Date: 31-Jan-2022
Location: Bamenda and Buea, Cameroon
Company: Plan International
The Organisation
Plan International is an independent development and humanitarian organisation that advances children’s rights and equality for girls.
We believe in the power and potential of every child. But this is often suppressed by poverty, violence, exclusion and discrimination. And it’s girls who are most affected.
Working together with children, young people, our supporters and partners, we strive for a just world, tackling the root causes of the challenges facing girls and all vulnerable children.
We support children’s rights from birth until they reach adulthood. And we enable children to prepare for – and respond to – crises and adversity. We drive changes in practice and policy at local, national and global levels using our reach, experience and knowledge.
We have been building powerful partnerships for children for over 80 years, and are now active in more than 70 countries.
| Title | Account Assistant | ||
| Functional Area | Finance | ||
| Reports to | Country Accountant or Project Accountant or Finance coordinator | ||
| Location | Bamenda and Buea | ||
| Effective Date | February, 2022 | Grade | B |
role PURPOSE
[A concise statement, capturing the primary reasons that this role exists and a clear articulation of the context of the role. How will this role contribute to creating lasting change for children?]
Responsible for providing financial and operational support to Country Office/Projects and Program Units by facilitating timely request of funds. Performs general accounting functions primarily, encoding of transactions in Plan International integrated Software (SAP), cash payments to staff and third parties (, maintenance of subsidiary accounting records, preparation of financial reports and provision of assistance on other accounting related functions.
Dimensions of the Role
[This section provides a summary of the size and authority of the post. It covers the size of the budget held, the numbers of direct reports, other key stakeholders who may depend on it, the type of communication required, the external representation involved and the reach of the role.]
Under the supervision of the Country Accountant/Project Accountant of the Finance Coordinator, the Account Assistant will have to perform the below main activities:
- Cash disbursement and journals,
- Cash receipts from donors and IH
- Accurate and systematic filling of documents
- Field payments in case the online payment is not possible
Accountabilities
[This section is critical for clarifying expectations of the role, providing the framework for its relationship with colleagues and providing areas of accountability against which performance can be managed.
This should include a series of brief statements that define the end results required. E.g. drive, contribute, identify, manage, responsible for, advise/coach, build, develop, provide, conduct, oversee, establish, participate etc.
Statements should ideally be worded so that they will lead to thoughts of measurement. For example, it is better to state something like “achieve maintenance standards” than “undertake maintenance”. The former leads to a measure against the maintenance standards.]
- Process Payment and Journal Vouchers through Plan International integrated software (SAP) on time and in accordance with the Operations Manual.
- Cancel all documents attached to payment/journal package before sending for review and approval.
- Encodes accrual accounting entries in accordance with the accrual accounting plan of action.
- Coordinates the receipt of all fund requests from Program Units and from all department units and ensures accuracy of fund request received from various department units.
- Maintains complete and accurate file of fund transfer transmittals and ensures that bank Balances will have sufficient balance to avoid no sufficient funds at any given point in time before any payment is processed.
- Records all documents from other departments in the appropriate ledger (Local Purchased Order, payment requests, Projects, Projects Amendment…)
- Records all documents sent out of Finance Department to the appropriate ledger for traceability
- Liaise with other departments to prepare the monthly and the bi-weekly cash forecast
- Files all Disbursement Vouchers/Journal Vouchers systematically no later than the following month, with all supporting documents attached and duly stamped with PAID (cancellation), date and check number indicated.
- Safe-keeps all unused checks and check stubs in the vault.
- Put in place a ledger to follow up the use of check booklet
- Process payment to staff and keep unused funds to the vault
- Prepare the cash situation in a weekly basis and send to the Country Accountant/Finance Coordinator for review
- Participate in the Year-End process by providing all the documents requested by the Region and Country Office.
- Support the Project Coordinator in the budget management: preparation, review and amendment.
- Prepare Project financial report in a timely basis in accordance with the donor regulations and accurate data matching with the one in Plan software.
- Perform others tasks assigned by the supervisor
- Ensures that Plan International’s global policies for Child Protection (CPP) and Gender Equality and Inclusion (GEI) are fully embedded in accordance with the principles and requirements of the policy including relevant Implementation Standards and Guidelines as applicable to their area of responsibility. This includes, but is not limited to, ensuring staff and associates are aware of and understand their responsibilities under these policies and Plan International’s Code of Conduct (CoC), their relevance to their area of work, and that concerns are reported and managed in accordance with the appropriate procedures.
Key relationships
[This section refers to people inside and/or outside of the organisation that the post-holder needs to have contact with, and why. This should include virtual presence.]
Has high contact with all country office and program unit Account staff to perform his/her assignment.
Technical expertise, skills and knowledge
[This section details the skills, knowledge and expertise the post holder will be required to demonstrate in doing the job well.
This should include clear levels of technical expertise and skills that support our work at national, international, and global level.]
Essential
- At least HND or BTS in accounting, finance, management, economics
- At least one experience preferably in an international development organization,
- Accounting experience in data entry
- Knowledge of local finance system,
- Computer skills (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Internet),
- Be bilingual (English and French)
Plan International’s Values in Practice
We are open and accountable
- Promotes a culture of openness and transparency, including with sponsors and donors.
- Holds self and others accountable to achieve the highest standards of integrity.
- Consistent and fair in the treatment of people.
- Open about mistakes and keen to learn from them.
- Accountable for ensuring we are a safe organisation for all children, girls & young people
We strive for lasting impact
- Articulates a clear purpose for staff and sets high expectations.
- Creates a climate of continuous improvement, open to challenge and new ideas.
- Focuses resources to drive change and maximise long-term impact, responsive to changed priorities or crises.
- Evidence-based and evaluates effectiveness.
We work well together
- Seeks constructive outcomes, listens to others, willing to compromise when appropriate.
- Builds constructive relationships across Plan International to support our shared goals.
- Develops trusting and ‘win-win’ relationships with funders, partners and communities.
- Engages and works well with others outside the organization to build a better world for girls and all children.
We are inclusive and empowering
- Seeks constructive outcomes, listens to others, willing to compromise when appropriate.
- Builds constructive relationships across Plan International to support our shared goals.
- Develops trusting and ‘win-win’ relationships with funders, partners and communities.
- Engages and works well with others outside the organization to build a better world for girls and all children.
Level of contact with children
[Please delete as applicable]
Mid contact: Occasional interaction with children
Closing Date: February 07th, 2022
Early application is encouraged as we will review applications throughout the advertising period and reserve the right to close the advert early.
Plan International believes that in a world where children face so many threats of harm, it is our duty to ensure that we, as an organisation, do everything we can to keep children safe. This means that we have particular responsibilities to children that we come into contact with and we must not contribute in any way to harming or placing children at risk.
A range of pre-employment checks will be undertaken in conformity with Plan International’s Safeguarding Children and Young People policy. Plan International also participates in the Inter Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme. In line with this scheme we will request information from applicants previous employers about any findings of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and/or sexual harassment during employment, or incidents under investigation when the applicant left employment. By submitting an application, the job applicant confirms his/her understanding of these recruitment procedures.
Equality, diversity and inclusion is at the very heart of everything that Plan International stands for. Our organisation is based on a culture of inclusivity and we strive to create a workplace environment that ensures every team, in every office, in every country, is rich in diverse people, thoughts, and ideas.
We will provide equality of opportunity and will not tolerate discrimination on any grounds. We foster an organisational culture that embraces and exemplifies our commitment to gender equality, girls’ rights and inclusion while supporting staff to adopt good practice, positive attitudes and principles of gender equality and inclusion.
More Information
- Job City Bamenda and Buea
