James Combey
Kissy
Summary
Finance professional with 12+ years of progressive experience supporting, coordinating and, in some instances, leading finance operations in the non-profit and private-sector organizations. Skilled at monitoring KPIs and tackling time-sensitive deliverables: budgets, month and year-end closing actions, forecasting project/Programme and entity-wide expenditure, and completing financial reports for a wide variety of donors.
Overview
15
15
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Financial Accountant
SICPA (SL) Ltd
10.2023 - Current
- Optimized processing of transactions on SAP consistent with company policies and applicable finance standards
- Administer General ledger and sub-ledgers (the Chart of Accounts) to support effective classification of transactions for smooth, compliant, and accurate financial reports
- Apply relevant tax laws on transactions and effect prompt settlement of fiscal and other statutory liabilities
- Support timely closure of financial periods; supported year-end processes in December 2023
- Reconciled key balance sheet accounts, including monthly bank reconciliation
- Analyze monthly purchase price variances (PPV) and make appropriate adjustments in SAP
- Streamlined payroll processing through automation improvements resulting in reduced errors and increased efficiency
- Prepare bills and settlement reports for respective customers; introduced KPI for receivables
- Liaising with customers on settling outstanding invoices
- Updated material prices & vendors accounts in SAP.
Grant Finance Specialist
Plan International Sierra Leone
09.2019 - 09.2023
- Prepared financial reports for donor-funded projects (EU, Comic Relief/FCDO, Dubai Cares, MFA Netherland, BMZ, Unilever foundation, GPE/World Bank, etc.)
- Designed, for management use, project profitability monitoring reports for 'The Integrated School Feeding projects' with annual budget exceeding ten (10) Million Euros in FYs 22 and 23
- Coordinated the submission of fully costed proposal budgets in line with Plan's approved annual cost ratio and respective donor budget guidelines
- Facilitated training sessions at start-up meetings on financial management and grant compliance for Plan and implementing partner staff
- Facilitated training sessions on project management system and tools
- Prepared/designed project monitoring reports in local currency (BvAs) to assess budget/expenditure performance and assist project managers complete their quarterly budget alignment (Country KPI)
- Developed Excel tool used to analyze payroll costs recovery monthly
- This facilitated the timely and accurate recovery of payroll costs on multiple funding sources
- Analyzed central overhead costs (apportionable costs) monthly, updated and ran automatic cost apportionment tool in SAP CO, achieved unprecedented levels of costs apportioned to grants and met a regional KPI for FY23
- Completed monthly grants income reconciliation for submission to the Global hub (Plan HQ)
- Improved turn-around time with record accuracy in grants set-up
- Met consistently global KPI scores on grants management and budget re-forecast
- Overdue grant report was reduced by more than 50% within a month and brought down to nil by June 2023
- Grant spend KPI maintained a green status due to accurate planning and spend forecast
- Skilled at working independently and collaboratively in a team environment
- Proven ability to develop and implement creative solutions to complex problems.
Interim Country Finance Manager
Plan International
11.2021 - 04.2022
- Led timely completion and submission of country program annual budget of €15m for FY23 (Mar 2022)
- Coordinated annual budget submission for FY24, working with eight (8) project managers to reforecast their budget for new FY
- Submitted five-year financial forecasts along with key assumptions (Mar 2022)
- Completed country program KP06 report (budget re-forecast, cashflow planning report) (Sep 2020)
- Prepared and presented finance quarterly KPI reports at Country Leadership Team (CLT) and Extended Country Leadership Team (ECLT) Multiple times
- Supervised and led team of five (5) on all finance deliverables for more than 8 months in total (Aug-Nov'20 and Nov21-Apr'22)
- Coordinated due diligence assessments on finance and grants management for potential implementing partners
- Optimized financial resource allocation by conducting in-depth variance analysis and adjusting spending plans according to evolving business needs
- Enhanced financial reporting accuracy by conducting thorough analysis and reconciliation of accounts
- Developed insightful financial presentations for executive leadership, guiding strategic decision-making processes
- Mentored junior finance professionals, fostering culture of continuous learning and career development within finance department
- Led finance team to deliver timely and accurate month-end closing, enhancing overall efficiency
- Strengthened internal controls, ensuring compliance with company policies and regulatory requirements.
Ag Operations Manager, GECT Project
Plan International Sierra Leone
02.2020 - 03.2020
- Completed and submitted budget revision for Plan and Partner FAWE (Jan2020)
- Prepared and submitted separate and consolidated financial reports for Plan and FAWE (Feb2020)
- Advised Consortium partners on monthly budget exchange rates (Jan & Feb 2020).
