Assistant Accountant

Mwananchi Communications Limited (MCL)

Job vacancy: Assistant Accountant

Mwananchi Communications Limited (MCL), a subsidiary of Nation Media Group (NMG), is Tanzania’s largest independent news network with an award-winning presence in print and digital media, and exciting new ventures in innovation and events ecosystems.

We are publishers of leading national news brands Mwananchi, The Citizen and Mwanaspoti in print and digital formats, and proprietors of the Mwananchi Digital suite of products and Mwanaclick.

We are audience-led, market-driven with a clear mission to empower the nation.

We are looking for a motivated and highly experienced individual to fill the position of:

1. Assistant Accountant

Purpose of the position

To support the Receivables Accountant in managing the advertising and digital revenue cycle from order verification and invoicing through to cash collection and reporting ensuring that customer accounts are accurate, complete and up to date in SAP, and that receivables are collected on time to protect the Company’s cash flow.

Main responsibilities 1. Order verification and credit control

• Verify advertising and digital customer orders (bookings, LPOs, insertion orders) for completeness, approved rates, discounts and authorisation before adverts are published.

• Confirm the payment terms of each order cash, prepayment or credit and ensure credit is extended only to approve customers within their credit limits.

• Review new credit applications, gather supporting documents and make recommendations to the Receivables Accountant.

2. Invoicing and customer accounts

• Prepare and issue accurate and timely invoices for all published adverts and digital campaigns, matched to verified orders and proof of publication.

• Maintain customer master data and individual customer accounts in SAP, ensuring all transactions are complete and correctly allocated.

• Prepare and send monthly statements of account to customers and agencies.

• Process approved credit notes and adjustments, with proper supporting documentation.

3. Cash collection and receipting

• Follow up with customers, agencies and sales executives on outstanding balances in line with agreed payment terms.

• Ensure all cash, cheque, bank and mobile money receipts are correctly posted and allocated to the right customer accounts in SAP.

• Identify and follow up on unallocated or unidentified receipts until they are cleared.

• Support the handover of long-overdue accounts to debt collectors where approved.

4. Query resolution

• Investigate and resolve customer queries and disputes on invoices, rates, publication and payments promptly, working with the Advertising and Digital sales teams.

• Keep a log of open queries and escalate unresolved issues to the Receivables Accountant.

5. Accounting, reconciliations and reporting

• Post advertising and digital sales, receipts, credit notes and journals accurately in the SAP accounting system.

• Prepare and submit the daily sales report for advertising and digital revenue.

• Prepare the weekly debtors ageing analysis and collection status report.

• Perform monthly reconciliations of customer accounts, agency statements and the debtors control account to the general ledger.

• Prepare sales commission computations at the end of every month for sales executives and agencies, based on approved commission schemes and actual collections, and submit them to the Receivables Accountant for review and approval.

• Check sales commission claims against approved schemes and collections before payment is processed.

• Assist in month-end closing, audit requests and preparation of supporting schedules.

6. Other

• Keep proper filing of orders, invoices and supporting documents for audit purposes.

• Perform any other related duties assigned by the Receivables Accountant or Finance Management.

Minimum qualifications & experience

Academic

Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting or a related field.

Professional

CPA (T) or equivalent professional qualification (or substantial progress towards it).

Experience

Minimum of 2–3 years’ experience in accounts receivable, credit control or a similar accounting role, preferably in media, advertising or a service industry.

Systems

Proven hands-on experience as an SAP user (FI / SD modules) is an added advantage. Strong skills in Microsoft Excel.