The Role
Lead the finance function blending control and commercial partnering: own tactical cash forecasting, DSO management, ERP automation, month-end close, GL integrity, audits, and statutory tax compliance. Partner with CFO/FP&A to provide strategic insights, drive process improvements, and manage teams across AP, cash, and expense controls to support fast-paced business growth.
Summary Generated by Built In
Our client is seeking a high-caliber, control-focused Financial Controller to take full ownership of our financial ecosystem. In this role, you will be the custodian of financial integrity, ensuring that accounting systems, financial reporting, statutory submissions, and audit deliverables are timely, accurate, and completely compliant.
You will bridge the gap between rigorous financial control and operational efficiency—leading our accounting, payables, and control functions to ensure robust governance across a fast-paced business environment.
Reporting directly to the Finance Director/CFO, you will manage a dedicated operational finance team of approximately 9 people.
Key Responsibilities:
Financial Reporting & Robust Control
- Cash O
Conversation with Gemini
Hi there, please look at the first job advert and check if the 2nd one aligns to it, if not, may you please help revise the 2nd one to align, without mentioning client names etc. Thanks.
Job advert 1:
Norman Goodfellows is looking for an expeienced Financial Controller to join our team. The Financial Controller is responsible for maintaining the integrity of the businesses’ financial systems and ensuring that financial reporting, statutory submissions, and audit deliverables are timely, accurate, and compliant. The role will lead the control, accounting, and payables functions to ensure robust governance and efficient financial operations across the business.
Key Responsibilities
Financial Reporting and Control
Oversee the month-end close process, ensuring timely, complete, and accurate management accounts.
Maintain integrity of the General Ledger and ensure alignment with sub-ledgers.
Lead preparation of balance sheet reconciliations and monthly review packs for management.
Prepare annual financial statements and coordinate external audits to deliver clean outcomes.
Enforce internal controls across journal entries, user access, approvals, and system integrity.
Ensure accounting policies and procedures are properly documented, communicated, and adhered to.
Tax, Compliance and Statutory Reporting
Oversee compliance with VAT, PAYE, and corporate income tax requirements.
Maintain readiness for audit and support all compliance and statutory reporting cycles.
Operational Finance Oversight
Supervise Accounts Payable, Bank & Cash, and Expense Control teams to ensure process efficiency and adherence to policy.
Govern the ERP finance environment, ensuring accurate configuration, posting controls, and audit trails.
Maintain 13-week cash inflow forecasting, track Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) performance and coordinate rebate cash-out timing with Finance and FP&A teams to optimise cash flow.
Business Partnering and Process Improvement
Partner with the CFO and FP&A to support budgeting, forecasting, and reporting (input-level involvement).
Drive initiatives to strengthen financial discipline, automation, and reporting accuracy.
Support ongoing finance transformation, systems upgrades, and process documentation projects.
Key Outcomes / Success Measures
Accurate and compliant management accounts and financial statements.
Clean annual audits and on-time statutory submissions.
Efficient and controlled payables and cash management processes.
Strengthened control environment and ERP governance.
Requirements
Qualifications and Experience
CA(SA) or equivalent professional qualification.
5–8 years’ post-articles experience in financial control, audit, or corporate accounting.
Proven experience managing financial close, tax compliance, and audit processes.
Strong working knowledge of IFRS and South African regulatory frameworks.
ERP experience essential; Syspro or equivalent preferred.
FMCG, retail, or distribution sector experience advantageous.
Competencies
Detail-oriented, disciplined, and control-focused.
Strong technical accounting and analytical skills.
High level of integrity and professional accountability.
Effective communicator and team leader.
Proactive problem solver with continuous improvement mindset.
Job advert 2:
Our client is seeking a high-caliber, commercially minded Financial Controller to take ownership of their financial ecosystem. This is not just a backward-looking compliance role. While you will ensure absolute integrity in reporting, governance, and audit deliverables, you will actively partner with leadership to unlock value.
You will bridge the gap between strict financial control and agile business growth—using financial data to optimize cash flow, drive process automation, and support strategic decision-making in a fast-paced environment.
Reporting to the Finance Director and managing a team of about 9 in the wider finance team.
Key Responsibilities:
Commercial Value & Business Partnering
Cash Optimization: Own the 13-week tactical cash forecasting model. Actively track Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) and collaborate with FP&A/Sales to optimize working capital.
Strategic Input: Partner directly with the CFO and FP&A teams, translating core financial outcomes into actionable insights for budgeting and forecasting.
Finance Transformation: Act as a change agent. Drive automation, streamline ERP configurations (Syspro/equivalent), and eliminate manual inefficiencies to free up the team for analytical work.
Financial Reporting & Robust Control
Month-End Mastery: Lead and elevate the month-end close process, ensuring management accounts are highly accurate, punchy, and meaningful for executive decision-making.
Balance Sheet Integrity: Oversee the General Ledger, sub-ledger alignments, and monthly review packs with a razor-sharp eye for detail.
Audit Ownership: Lead the preparation of Annual Financial Statements (AFS) and quarterback the external audit process to guarantee clean, friction-free outcomes.
Tax, Compliance & Team Leadership
Statutory Governance: Ensure flawless compliance across VAT, PAYE, and Corporate Income Tax (CIT) frameworks.
Operational Oversight: Mentor and lead the Accounts Payable, Bank & Cash, and Expense Control teams, fostering a culture of high accountability and continuous improvement.
Requirements
The Badge: CA(SA) or equivalent professional accounting qualification is essential.
