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