Finance Manager

OVERVIEW

Aje Collective is a multi-brand Australian fashion group comprising Aje, Aje Athletica and Aje Studio, with operations across Australia, New Zealand, the UK, the US and Europe. This is a high-impact opportunity for a commercially minded finance professional with strong technical capability. You will play a key role in ensuring our financial reporting is accurate, timely and compliant with accounting standards and disclosure requirements.

Reporting to the Director of Finance, the Finance Manager owns management and statutory reporting, tax compliance and treasury, and leads the finance team, including offshore team members based in Manila.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Financial Management

Lead the day-to-day management and support of the finance team

Own the month-end close process and deliver results on time

Own the general ledger, including the chart of accounts, cost centres and profit centres in the accounting system and reporting cube, and maintain it for future new entities

Review and sign off balance sheet reconciliations and the allocation of expenses, ensuring accuracy and integrity in financial reporting

Investigate profit and loss variances against budget, forecast and prior period actuals, and provide detailed analysis of the differences

Assist the Director of Finance with the annual insurance renewal process

Reporting

Keep the Director of Finance regularly informed of financial performance, raising issues promptly

Prepare monthly reporting packs, including channel, brand and business performance analysis, plus ad hoc reporting as required

Prepare monthly department spending summaries, and work with department heads to monitor spend and analyse variances against budget

Prepare the monthly inventory report to assess aged stock in the business

Complete government reporting, including ABS and Payment Times Reporting

Act as a key adviser to the Director of Finance and others on the accounting implications (technical or otherwise) of company decisions and actions, to deliver the optimal outcome

Transactional Functions

Accounts Receivable: oversee accurate and timely invoicing (including fit-out contribution invoices) and the collection of payments from customers on or within payment terms

Inventory: implement best practice to ensure inventory balances are accurate in each location, in both quantity and cost

Fixed Assets: implement best practice to ensure fixed asset records are accurate in each location

Treasury and Cash Management

Cash management: implement best-practice procedures to maintain an accurate view of cash at all times, including detecting irregularities that may indicate fraud

Cash flow forecasting: manage the 12-month cash flow forecast, refreshing the near-term view weekly and supporting Finance and production heads with cash flow decisions

Banking: manage transactional banking and merchant relationships to deliver the best outcomes for the group

Assist with the issuance of bank guarantees for stores as required

Submit banking covenant reporting within required deadlines

Support the hedging strategy based on current and projected FX rates, and advise the business on the FX rates used in product costing

Taxation

Manage external tax advisers and own the completion of GST/VAT and Sales & Use tax returns in Australia, the US, UK and EU, as well as FBT and payroll tax

Assist the Director of Finance and external advisers with the Corporate Income Tax return and lodgement of tax returns

External Audit

Own the end-of-year audit, overseeing the audit process, acting as first point of contact for the external auditors and providing information in a timely manner. You will be responsible for:

Preparing the financial statements for the AU and UK entities

Preparing all year-end audit adjustments, including the sales returns provision and AASB 16 lease accounting

Consolidating all entities and reporting the foreign currency translation reserve

Completing reporting and disclosure requests for the statutory audit

Financial Strategy and Business Partnering

Provide senior management with financial assessments to support strategic activities, including tax optimisation

Maintain a continuous focus on the cost of doing business, understand the key cost levers, and work closely with senior management to execute key projects

Work with the planner on stock control

Process, Controls and Improvement

Develop and implement a best-practice control environment appropriate for a group of our size and aspirations

Establish a framework to monitor compliance with these controls, supporting company-wide governance and risk management

Continuously review and improve processes to drive efficiency across the finance function

Act as key point of contact for critical finance systems (including the ERP and Adaptive Insights), assess proposed systems and drive finance-related transformation projects

Team Leadership

Coach finance team members, including direct reports in Manila, with regular 1:1s with offshore team members

Identify training needs and develop team strengths

Set team goals and evaluate progress and performance

REQUIRED AND DESIRED SKILLS

Technical and Behavioural

Qualified CA with audit experience at a Big 4 accounting firm

Relevant retail industry experience, including cash controls, inventory controls and lease accounting

Demonstrated success implementing enhanced processes and controls in a corporate setting

Expertise in financial analysis, forecasting and budgeting to support strategic decision-making and cost efficiency

Strong understanding of local and international accounting standards and financial regulations

Skilled in identifying and mitigating financial risk, and aligning financial strategy with business objectives.

Strong leadership skills, with the ability to guide finance teams (including offshore) and collaborate across departments

The list of position responsibilities herein is not intended to be all-inclusive and may include additional responsibilities as required and assigned. It may become necessary to modify or change this position description and reporting line(s) from time to time.