Finance Officer – Aldar Education (Temporary)

Aldar Education are currently seeking Finance Officers (Temporary) to support our growing family of owned and operated schools based in HQ office, Abu Dhabi. The successful candidates will be closely aligned with our core values and ethos and possess a genuine understanding and appreciation of the values of the region.

As the leading education group in Abu Dhabi, we provide inclusive and innovative learning that inspires and empowers communities. We offer a range of brands for all learners in our community, from nursery through to adult education.  We offer the broadest choice of curricula. In the largest number of locations in Abu Dhabi.

Starting with one school and 250 students in 2007, Aldar Education has grown into a highly sought-after education provider, now supporting over 38,000 students in 31 schools and a growing network of almost 5,000 educators, with over 100 nationalities, offering a wide range of curricula and ancillary services such as a Teacher Training Academy.

Working collaboratively, our education network’s purpose is to empower the next generation to shape our future, directly supporting the educational goals of Abu Dhabi’s government. Today, Aldar Education’s efforts are guided by the Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030 plan, which aims to build a sustainable knowledge-based economy through premium education.To manage and achieve AE education/non-education recruitment objectives and meet the organization staffing needs.

This position is responsible for invoicing, receipting and contacting parents. Offer supper with receivable reconciliation and month end closing for AR module in co-ordination with School and Group Finance teams

Main Duties:

• Respond to parents’ requirements and inquiries relating to fees payment.
• Manage the collection of tuition fees late payments
• Follow up late payments and returned cheques.
• Manage students lists, and all related information and send them to HQ for payment.

Specific Duties:

Strategic Responsibilities 

Support the Assistant Finance Manager – Credit Control in developing and executing, collection strategy that supports student enrolment and retention plan to meet our financial targets.

Functional Responsibilities 

• Responsible of delivering a high quality customer service across all AA. .
• Issue receipts on a daily basis with accurate information such as bank reference number, date, etc and ensure the reason is updated against all unidentified transactions and shared with respective school accountants for preparing bank reconciliation statement
• Improve collection and reduce bad debt below 0.25%
• Timely closing of AR module in line with closing calendar
• Accurate and Timely reporting for AR reports for decision making
• Prepare revenue recognition accurately at student level in compliance with IFRS 15, with the support of Assistant Manager, Credit controll
• Reconcile Accounts Receivables between Education and ERP systems, identify the gaps and resolve them in co-ordination with IT team
• Initiate write off of receivables with business reason and justification and support AFM- Credit Controller to clean up the ledgers
• Ensure the enrolment processes are followed in compliance with policies and procedures
• Validate refund requests from school and initiate payments through AR module and handover the documents to School Accountant for payment
• Provide finance clearance for leavers and internal transfers after due diligence checks and validation
• Ensure month end activities are performed in a timely manner
• Support Group Finance team for adhoc matters as and when required
• Support internal and external audit queries, provide supporting documents and resolve all audit queries within the timeline
• Initiate process improvement wherever possible to achieve finance excellence
• Support digitalization of billing and collection
• Improve customer experience by responding to emails and calls in a professional manner
• Update annual fee structure in the system and ensure to review with AFM-CC
•  Attend weekly AR review meetings with the team and provide insights for decision making
• Prepare suspension list with appropriate comments and share with school Principal
• Ensure to send finance fee follow up letters timely manner in compliance with ADEK regulation

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting

Minimum Experience:

• 2-3+ Years’ experience in similar role

Job Specific Knowledge & Skills:

• Fluent English communication skills, written and oral. Arabic is an added advantage.
• Attention to detail with diligent follow up, and able to execute in a timely manner.
• Skilled in multi-tasking and handling pressure
• Ability to be detail focused when required whilst maintaining sight of the big picture
• Deadline oriented and take ownership of work
• Forethought and forward planning
• Capable of influencing people and talented in networking with cultural sensitivity.
• Excellent interpersonal skills.
• Excellent analytical capabilities and hands on experience in MS Office presentations and other reporting tools