Chief Accounting and Reporting Officer (CARO)

Department: Finance

About Kifiya: Kifiya is an AI-powered financial and market infrastructure company advancing inclusive economic growth across Africa. We design and deploy risk decisioning systems, intelligent financial infrastructure, and market linkage platforms that unlock credit, insurance, payments, and capital access for MSMEs and smallholder farmers. We build the AI, data, and financial infrastructure that helps financial institutions serve hard-to-finance segments at scale.

Business Unit Description The Group Finance function provides financial stewardship, governance, and intelligence to enable Kifiya’s sustainable growth across 15 markets. The function ensures financial integrity, regulatory compliance, and management reporting accuracy while partnering with leadership to allocate resources effectively and support strategic priorities. Group Finance leads financial accounting and consolidation, financial planning and analysis, treasury and cash management, tax and statutory compliance, internal controls, and programme finance governance. Within Group Finance, the CARO leads ARU Track B: financial accounting, Group consolidation, ERP/BI governance, revenue assurance, and the production of Kifiya’s signed consolidated accounts.

The CARO is Kifiya’s Chief Accounting Officer, the signing officer on all Group consolidated financial statements. No consolidation figure leaves the finance function without the CARO’s signature.

Position Summary The CARO owns the Group’s consolidated financial statements, chart of accounts, accounting policies, and ERP/BI financial system governance. The role is the definitive authority on how Kifiya’s financial results are produced, verified, and presented from trial balance receipt at D2 through to signed management accounts at D7. The CARO provides the D7 signed management accounts that form the foundation for the GFC’s D8 controls attestation and the GCFO’s D9 CEO/ExCo pack. Every Group financial statement, reporting pack, and statutory filing that leaves the finance function reflects IFRS-compliant, auditable, and institutionally credible accounting the CARO is accountable for this.

Key Responsibilities Group Consolidation & Financial Statements

• Own the Group consolidated trial balance, P&L, balance sheet, and cash flow statement produced on time at D7 each month; signed by the CARO as Chief Accounting Officer.
• Receive and review trial balances from all Country CFOs preliminary by D2, final by D4.
• Challenge and resolve material issues before consolidation.
• Perform and supervise intercompany eliminations, intragroup reconciliations, and minority interest adjustments under IFRS 10.
• Maintain and enforce the Group chart of accounts and accounting policies (IAS 8) across all entities.
• Lead the preparation of IFRS-compliant annual consolidated financial statements; ensure audit readiness at all times.
• Produce the Quarterly statutory-ready Group financials: ERP governance report and Power BI data quality update.

Revenue Assurance & AMR

• Own the Auto-Match Rate (AMR) reconciliation framework the platform-to-ledger reconciliation that validates revenue recognised against Kifiya platform transaction logs (AGRIVA, DevFin, IFIaaS, EmbFin, InvFin).
• Publish the weekly AMR Flash: platform-to-ledger reconciliation rate vs >90% KPI target; top exception items with owner, days open, and resolution status.
• Issue the D3 Revenue Exception Log each month: platform-to-ledger breaks >0.5%; exception owner; days open; AMR trend vs 90% target.
• Ensure revenue recognition policies comply with IFRS 15 and are applied consistently across all business lines and entities.
• Manage the daily AMR exception log no break open for more than 5 working days without a documented resolution plan.

ERP & BI Financial System Governance

• Own the finance business design and configuration of MS Dynamics 365 chart of accounts, cost centres, intercompany setup, reporting hierarchies, and posting standards.
• Govern the Power BI financial reporting layer: define report specifications, approve new financial dashboards, and maintain data source integrity.
• Manage ERP master data governance vendor master, GL master, cost centre structure, and dimension setup.
• Drive MS Dynamics 365 stabilisation (Phase 1: months 1–24) and the transition to real-time Group consolidation (Phase 2: month 25+).
• Serve as the primary finance liaison to the Technology team on all ERP and BI financial system matters.
• Set and enforce the AMR posting standards for all Finance Officers correct GL code, cost centre, project, and business line dimension on every transaction.

AR & Collections

• Own the D3 AR Ageing & Collections Status Report each month: AR ageing by entity and business line; overdue >30/60/90 day buckets; provisioning requirement; top collection issues.
• Oversee accounts receivable, invoicing accuracy, and collections performance across all entities.
• Monitor collection performance and escalate material debtors to the GCFO and GFC.
• Ensure platform invoicing cycles are reconciled to the ledger and collection status is confirmed monthly.

