Chief Accountant

The Chief Accountant is responsible for the financial accounting, reporting, and compliance within the hotel, ensuring accuracy, transparency, and adherence to accounting standards and regulations. Reporting to the Director of Finance, the Chief Accountant plays a critical role in managing the hotel’s financial operations, maintaining internal controls, and providing strategic financial insights to support business decisions.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES 

• In conjunction with the Director of Finance, prepare and analyze financial statements in accordance with company's requirements and deadlines, while ensuring accuracy and compliance with accounting principles and regulations. 
• Effectively manage and communicate cash flow related issues, including preparation of cash flow statements, management of receivables, payables, cash balances, control mechanisms and deposits.
• Ensure accurate and timely recording of financial transactions, including revenue recognition, expense accruals, and depreciation/amortization schedules.
• Investigate and critique variances to budget or to prior year and offer practical improvement methodologies to management.
• Monitor the capital planning process by assisting management with the calculation of return on capital improvements, gathering support and monitoring the bid process, and ensuring proper upkeep of the property by evaluating scope of work and specifications.
• Provide timely and insightful financial reports to senior management, highlighting key financial metrics, trends, and areas of concern.
• Ensure hotels' compliance on all regulatory licenses and permits, leases, contracts, legal agreements, and the proper execution of all operational taxes.
• Help management in enforcing financial and regulatory compliance. 
• Establish and enforce internal controls, policies, and procedures to safeguard hotel assets, ensure compliance with regulatory requirements, and prevent fraud or financial mismanagement.
• Analyze financial data and operations to assist and advise management in maintaining the hotels' financial objectives.
• Ensure that all balance sheet accounts, including bank reconciliations are reconciled on a timely basis.
• In conjunction with the Director of Finance, hire, train, supervise and develop the finance team. 
• Ensure the proper utilization, maintenance, and periodic upgrades of all equipment.
• Conduct and/or attend and contribute to periodic meetings to maintain favorable working relationships among employees. 
• Coordinate the annual budgeting process and support Director of Finance to collaborate with department heads to develop departmental budgets and financial forecasts.
• Monitor budget performance, analyze variances, and provide recommendations for cost control and operational efficiency improvements.
• Maintain the integrity of the general ledger, overseeing journal entries, account reconciliations, and month-end/year-end closing processes.
• Conduct regular audits and reviews of financial operations to assess compliance with accounting standards, internal policies, and legal regulations.
• Coordinate tax planning and compliance activities, ensuring timely and accurate filing of tax returns (e.g., VAT, corporate income tax).
• Establish and continually audit all internal financial controls including purchasing, cash handling, disbursements, inventories, hotel assets, master keys, payroll, and employee records.
• Facilitate external audits, providing audit schedules, supporting documentation, and responding to audit inquiries to facilitate audit completion within deadlines.
• Evaluate and enhance financial systems, accounting processes, and reporting tools to streamline operations, improve efficiency, and support business growth initiatives.
• Implement best practices in financial management and reporting, leveraging technology solutions to automate routine tasks and enhance data accuracy. 

It is not the intent of this Job Description to cover all aspects of the position but to highlight the most important areas of responsibility.