About GESS
As one of the leading international schools in Singapore, GESS is home to students from over 70 nations worldwide. We are for many families the home away from home and we are very happy that they are part of our school community which is based on mutual support and solidarity. With our language programme, we support our students to nurture this part of their identity and want to preserve the opportunity that they can grow up with multiple languages to be best prepared for an international environment. With the German International Abitur or the IB Programme they are perfectly prepared for their career after school. Our students enjoy lifelong learning and we take pride in our GESS values of respect, openness and diversity which our students will nurture in their life after school.
We were awarded with the “Deutsche Schulpreis” (German school prize) 2022, which was given to us for our extraordinary concept according to their motto “Make teaching better”. We stand out as the only German school abroad nominated for this award.
Finance Supervisor (Account Payable & Treasury)
The Supervisor is in charge of all aspects of AP and treasury operational functions for GESS by supervising, leading, and managing the AP team in the day-to-day operation. The Supervisor is the primary person responsible for vendor creation, invoice verification, payment processing and optimization of payment terms with vendors. Being the main contact person of GESS Finance team who interacts with external vendors and internal staff, with the support of other AP team members, the Supervisor ensures the following tasks are performed by the AP team with satisfactory quality:
- Oversee and supervise in all areas relating to account payable and treasury related matters.
- Ensure smooth AP functions by leading the AP team to collate, verify and process invoice payment and staff reimbursement within the internal timeframes.
- Prepare and update cash flow forecast, monitor cash positions and manage all bank and investment related matters, such as changes in authorised bank signatories, FD placement/renewal, purchase / disposal of ST investments, repayments/drawdown/ rollover of bank loans, etc.
- Carry out the month end and year end closing process, prepare journal entries, adjust bank reconciliation items and prepare monthly schedules for the related modules / functions.
- Follow up open issues closely in a timely manner and propose solutions.
- Ensure all the donation funds raised through school fund raising events are disbursed in a timely manner and keep comprehensive records.
- Ensure compliance of internal financial policies and procedures by enforcing adequate approvals and budgetary control, tracking cost categorization and matching the budget codes.
- Identify opportunities for cost savings and cost efficiency.
- Communicate, discuss and resolve issues with both internal and external stakeholders.
- Be a main contributor of school change management and support managers and Director of Finance to lead AP and treasury related pipeline projects (e.g. streamline AP internal process, system improvement, customization of AP reports, draft new policies and procedures, etc).
- Be responsible for the execution of new AP related policies and procedures and communicate effectively with both internal and external parties for the changes made by school from time to time.
- Update knowledge and expertise of changing statutory requirements, accounting standards, tax laws and charity regulations to determine the implications of such changes to financial / management reporting and internal process.
- The Supervisor is in charge of fixed assets accounting (“FA”) including creating FA cards, recording FA transactions, executing depreciation, retirement and scrap off, and reconciling FA quantity between accounting system and physical records under the supervision of finance managers.
Key Accountabilities
Account Payables
- Supervise / approve the creation / updates of vendor’s information.
- Supervise and work with the AP team to receive, match, verify and record supplier invoices (both PO and Non-PO) in the accounting system.
- Review and ensure the invoices are captured in the correct GL account codes.
- Verify and ensure all the purchased items have followed the internal procurement SOPs and DOA authorization limits;
- Communicate and resolve any discrepancies or exceptions with stakeholders.
- Ensure payment batch is processed at least once a week promptly before the payment due dates of suppliers.
- Identify, communicate and resolve all vendor payments and staff claim issues.
- Attend to queries from relevant stakeholders, explain school policies and procedures and propose solutions for the issues identified.
- Continue to streamline payment process within the entire school, clear backlogs, build trust and improve operational efficiency.
- Manage cash process for the School, coordinate with requestors and ensure proper follow up of receipts and invoices submission.
- Assist all ERP post-go live issues, coordinate with ERP consultants, test and close pending issues.
- Prepare new policies, SOPs and new forms for management review and approval.
- Reinforce school policies by identifying communicating and rectifying abnormalities with relevant stakeholders.
- Monitor the actual utilization of budget for all payments, prepare monthly report of actual vs budget for all budget holders and communicate issues whenever necessary.
- Provide professional and technical support to the AP team in a timely manner.
- Identify cost saving opportunities and achieve cost and operational efficiency by working closely with procurement team.
- Other tasks, duties or projects assigned from time to time.
Supervisory Tasks:
- Supervise and provide support to AP team members to ensure smooth day-to-day operation of AP function.
- Be the backup staff in the absence of other AP team members.
- Being the leader of the AP team, provide support to resolve process and technical issues within the AP function.
- Prepare reports and analysis of all AP and treasury related functions.
- Report to school management for all AP and treasury related issues and highlights
- Ensure low volume of urgent payments and zero overdue invoices.
Treasury Functions
- In charge of all treasury related functions of finance team.
- Coordinate with banks, financial institutions and payment gateway service providers for all bank related matters.
- Ensure the formalities for bank account open/closures, implementation of new payment gateways and migration of payment portals etc. are done properly.
- Coordinate and ensure all formalities for changes in authorized signatories are prepared properly according to the signing mandate approved by BOG.
- Monitor and ensure the formalities for renewals/withdrawal/payment of Bank Loan/Hedging/FD are carried out within timeframe.
- Oversee and arrange approvals for purchase, disposal and tracking of investment in financial assets.
