Accountant

Meet Ozow 

Ozow is a leading fintech company that's redefining digital payments in South Africa and beyond. We're dedicated to making payments more accessible, secure, and convenient for both businesses and consumers. As a fast-growing player in the financial technology sector, Ozow fosters a culture of innovation, diversity, and inclusivity. We believe in pushing the boundaries of what's possible and are committed to making a positive impact on the world through our payment solutions.   

More about this Ozow fantastic position  

As an Accountant at Ozow, you’ll play a key role in supporting the financial operations that underpin our fast‑paced fintech environment. This role offers exposure across debtors, creditors, distributor accounting, and core accounting operations, working closely with cross‑functional teams such as Data, Technology, Legal, Commercial and FinOps. It’s an ideal opportunity for a detail‑driven accounting professional who thrives on ownership, problem‑solving, and contributing to accurate, scalable financial processes in a growing digital payments business. 

Your role and responsibilities 

Debtors & Merchant Billing  

• Own merchant invoicing processes, ensuring accuracy, completeness and alignment with contractual billing structures 
• Investigate and resolve escalated debtor queries requiring detailed understanding of billing logic, data sources (e.g. data environments and merchant dashboards) and invoicing mechanics 
• Perform credit note calculations and maintain and manage the credit note schedule, ensuring appropriate support, accuracy and timely escalation for approval 
• Prepare regular debtors reporting for internal stakeholders, manage escalations, and make recommendations on aged or delinquent accounts 

Distributor Accounting  

• Calculate distributor commissions in accordance with contractual terms, validating calculations with the Data team  
• Prepare and distribute commission reports to distributors 
• Post distributor commission journal entries and prepare related balance sheet reconciliations 

Creditors & Payments  

• Oversee the transfer of approved supplier invoices from procurement system to the accounting system, ensuring process effectiveness and completeness 
• Perform creditor statement reconciliations and investigate variances 
• Resolve escalated creditor queries requiring accounting judgment or cross-functional engagement 
• Prepare payment runs and load beneficiaries and payments in accordance with approved payment processes 
• Prepare VAT and EMP payments for review by the Senior Accountant 
• Load bulk payments to Netcash as required 
• Execute approved fund movements between bank accounts, including transactional and call accounts, in line with treasury procedures 

Accounting Operations & Reconciliations 

• Prepare schedules of prepaid expenses, accruals, banking fees and interest for review by the Senior Accountant 
• Maintain monthly schedules of new fixed asset additions 
• Post bank payments and receipts not handled at an administrative level 
• Prepare bank reconciliations, including full allocation of transactions and completion of the first-level reconciliation 
• Take ownership of the accounting and reconciliation of all bank accounts within Xero, including both operational and merchant-related accounts, ensuring completeness and accuracy of recorded transactions and closing balances 
• Work closely with the FinOps team to ensure accurate accounting treatment and alignment of merchant fund balances between bank statements, internal records, and the general ledger 
• Ensure timely and accurate recording and reconciliation of bank fees and interest across all accounts, including high-volume transaction fees, with appropriate allocation between cost of sales and operating expenses 
• Maintain accurate cashbook records, including posting and reconciliation of inter-account transfers and other non-standard bank transactions 
• Investigate and resolve reconciling items, variances, and unallocated transactions in a timely manner, escalating where appropriate 
• Prepare ad hoc journal entries relating to merchant activity (e.g. vouchers and adjustments), subject to review 

Compliance & Support Activities  

• Assist with the compilation of creditor-related documentation and schedules required for BEE verifications 
• Assist in maintaining audit readiness by ensuring supporting documentation is complete, organised, and readily available, and by supporting the Senior Accountant with audit submissions and auditor queries 
• Assist with non-routine compliance activities, including internal audit engagements, tax-related matters, and other regulatory requirements, ensuring timely and accurate support across the finance function 
• Contribute to the continuous improvement of finance processes and policies by identifying inefficiencies, proposing enhancements, and supporting implementation of improved controls and workflows 

You are an ideal candidate if you have 

• A completed BCom degree in Accounting or equivalent (essential). 
• 3–5 years’ accounting experience, preferably in a fintech, financial services, payments, or high‑transaction environment. 
• Proven experience across debtors, creditors, and general ledger accounting. 
• Strong understanding of billing structures, invoicing logic, and reconciliation principles. 
• Experience preparing and reviewing journal entries, balance sheet reconciliations, and schedules. 
• Proficiency in accounting systems (e.g. Sage, NetSuite, Xero or similar ERP systems). 
• Strong proficiency in Microsoft Excel, Word, and PowerPoint. 
• Advanced Excel skills, including pivot tables, lookups, and reconciliations. 
• Experience working with large data sets and validating calculations with data or analytics teams. 
• Exceptional attention to detail with a strong focus on accuracy and completeness. 
• Strong problem‑solving skills, particularly when investigating variances, queries, or escalations. 
• Ability to manage multiple deadlines and prioritise in a fast‑moving environment. 
• Confident communicator, able to engage with internal stakeholders and external partners (merchants, distributors, suppliers). 
• Strong sense of ownership and accountability for assigned processes.