Billing Accountant

About the Role and Organization

This role is part of the Corporate Business Unit within the Operations and Administration sector, located at the Head Office in Lilongwe, Malawi. The Billing Accountant reports directly to the Country Head of Finance / Financial Controller and collaborates closely with the Operations, Sales, Credit & Collections, Finance, Procurement, and Human Resources teams, as well as external customers and vendors.

Role Summary

The Billing Accountant is tasked with managing the complete billing and revenue cycle operations. The core objectives include delivering precise and prompt invoicing for all services, preventing any revenue loss, ensuring full VAT compliance under Malawi tax laws, facilitating strong collections oversight, and securing effective cash conversion from billed revenue. The role must comply with IFRS, local tax regulations, and GardaWorld accounting policies while supporting optimized cash flow and financial results.

Key Responsibilities

• Produce and dispatch accurate monthly invoices covering services such as Guarding, Technical, Response, Alarms, additional revenue streams, and ad-hoc services.
• Ensure every delivered service is invoiced completely, eliminating any revenue leakage.
• Validate billing details—including quantities, rates, and contract terms—against contracts, SLAs, LPOs, and deployment schedules.
• Post all invoices into the Navision ERP system within set month-end deadlines, ensuring correct customer codes, general ledger accounts, VAT treatment, and dimension allocation.
• Track invoice delivery status and collaborate with the Credit & Collections team to guarantee 100% delivery and acknowledgment from customers.
• Maintain the customer sub-ledger integrity and reconcile it to the general ledger, preventing unsupported or improper accounting postings.
• Ensure VAT output is applied accurately on taxable invoices and maintain precise VAT records for all revenue streams.
• Reconcile billed revenue with VAT output accounts monthly and assist in preparing monthly VAT returns by providing detailed reconciled VAT schedules.
• Investigate and resolve discrepancies between customer revenue ledgers, VAT control accounts, and VAT declared to Malawi Revenue Authority (MRA).
• Prepare and process credit notes only when fully justified and approved, while maintaining documentation and analyzing causes to prevent future occurrences.
• Lead credit and collections efforts to ensure all billed revenue is followed up and converted into cash effectively, escalating overdue or high-risk balances as needed.
• Generate and present comprehensive billing and collection reports such as monthly collections status, customer revenue analytics, aged receivables, and unbilled revenue.
• Reconcile billing data against operational deployments and sales contracts, maintaining thorough billing documentation per customer, including contracts, SLAs, LPOs, deployment schedules, rate approvals, and correspondence.
• Uphold strong billing, VAT, and collections controls to mitigate risks of revenue misstatements, VAT errors, cash flow leakage, and fraud.
• Support month-end close processes and both internal and external audits by providing accurate billing summaries, VAT reconciliations, and collections reports.
• Proactively identify and report any risks, delays, or issues to management for timely resolution.

Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting.
• At least 3 years of relevant professional experience in a similar accounting role.
• Progress towards or achievement of professional certifications such as ACCA, CPA, or equivalent.
• Solid knowledge of revenue accounting processes and VAT compliance under Malawi tax laws.
• Proficiency in ERP systems, preferably Microsoft Navision, alongside advanced Excel and financial reporting skills.

Competencies and Personal Attributes

• High precision and attention to detail in task execution.
• A strong sense of ownership and accountability for results.
• Proactive and outcome-oriented mindset.
• Capability to coordinate and influence cross-functional teams.
• Effective communication and persistent follow-up abilities.
• Integrity, impartiality, and sound judgment in professional duties.
• Customer-centric approach with commercial awareness.

Accountabilities

• Ensuring accuracy and completeness in all billing activities.
• Maintaining full VAT compliance and proper reporting.
• Driving effective collection efforts to convert billed revenue into cash.

Additional Information

The role operates under the guidelines of the GardaWorld Authority Matrix. GardaWorld is a global leader in security and embraces diversity, encouraging candidates from all backgrounds to apply. This position is based onsite at the Lilongwe head office in Malawi. The role demands close cooperation with multiple internal teams and external partners.