- Ensure weekly and monthly treasury report are updated correctly within timeline.
- Prepare monthly cash flow forecast with accuracy within the required timeline.
- Ensure the usage of Corporate Card are in line with school policy.
- Monitor bank balances, propose bank transfers, FD renewal / maturity whenever necessary.
- Oversee the entire cash transactions and controls of school, including but not limited to petty cash, donations, kiosk machines, school shop cash collections, etc.
- Other tasks, duties or projects assigned from time to time.
System Related Projects, Streamline Business Processes and Ad-hoc Assignments
- Be a key partner of the Finance team for system migrations or any other IT related projects
- Use digitization tools to automate internal workflow and processes.
- Involve / in charge of changes / improvement in process, and other tasks, duties or projects as assigned from time to time.
- Team leader for designing and implementing new accounting systems and parents’ portal.
- Assessing, evaluating and implementing payment gateway solutions.
Other Finance Operation
- Assist fund-raising activities by coordinating with relevant departments to track funds, monitor disbursement of donations and keep proper accounting records.
- Update financial reports for fund raising events, CARE Committee, Student and Parents Committees.
- Assist all school events for collection and payments.
GL function and audit
- Prepare relevant journals to ensure month-end, year-end closings and annual audit tasks are completed within timelines.
- Liaise with external auditor for audit related tasks, including but not limited to preparation of audit schedules, follow up audit issues and prepare supporting documents required by the auditor.
- In charge of month end closing for the allocated functions, prepare/ review related journals, Debit Note, Credit Note.
- Follow up bank reconciliation open items and carry out adjustments.
- Prepare monthly schedules and financial reports required from time to time.
- Coordinate with relevant team members to follow up the open items identified in the monthly schedule.
Fixed Assets
- Track all transactions of FA and record into the accounting system.
- Reconcile the GL ledger and FA ledger on monthly basis.
- Track FA additions and keep proper record for the actual utilization of FA budget.
- Calculate monthly depreciation and check reasonableness before posting into GL.
- Monitor FA tagging with other stake holders across the School.
- Monitor FA obsolescence and disposals, and propose FA written off / impairment information for management’s approval.
- Facilitate the FA sighting exercise.
- Prepare FA schedules on monthly basis and keep proper records of all FA transactions.
All tax related matters
- Prepare/review quarterly GST filing calculation and reconciliation.
- Prepare / review withholding tax calculation and provide technical advice / support to AP officer.
- Assist establishing the control process for all tax compliance aspects.
- Communicate with IRAS, internal and external parties for tax related matters.
- Perform tax filings on IRAS websites.
- Assist to follow up, communicate and resolve tax matters with IRAS.
- Identity potential tax risks proactively and propose solutions.
IT and other ad-hoc projects and tasks
- Involve in the assigned IT related projects for Finance and Procurement Team.
- Implement new processes and policies in new systems if required.
- Design new forms for internal application/approval and other reports using excel, Jotform, Microsoft Form and any other applicable software.
- Other tasks, duties or projects as assigned by Director of Finance from time to time.
Administrative
- Check and reply emails sent to generic email address.
- Despatch finance documents/cheques & cash in/withdrawal of cash.
- Open letters when on duty.
Other Ad-Hoc Tasks
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Depending on any potential changes, the Supervisor may be assigned with any ad-hoc tasks from time to time.
Knowledge and Experience
- Bachelor/ master’s degree in accounting, Finance or other equivalents, or professional degrees (e.g. ACCA)
- Hands-on experience in all areas of finance operation, including but not limited to GL, AP, and treasury function for at least 8 to 10 years
- Excellent knowledge and hands-on experience of GST and withholding tax regulations is a must
- Full hands-on experience in handling both external and internal audit
- Expert in payment processing and treasury related functions
- Being IT tech savvy in learning new systems and designing new templates using IT tools
- Good knowledge of Financial Reporting Standards of Singapore and Charity Accounting Standard
- Experience in leading a small team with 3-4 members
Technical and Soft Skills
- Highly proficient and advanced level in Microsoft Excel, Word and Power Point
- Excellent communication skills in liaising with various internal and external stakeholders
- A stress-taker with high level of tolerance, patience, and proactive mindset in resolving issues across internal and external department
- Willing to be flexible for longer working hours (may include ad-hoc weekends) during peak seasons and school events
- Embrace “student focus” culture and have “customer service” mindset to promote professional services to the community
- Passionate to achieve continuous improvement and willing to go beyond comfort zones
- Able to adapt fast to the changing environment and be “flexible” in possible areas while maintaining professional codes of conducts
- A team player with a spirit of sharing and willing to help others
- Being highly self- motivated, self-driven and proactive to resolve issues
- Able to adjust quickly in the changing environment and embrace on-going changes
- Flexible to take on additional tasks or changes in work scopes when required
Fair Recruitment and Safeguarding: We are committed to fair recruitment practices and safeguarding the welfare of all students. We ensure that our hiring processes are free from discrimination and bias on the basis of age, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy status, caregiving responsibilities, race, religion, language or disability. As part of our commitment to safeguarding, we conduct thorough background checks on all candidates which include criminal background checks in all countries lived and worked in for the last ten years, as well as reference checks. Any offer is subject to the satisfactory completion of such checks. Our school prioritises the safety and well-being of our students, and we expect all staff members to uphold these values.