Close Calendar Ownership

• Own and enforce the Group month-end close calendar: D1 subledger cut-off → D2 preliminary TB and bank recon → D3 revenue assurance and AMR → D4 final country TBs and provisional BvA → D5 CEO Flash (jointly with FP&A) → D7 signed Group management accounts.
• Issue the standardised TB template and submission deadlines to all Country CFOs.
• Review and certify all country trial balances before consolidation; resolve or escalate material variances before D4.
• Prepare the D5 CEO Flash jointly with the FP&A Manager.
• Issue the D7 signed Group Management Accounts for GFC attestation — accounts are not issued to the GCFO until the GFC D8 sign-off is received.

Statutory Compliance & Audit

• Lead the preparation of statutory financial statements for all Group entities across applicable jurisdictions.
• Serve as the primary liaison with external auditors on all accounting and financial reporting matters; coordinate the year-end audit.
• Maintain the accounting policy register; ensure all significant accounting judgements are documented, reviewed, and approved.
• Ensure accounting compliance with Ethiopian tax regulations (MOR), NBE, and ERCA as they relate to financial reporting.

FP&A Collaboration

• Provide certified historical financial data and accounting context to the FP&A Manager to support BvA analysis, rolling forecasts, and business plan modelling.
• Ensure the ERP financial records that FP&A draws on for performance tracking and investor reporting are accurate, complete, and current.
• Collaborate on close calendar timing to ensure the D7 accounts are available for FP&A use within the agreed D4 provisional BvA cycle.

Team Leadership

• Lead the CARO function including the Hub Finance Officers (AP, AR & Payroll, and Treasury, Cash & Assets).
• Set AMR posting standards and close calendar accountability for the Hub Finance team.
• Develop team capability in IFRS application, ERP governance, and financial data quality.
• Collaborate closely with the GFC (controls and attestation), FP&A Manager (planning data and CEO Flash), and Country CFOs (TB submission quality and close calendar discipline).

Key Outputs Daily

AMR exception log: maintained and reviewed no break open beyond 5 working days without a resolution plan.

Weekly

AMR Flash: platform-to-ledger reconciliation rate vs >90% KPI; top exception items with owner and days open.

Monthly Close Calendar

D2: Preliminary TB received and reviewed from all Country CFOs; bank recon, payroll, and depreciation confirmed. D3: Revenue Exception Log issued AMR breaks >0.5%, exception owner, days open, trend vs 90% target. D3: AR Ageing & Collections Status Report overdue buckets by entity and business line; provisioning requirement. D5: CEO Flash Group P&L, cash, BvA narrative, rolling forecast, top 3 risks, Programme Finance summary (jointly with FP&A Manager). D7: Signed Group Management Accounts Group P&L, balance sheet, cash flow, intercompany eliminations, CARO signature submitted to GFC for D8 attestation.

Quarterly / Annual

Quarterly statutory-ready Group financials; ERP governance report; Power BI data quality update. Annual consolidated IFRS financial statements audit-ready; CARO-signed. Annual accounting policy review and IAS 8 disclosure note updates. Audit completion report and management letter response.

Qualifications and Experience Qualifications

• Fully qualified ACCA, CA, or CPA membership in good standing required; Fellowship level preferred.
• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting or Finance; Master’s degree or MBA is an advantage.
• Deep IFRS expertise IFRS 10 (Consolidation), IAS 1, IAS 8, IFRS 15 (Revenue), IFRS 9 (Financial Instruments), IAS 7 (Cash Flows).

Experience

• Minimum 8–12 years of progressive experience in financial accounting, Group consolidation, or external audit.
• Demonstrated experience as a Group consolidation lead or Chief Accounting Officer in a multi-entity environment.
• Prior ERP finance ownership MS Dynamics 365, SAP, or Oracle — finance business design and master data governance.
• Big Four or major audit firm experience highly desirable.
• Fintech, banking, or multi-market African operating environment experience is a strong advantage.
• Revenue assurance or platform-to-ledger reconciliation experience preferred.

Core Competencies Technical

• IFRS mastery IFRS 10, IAS 1, IAS 8, IFRS 15, IFRS 9, IAS 7.
• Group consolidation intercompany eliminations, minority interests, IFRS 10 compliance.
• ERP financial system governance MS Dynamics 365 chart of accounts, master data, posting standards.
• Revenue assurance AMR framework, platform-to-ledger reconciliation, IFRS 15 application.
• Close calendar design and month-end discipline D1 through D7.

Leadership & Conduct

• Signing officer discipline, no consolidated account leaves the function without the CARO’s review and signature.
• Financial reporting integrity zero tolerance for misstatement, estimation bias, or premature recognition.
• Deadline discipline D7 is non-negotiable; CARO sets the tone for the close calendar.
• ERP data quality ownership AMR posting standards enforced across all Finance Officers.
• Cross-functional collaboration GFC (attestation), FP&A Manager (data supply), Country CFOs (TB quality).