Senior Financial Accountant

Senior Financial Accountant

(Outsourced)

Reports to: Vu Pham, Head of Finance

Location: Remote, South Africa

Hours: Full time, aligned to UK business hours

Business: (Wave Talent, perm recruitment, and WaveWorks, contract and SoW consultancy), with entities in the UK, US and UAE

Target start: As soon as possible

The role in one paragraph

This role owns the core accounting and month-end close across our UK, US and UAE entities, and adds finance and business analysis on top. You will take the transactional and close work off the Head of Finance so he can focus on cash, strategy and running the finance function. You will report directly to the Head of Finance and work as part of the Wave team. We are looking for a qualified accountant with audit-firm training and the analytical skills to turn the numbers into insight. As the business grows, this role will help build out the finance team.

What you own

Month-end close

Close accounts payable and accounts receivable each month

Prepare and post accruals and prepayments

Calculate and record WIP and accrued income

Complete bank reconciliations across all accounts

Deliver an accurate, on-time close every month

Multi-entity accounting

Keep the books for the UK, US and UAE entities

Handle intercompany transactions and keep each entity's ledger clean and reconciled

Support entity-level reporting and year-end preparation

Finance and business analysis

Run ad hoc financial and data analysis for the Head of Finance and leadership

Build and maintain reports on revenue, margin and performance

Spot trends, risks and anomalies in the numbers and explain what they mean commercially

Clean and organise finance data so reporting is reliable

Systems and process

Use Xero as the core accounting system across all entities

Work with online banking platforms for payments, reconciliations and cash visibility

Improve and document finance processes, and use AI tools where they speed up the work

Supporting the Head of Finance

Take on accounting work the Head of Finance currently handles himself

Prepare clean, review-ready outputs that need little rework

Pick up ad hoc finance requests as the business grows

Who we are looking for

Qualifications and experience

Qualified accountant: CA(SA) through SAICA, or an equivalent professional qualification

3 to 5 years of post-qualification or relevant experience

Trained at a Big Four or top 10 audit firm, with hands-on audit experience

Degree in accounting or finance. A degree from one of these universities is a bonus but not essential: University of Cape Town, Stellenbosch University, University of the Witwatersrand, University of Pretoria

Experience with multiple entities, especially in the US or UAE, is a strong plus but not essential

Recruitment or professional services experience is not required

Technical skills

Strong working knowledge of Xero. This is essential

Comfortable with banking platforms and reconciliations

Strong Excel and analytical skills

Familiarity with AI tools such as Claude is a bonus

Skills and behaviours

Driven and willing to do the hard yards

Comfortable with month-end pressure, and flexible to work extra hours at key points in the month

High standards and strong attention to detail

Analytical and curious about what the numbers say

Clear written and spoken English

Proactive, able to work independently and remotely

How we will measure success

Month-end close is completed accurately and on time across all entities

Bank reconciliations, accruals, prepayments, WIP and accrued income are complete and correct every month

The Head of Finance spends far less time on transactional and close work

Analysis and reports are accurate, delivered on time and useful for decisions

Finance data in Xero is clean and reliable