Account Manager

Job Description

Role Purpose

Montage Commodities is seeking a highly competent and commercially aware Accounts Manager to take ownership of day-to-day accounting operations, financial closing, working-capital controls, reconciliations, reporting, and compliance.

This is a hands-on managerial position, not simply a supervisory role. The successful candidate will be expected to personally review critical accounting entries, identify discrepancies, challenge incorrect treatments, maintain strong financial controls, and ensure that management receives accurate and timely financial information.

Given the nature of a commodity trading business, the Accounts Manager must be comfortable working in a high-volume, multi-currency and transaction-driven environment involving suppliers, customers, banks, shipments, freight and logistics costs, advances, accruals, foreign-currency transactions, and complex reconciliations.

Key Responsibilities

1. Financial Accounting & General Ledger

• Take complete ownership of the General Ledger and ensure integrity of accounting records.
• Review journal vouchers, accruals, provisions, prepayments, reclassifications and adjustment entries.
• Ensure every material balance is supported by appropriate documentation and reconciliation.
• Maintain accurate accounting treatment in accordance with applicable IFRS and company accounting policies.
• Review chart of accounts and ensure transactions are recorded under appropriate accounts, cost centers and business segments.
• Identify unusual, duplicate, unsupported or incorrectly classified transactions.
• Ensure proper accounting treatment of foreign-currency transactions and exchange gains/losses.
• Maintain strong controls over manual journal entries and period-end adjustments.

2. Monthly, Quarterly & Annual Closing

Take ownership of the complete month-end closing process.

Ensure timely completion of:

• Bank reconciliations
• Customer reconciliations
• Supplier reconciliations
• Intercompany reconciliations
• Accounts receivable schedules
• Accounts payable schedules
• Advances and deposits
• Accruals and provisions
• Prepayments
• Fixed assets and depreciation
• Inventory/trading stock reconciliations where applicable
• Foreign exchange revaluation
• Revenue and cost recognition
• Shipment/cargo-related accruals
• Balance-sheet schedules

Ensure that books are closed within the management-defined deadline and that unreconciled balances are not simply carried forward from one month to another.

3. Accounts Receivable & Credit Control

• Maintain complete oversight of customer receivables.
• Review customer aging and outstanding balances on a regular basis.
• Ensure invoices, debit notes and credit notes are raised accurately and promptly.
• Reconcile customer accounts against contracts, invoices, receipts and other supporting documentation.
• Monitor due dates and coordinate collection follow-ups.
• Identify overdue and potentially doubtful receivables and escalate them promptly.
• Investigate short payments, deductions, disputed invoices and unidentified receipts.
• Ensure customer advances are properly recorded and adjusted.
• Provide management with clear reporting on overdue receivables and collection risks.

The Accounts Manager will be expected to know who owes the company money, how much is outstanding, why it is outstanding, and when it is expected to be collected.

4. Accounts Payable & Supplier Controls

• Take ownership of supplier accounting and payment controls.
• Ensure supplier invoices are verified against contracts, purchase documentation and supporting approvals.
• Review supplier aging and payment schedules.
• Ensure payments are not processed without proper supporting documentation and authorization.
• Reconcile supplier statements with the company’s books.
• Investigate differences between supplier statements and accounting records.
• Monitor supplier advances and ensure timely settlement against invoices/cargoes.
• Prevent duplicate, premature or incorrect payments.
• Maintain visibility over upcoming payment obligations and communicate cash requirements to management.

5. Commodity Trading & Shipment Accounting

The Accounts Manager must develop a strong understanding of the commercial lifecycle of each transaction from purchase contract through shipment, sale, settlement and final profitability.

Responsibilities include:

• Accounting for commodity purchases and sales.
• Matching purchases and sales to relevant contracts/shipments.
• Recording freight and logistics expenses.
• Accounting for inspection, port, handling, storage and other transaction-related costs.
• Recording advances to suppliers and receipts from customers.
• Monitoring goods in transit where applicable.
• Reviewing shipment-related accruals.
• Ensuring costs are allocated to the correct cargo/transaction.
• Reconciling quantities and values between commercial records and accounting records.
• Ensuring completed trades are financially closed after settlement.

