payment processing and treasury operations
Month-end close processes
Experience working with ERP systems (NetSuite preferred)
High attention to detail with a focus on accuracy, completeness, and control
Strong grounding in financial accounting and reporting principles
High attention to detail with a focus on data integrity, controls, and completeness
Strong stakeholder management skills, with the ability to enforce deadlines and challenge slippage constructively
OTHER COMPETENCIES
Preferred
Experience in multi-entity / multi-currency environments
Exposure to intercompany accounting and consolidation processes
Experience supporting tax computations and statutory processes
Background in audit or structured accounting environments, with significant exposure to financial close and reporting processes
Experience in education, non-profit, or international organisations
Personal Attributes
Ownership mindset: Takes full accountability for cash integrity, reconciliations, and outputs end-to-end..
Control-oriented: Naturally focused on accuracy, completeness, and auditability; builds and enforces strong financial controls.
Attention to detail: Operates with precision in cash-sensitive environments; identifies and resolves discrepancies proactively.
Structured and disciplined: Brings order to fragmented processes; enforces timelines, standards, and consistency across workflows.
Execution-driven: Delivers reliably in high-pressure, time-sensitive environments (e.g., payment cycles, month-end close).
Analytical and problem-solving: Able to interpret financial data, investigate variances, and resolve complex reconciliation or cash flow issues.
Strong judgement: Makes sound decisions on payment prioritisation, risk escalation, and control exceptions.
Leadership through oversight: Effectively manages and develops junior team members; reviews, challenges, and elevates output quality.
Collaborative and cross-functional: Works effectively across AP, AR, Payroll, and FP&A; aligns teams around a single cash view.
Clear communicator: Communicates financial issues, risks, and insights clearly to both finance and non-finance stakeholders.
Integrity and accountability: Trusted to operate in a high-risk, cash-intensive environment with strong ethical standards.
Adaptable and resilient: Comfortable operating in a rebuilding environment; able to navigate ambiguity and evolving structures.