Reconciliation Specialist

Reporting to: Senior Accountant: Banking
Location: Cape Town

ALL STAFF APPOINTMENTS WILL BE MADE WITH DUE CONSIDERATION OF THE COMPANYS EE TARGETS

WHAT WE DO
Lula is an innovative and human-focused FinTech company on a mission to help small businesses
optimise their cash flow. Our purpose is to help SMEs manage their businesses better, faster, and
more simply, so they can spend more time doing what they love.
If youre looking for a new place to call home that believes in the potential of the broader SME
landscape in South Africa and a place where youll work with awesome people - then Lulas the place for
you!
Were making business banking fast, human, Lula!

OUR VALUES
Collaborative - were a clan and work together as a team, always towards a common goal
Committed - were accountable and follow through no matter the challenge
Curious - we look for better ways to do things and make a positive difference
Connected - we stay close to, learn from and look to understand each other and our customers
Compassionate - we go out of our way to care about our colleagues, our customers and our community

OVERALL PURPOSE
This is a newly created role within the finance team and reports to the Senior Accountant. The role focuses on the companys business banking product offered to SMEs.  
The primary objective is to prepare daily bank account reconciliations to identify and resolve exceptions, track uncleared reconciliation items, and resolve these with the relevant external and internal parties.  These daily reconciliations form an integral part of banking regulations and compliance. 
Secondary objectives include providing support to the Senior Accountant in building out our current reconciliations processes and to assist with enabling Lula to become more system driven with reconciliations and reporting in order to enhance the overall accuracy thereof for the company and its stakeholders (partner bank, auditors, SARB, suppliers). 

Duties and Responsibilities include, but is not limited to:
Daily:

• Sourcing customer transaction files and account balances reports, converting to readable format and importing into the daily bank reconciliation file. 
• Importing bank transactions provided by the partner bank.
• Reviewing journal files, updating where necessary and sharing to the partner bank.
• Reconciling the Pool, EFT, RTC and SWIFT control accounts, keeping track of variances (separating between permanent variances and timing variances).
• Raising tracked issues through the appropriate channels, and monitoring and following up on these issues on a daily basis through to resolution. As required, in conjunction with the Senior Accountant, resolve queries within the network of stakeholders and suppliers.
• Tracking multiple sources of variances and updating as these are cleared. Examples include unprocessed card transactions, failed debit reversals, interchange postings and fees. 
• Identifying settlements not posted or incorrectly posted by the partner bank and investigating through the appropriate channels. 
• Reconciling daily clearing transactions from Suspense accounts to Pool accounts. Tracking journals which have not yet been posted. 
• Overall management of pool accounts and control checks to ensure the accuracy of balances.
• Reconciling the companys corporate bank account for fee income, interest income and expenses.
• Process adjustments to customer accounts as required. 

Ad-hoc: 

• Work closely with the Product and Banking Operations teams to understand changes to the system and processes that affect financial reporting and customer balances. 
• Assist the Senior Accountant with preparing Banking focused reporting (eg: Profitability analysis, KPIs, budgets and other metrics) 
• Function as a support to Banking Operations for customer balance queries 
• Provide team support as required

THE COMPETENCIES WERE AFTER

• Able to perform complex reconciliations with large data sets from multiple sources
• Self-starter who is comfortable working in a growing department within a start-up environment where not all controls and processes are already in place
• Excellent communication skills, having the ability to clearly communicate a problem and a suggested solution. Has a good track record of sharing daily updates with reporting line, demonstrating the ability to manage self and prioritise tasks
• Quick to understand and execute on existing reconciliation processes
• A good understanding of principles required for banking (Transaction types, Journal codes, Pool accounts, POS, ATM, EFT, reversals, RTC, SWIFT)
• High performer with a track record of delivering reliable results
• Ability to handle multiple daily reconciliations 
• Strong organisational skills and attention to detail
• Strives to achieve accuracy in everything you do

THE SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE WERE LOOKING FOR

• Relevant tertiary/higher education qualification in accounting/commerce (BCom or similar) 
• 2 to 4 years relevant similar experience in a fast paced financial services environment, with banking experience preferred but not essential
• Experience with preparing large financial reconciliations on a daily basis
• Experience working with big data within relevant programs
• Computer Literacy (MS Excel, Google Suite, Slack, Banking platforms)