6. Trade & Deal Profitability

Maintain accurate transaction-level profitability.

For material trades, ensure proper identification of:

Sales Revenue

Less: Commodity Purchase Cost

Less: Freight

Less: Inspection/Survey Costs

Less: Port/Handling/Logistics Costs

Less: Financing/Bank Charges where applicable

Less: Other Direct Costs

= Gross Trade Margin

Investigate differences between expected commercial margin and actual accounting margin.

Immediately escalate significant margin erosion, unexpected expenses, unrecorded costs or accounting discrepancies.

7. Banking, Treasury & Cash Management

• Perform/review daily and monthly bank reconciliations.
• Maintain visibility over cash balances across company bank accounts.
• Coordinate with treasury/management regarding upcoming receipts and payments.
• Monitor unidentified bank transactions and ensure timely resolution.
• Verify bank charges, interest and transaction fees.
• Account correctly for transfers between accounts and currencies.
• Ensure foreign-exchange transactions are correctly recorded.
• Assist management with short-term cash-flow forecasting.
• Maintain appropriate supporting documentation for banking transactions.

8. Working Capital Management

Maintain strong control over:

• Customer receivables
• Supplier payables
• Supplier advances
• Customer advances
• Inventory/trading positions
• Deposits
• Accrued liabilities
• Other working-capital balances

Prepare working-capital reports highlighting:

• overdue receivables,
• upcoming supplier obligations,
• blocked advances,
• aging balances,
• unreconciled items, and
• potential cash-flow pressure.

9. Management Reporting

Prepare and/or review periodic management reports including:

• Profit & Loss Statement
• Balance Sheet
• Cash Flow
• AR Aging
• AP Aging
• Bank Position
• Working Capital Position
• Customer/Supplier Exposure
• Trade/Shipment Profitability
• Budget vs. Actual
• Major Variance Analysis

Reports must not merely present numbers. The Accounts Manager must be capable of explaining what changed, why it changed, whether it represents a risk, and what action is required.

10. Internal Controls & Financial Discipline

Establish and enforce strong financial controls across accounting operations.

Particular attention must be given to:

• Payment authorization
• Maker-checker controls
• Vendor creation/modification
• Customer master controls
• Manual journal entries
• Bank reconciliations
• Advances
• Expense approvals
• Supporting documentation
• Related-party transactions
• Credit/debit notes
• Write-offs
• Period-end adjustments

Immediately escalate suspected errors, irregular transactions, control weaknesses or potential fraud.

11. Audit & Compliance

• Coordinate with external and internal auditors.
• Prepare audit schedules and supporting documentation.
• Respond to audit queries accurately and within deadlines.
• Ensure previous audit observations are properly addressed.
• Maintain accounting records in an audit-ready condition throughout the year.
• Support statutory, tax, VAT and regulatory reporting requirements as applicable.
• Ensure financial records comply with company policies and relevant regulatory requirements.

12. Team Management

Lead and supervise accountants responsible for functions such as:

• Accounts Payable
• Accounts Receivable
• General Ledger
• Bank Reconciliations
• Expense Accounting
• Customer/Supplier Reconciliations

Responsibilities include assigning work, establishing deadlines, reviewing outputs, training team members and holding individuals accountable for accuracy and completion.

The Accounts Manager must review rather than merely delegate.

Required Qualifications

• CA / ACCA equivalent professional accounting qualification preferred.
• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Accounting, Finance or Commerce.
• Strong understanding of IFRS and financial reporting.
• Strong practical understanding of double-entry accounting and General Ledger controls.
• Advanced Microsoft Excel skills.
• Experience with ERP/accounting systems.
• Strong written and spoken English.

Experience Requirements

Minimum 7–10 years of progressive accounting experience, including meaningful responsibility for financial closing and accounting operations.

At least 2–4 years in a supervisory or managerial capacity is strongly preferred.

Experience within one or more of the following will be highly advantageous:

• Commodity trading
• Petrochemicals
• Fertilizers
• Oil & gas
• Metals
• Shipping/logistics
• International trading
• Import/export businesses