The Track Record: 5 to 8 years of post-articles experience, with a proven history of managing complex financial closes, tax cycles, and audits.
The Sector Edge: Experience in FMCG, Retail, or Distribution will give you a massive head start (understanding inventory, high-volume transactions, and tight margins is key).
Systems Savvy: Strong ERP experience is non-negotiable; hands-on experience with Syspro or similar mid-to-enterprise tier systems is highly advantageous.
Technical Depth: Deep working knowledge of IFRS and South African tax/regulatory frameworks.
The Ideal Candidate
You are a "hybrid" finance professional. You love the neatness of a perfectly reconciled balance sheet, but you get genuinely excited about finding a leak in the supply chain or automating a broken process. You don't just report the numbers; you care deeply about why the numbers look the way they do and how to improve them tomorrow.
Looking closely at both job adverts, the alignment is already quite strong. Job Advert 2 successfully captures almost every single technical requirement, reporting line, team structure, and specific KPI from Job Advert 1 (such as the 13-week cash forecast, tracking DSO, Syspro ERP, and managing AP/Cash/Expense teams).
However, there is a distinct shift in tone and positioning between the two:
Advert 1 positions the role as a traditional, highly disciplined governance, compliance, and control-focused position. It explicitly notes that business partnering is at an "input-level involvement."
Advert 2 rebrands the role as a highly "commercially minded," strategic, value-unlocking partner who bridges the gap to "agile business growth."
If your goal is to attract a pure, control-focused Financial Controller exactly as described in Advert 1, Advert 2 might overshoot on the "commercial/strategy" front, potentially attracting candidates who want to do commercial strategy rather than the heavy lifting of General Ledger integrity and internal controls.
Here is a revised version of Job Advert 2 that retains its engaging, modern tone but shifts the weight back to robust governance, control, and operational excellence to perfectly align with Advert 1.
Revised Job Advert 2
Title: Financial Controller
Location: [Insert Location]
Position Type: Full-Time
About the Role
We are seeking a high-caliber, control-focused Financial Controller to take full ownership of our financial ecosystem. In this role, you will be the custodian of financial integrity, ensuring that accounting systems, financial reporting, statutory submissions, and audit deliverables are timely, accurate, and completely compliant.
You will bridge the gap between rigorous financial control and operational efficiency—leading our accounting, payables, and control functions to ensure robust governance across a fast-paced business environment.
Reporting directly to the Finance Director/CFO, you will manage a dedicated operational finance team of approximately 9 people.
Key Responsibilities
Financial Reporting & Robust Control
- Month-End Mastery: Lead and elevate the month-end close process, ensuring management accounts are highly accurate, complete, and delivered on time.
- Balance Sheet Integrity: Maintain the absolute integrity of the General Ledger, ensuring strict alignment with sub-ledgers and preparing comprehensive monthly review packs for management.
- Audit Ownership: Lead the preparation of Annual Financial Statements (AFS) and coordinate the external audit process to guarantee clean, friction-free outcomes.
- Internal Controls: Enforce rigorous internal controls across journal entries, user access, approvals, and overall system integrity.
Operational Finance & Cash Optimisation
- Team Leadership: Supervise and mentor the Accounts Payable, Bank & Cash, and Expense Control teams, driving process efficiency and strict adherence to policy.
- Cash Flow Governance: Maintain the 13-week tactical cash inflow forecasting model, actively track Days Sales Outstanding (DSO), and coordinate rebate cash-out timing to optimize working capital.
- ERP Environment Management: Govern the ERP finance environment (Syspro or equivalent), ensuring accurate configuration, tight posting controls, and clear audit trails.
Tax, Compliance & Process Improvement
- Statutory Governance: Ensure flawless compliance and readiness across VAT, PAYE, and Corporate Income Tax (CIT) frameworks.
- Business Partnering: Partner at an input level with the CFO and FP&A teams to provide accurate financial data for budgeting and forecasting cycles.
- Finance Transformation: Act as a champion for financial discipline. Support ongoing systems upgrades, process automation, and the thorough documentation of accounting policies.
Requirements
- CA(SA) or equivalent professional accounting qualification is essential.
- 5 to 8 years of post-articles experience, with a proven history of managing financial closes, corporate accounting, and external audits.
- Experience in FMCG, Retail, or Distribution sectors is highly advantageous
- Strong ERP experience is non-negotiable; hands-on experience with Syspro or similar mid-to-enterprise tier systems is highly preferred.
- Deep working knowledge of IFRS and South African tax/regulatory frameworks.
The Ideal Candidate
You are a highly disciplined, detail-oriented finance professional who thrives on structure and control. You possess exceptional technical accounting skills and take deep professional accountability for the accuracy of the numbers. While you are control-focused, you bring a continuous improvement mindset, always looking for ways to strengthen financial discipline, automate manual inefficiencies, and lead your team toward operational excellence.
Skills Required
- CA(SA) or equivalent professional accounting qualification
- 5 to 8 years post-articles experience
- Proven experience managing complex financial closes, tax cycles, and external audits
- Strong ERP experience (hands-on with Syspro or similar mid-to-enterprise systems)
- Hands-on experience with Syspro (or equivalent) specifically
- Deep working knowledge of IFRS and South African tax/regulatory frameworks
- Experience in FMCG, Retail, or Distribution (inventory and high-volume transaction environments)
- People management / ability to lead and mentor finance teams (oversight of ~9 team members)
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The Company
What We Do
Outsourced CFO offers founders financial management services including CFO Services, Cloud Accounting, Automation Services & Talent Solutions, building world-class finance functions for scaling companies.