Senior/Country Accountant
Plan International Sierra Leone
02.2017 - 08.2019
- Analyzed cash needs and uploaded approved country cash requests on 'Business Planning and Consolidation' (BPC) platform on fortnightly basis
- Introduced, as lead accountant, a focused Review of financial documents using checklists
- Reduced average transactions processing time by 25% through effective staff engagement and delegation, capacity building and improved system practices
- Led timely financial closing processes at month and year ends ensuring all actions were completed and key balance sheet accounts reconciled (02/2017 - 08/2019)
- Reduced reconciling items on monthly bank reconciliation statements from over 200 confused items to under 30 traceable items in three months
- Analyzed country finance data and helped CO resolved issues of overspending that was already a concern at regional office at the time (Feb/mar 2017)
- Ensured taxes were deducted as due and paid over on time to the National Revenue Authority
- Completed quarterly financial reports (Pack 2) for country program; ensured accuracy and completeness while also complying with applicable accounting standards
- Assisted audits operations and also supported the implementation of action points.
Senior Accounts Officer (GL Supervisor)
Dangote Cement (SL) Ltd
07.2016 - 01.2017
- Coordinated detailed units budget submission and consolidated the master budget for fiscal year 2017 with key assumptions and forecasts
- Supervised GL operations and managed the chart of accounts and cost Centre assignments
- Supported the preparation of month-end and year-end financial reports up to 31st December 2016
- Led month-end and year-end finance GL closing processes
- Acted as key resource person on SAP (finance & controlling) and provided additional support/hands-on training on SAP to finance staff
- Led a successful GL clean-up exercise which reconciled significant variances between legacy records and SAP.
Program Accountant
Plan International Sierra Leone
09.2012 - 11.2016
- Performed all actions necessary for effective cashflow management at the program unit level
- Processed payments and program advances within set thresholds
- Provided support to the PU staff on budget management matters
- Reviewed invoices and program budgets
- Prepared PU Financial reports and bank reconciliation statements.
Accounts Officer
Arik Air Limited
07.2009 - 09.2012
- Prepared annual operating budget for Sierra Leone duty station along with initial monthly spend forecasts
- Managed finance relationships with other institutions, banks, NRA, suppliers etc
- Approved daily cash sales reports and filed relevant supporting documents
- Reviewed and recommended invoices for payment
- Negotiated contract for handling services securing 30% cost reduction
- Processed payroll and managed monthly statutory payment compliance
- Completed monthly bank reconciliation
- Operationalized proposals for converting refund requests to instant cash credits available for new tickets
- Managed corporate deposit accounts initiative
- Led on customer Grievances management and litigations.
Education
B.Sc. (Hon) Accounting -
Bayero University, Kano
Kano, Nigeria11.2007
Skills
- MS Office (Advanced Excel, Power Pivot, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook etc)
- Financial Reporting & Analysis (entity, projects, and donor reports)
- Computer and Data Analysis : SAP, SAP BI, Power BI, BPC, Dynamics GP)
- Project Systems Management (SAP PS, Projects & Programmes module-PPM)
- Tax compliance
- Finance Process and Internal Controls Mapping
- Interpersonal and communication skills
Certification
- Executive Diploma in Data Analytics, Athena Global Education (UNIATHENA), 06/01/23, https://docs.uniathena.com/prod/course/certificate/125_1687011133_certificate.jpg
- Essentials of Data Visualization Using MS Excel, Athena Global Education / Acacia University, 04/01/23, https://docs.uniathena.com/prod/course/certificate/124_1684885912_certificate.jpg
- USAID Rules and Regulations: Grants and Cooperative Agreements, Humentum, 09/01/22
- Internal Audit for Government of Sierra Leone Internal Auditors, Sarante Tutorials Consultancy, Sierra Leone, 11/01/08
- Certificate in Public Sector Management, Institute of Public Administration & Management, University of Sierra Leone, 08/01/08
Timeline
Financial Accountant
SICPA (SL) Ltd
10.2023 - Current
Interim Country Finance Manager
Plan International
11.2021 - 04.2022
Ag Operations Manager, GECT Project
Plan International Sierra Leone
02.2020 - 03.2020
Grant Finance Specialist
Plan International Sierra Leone
09.2019 - 09.2023
Senior/Country Accountant
Plan International Sierra Leone
02.2017 - 08.2019
Senior Accounts Officer (GL Supervisor)
Dangote Cement (SL) Ltd
07.2016 - 01.2017
Program Accountant
Plan International Sierra Leone
09.2012 - 11.2016
Accounts Officer
Arik Air Limited
07.2009 - 09.2012
- Executive Diploma in Data Analytics, Athena Global Education (UNIATHENA), 06/01/23, https://docs.uniathena.com/prod/course/certificate/125_1687011133_certificate.jpg
- Essentials of Data Visualization Using MS Excel, Athena Global Education / Acacia University, 04/01/23, https://docs.uniathena.com/prod/course/certificate/124_1684885912_certificate.jpg
- USAID Rules and Regulations: Grants and Cooperative Agreements, Humentum, 09/01/22
- Internal Audit for Government of Sierra Leone Internal Auditors, Sarante Tutorials Consultancy, Sierra Leone, 11/01/08
- Certificate in Public Sector Management, Institute of Public Administration & Management, University of Sierra Leone, 08/01/08
B.Sc. (Hon) Accounting -
Bayero University, Kano
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