Property Accountant

SUMMARY:
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POSITION INFO:
The Property Accountant is responsible for the day-to-day accounting of the company’s property portfolio and for compiling the financial reporting packs that support the Asset Manager. The role covers tenant billing and recoveries, municipal and utility recovery reconciliations, building-level bookkeeping, month-end close per property, and the preparation of budget-to-actual and portfolio performance reporting inputs. The role reports to the Financial Manager, with a functional (dotted) line to the Asset Manager for reporting matters. Success looks like clean, on-time property books, accurate recoveries, and reporting packs the Asset Manager can trust without re-checking. The company is a South African commercial property holding group with retail and office assets. Within Finance & GRC, the Property Accountant sits alongside the Creditors, Debtors and Cashbook functions and works closely with the Asset Manager on portfolio reporting. Key Responsibilities: Tenant billing & leases: Process monthly tenant billing (rentals, operating costs, rates, parking and other charges) accurately and on time, in line with signed lease terms. Recoveries: Calculate, bill and reconcile tenant recoveries — including municipal and utility recoveries (electricity, water, rates, refuse) and ensure recovery ratios and reconciliations are accurate. Building bookkeeping: Maintain complete, accurate books per building \/ entity: process invoices, allocate costs correctly, and keep the general ledger clean. Reconciliations: Reconcile tenant accounts, municipal accounts, deposits and inter-company balances; investigate and clear reconciling items promptly. Month-end close: Run month-end close per property — accruals, journals, straight-lining where applicable — and deliver accurate management figures to deadline. Deposits & arrears: Maintain tenant deposit records and support the Debtors’ function on arrears, credit control and tenant queries.   Reporting Support to Asset Management: A defined part of the role is producing the financial reporting the Asset Manager uses to manage portfolio performance. The Property Accountant compiles and prepares the packs; the Asset Manager owns the strategic interpretation. Budget-to-actual per building: Prepare monthly and quarterly budget-versus-actual packs per property, with clear variance detail. NOI & portfolio performance: Compile net operating income, yield, occupancy \/ vacancy and other performance metrics for the Asset Performance Review. Recoveries reporting: Provide recovery-ratio and utility-recovery reporting so recovery accuracy is visible and defensible. Annual budgets: Assist the Asset Manager in preparing and consolidating annual property budgets and forecasts.   Contract Type and Duration: This is a permanent, full-time position.   Work Hours : Standard work hours are 08:00 am to 17:00 pm, Monday to Friday (including lunch). Experience and Qualifications: A relevant accounting qualification — e.g. BCom \/ Diploma in Accounting, or part-qualified (SAIPA \/ SAICA \/ CIMA) or an experienced property bookkeeper with a strong track record. Solid, demonstrable commercial property accounting experience (retail and\/or office), including tenant billing, recoveries and month-end — this is essential. Hands-on experience in a property management system, ideally MDA \/ MRI Property Central. Strong working knowledge of municipal and utility recoveries in a South African context. Benefits: Group Provident Fund included in CTC above (Employee & Employer contributions: 4.5% each) 15 days of annual leave Interested? Shortlisted applicants will be contacted within 2 weeks, if you do not hear from us by then your application for this position was unsuccessful, but you have been added to our database for future vacancies.