Regional Program Accountant Latin America Region and Global Projects

Overview & Responsibilities

 

The Finance and Support Services Department (FSSD) provides effective delivery of IDLO’s finance, reporting, procurement, and information & communication technology to help deliver IDLO’s activities, thereby contributing to IDLO’s ability to strategically fulfill its mission.  This also encompasses the optimization of IDLO’s internal policies, and processes, and extends to its organizational planning, target-setting, and performance measurement.

 

The Department plays a key role in creating and implementing IDLO’s vision of a networked organization, incorporating matrix management principles and promoting an environment of shared resources.  The Department is an essential enabler to support cross-functional teams to coalesce around initiatives and projects.

 

Under the direct supervision of the Finance and Grants Manager, the Regional Program Accountant supports the implementation of programs, in the Latin America Region and Global Projects. The Regional Program Accountant is responsible for overall financial program cycle support, ensuring that the country offices’ financial management, for the regional countries, is performed following IDLO policies and procedures and respective donors’ rules and regulations. This role serves as a key liaison between the country offices and headquarters, ensuring financial compliance, accuracy, and the timely submission of reports.  The incumbent interacts with internal as well as external functions.

Duties & Responsibilities

Specifically, the incumbent will be responsible for:

 

1. Accounting & Compliance

• Review monthly country office financial management reports; Ensure revenue and expenditure are booked correctly into the accounting system.
• Ensure timely month-end close of country offices, reports packages are accurate, and all data are reconciling with the accounting system (MS Navision)

• Review and check country office financial reports and transactions in line with IDLO policies and procedures; ensure that all reports comply with respective donor rules and regulations.
• Perform compliance checks to verify that costs recorded are program-related and that necessary documentations are available.
• Monitor distribution and allocation of costs between projects ensuring compliance to grant documents and IDLO chart of accounts. Identify misallocations and recommend corrective actions, in collaboration with the respective budget holders.
• Support assigned country offices during the month-end closing processes, facilitating the incorporation of accurate and verified data into the HQ financial system (MS Navision).
• Prepare monthly consolidated financial management reports documenting the outcome of the financial review, highlighting findings and recommendations proposed. Work closely with the country office finance team to implement corrective action.

2. Budgets & Reporting

• Prepare full cost budgets incorporating relevant qualitative information; provide recommendations for cost allocations between direct and indirect costs and assist with budget re-alignment.
• Monitor expenditures against budgets and cash flows monthly; identify issues as they arise and propose appropriate preventative interventions and solutions in a timely fashion, in collaboration with budget holders.
• Prepare accurate donor financial reports in approved templates, ensuring that expenditures comply with donor regulations.
• Prepare and analyse monthly budget vs actual reports ensuring accuracy. Provide updates to the budget holder highlighting keys issues.

3. Grants and Sub-grants

• Support the country offices to Coordinate the sub-granting processes, monitoring, and management systems to ensure effective and timely issuance, reporting, and oversight of all sub-grants.
• Review country offices’ findings of subgrants monitoring exercises and support the country office in ensuring timely corrective actions (including audit action plan) are taken.
• Monitor donor grants and issue invoices to facilitate drawdown of funds; administer wire fund requests to donors in a timely manner and ensure that necessary funds are available to implement program activities.

4. Treasury & forex management

• Review and approve consolidated monthly wire cash requests from the country offices for processing; ensure that all funds required are properly allocated in line with planned program activities.
• Support the Finance and Grants Manager in the preparation and update of quarterly program cash forecast.
• Monitor country office exposure to foreign currency fluctuation and advise on appropriate actions to minimize any risk. Liaise