Management Accountant – Water & Sanitation for Urban Population
Job Description
Department: WSUP Secretariat – Global Finance team
Place of work: WSUP Programme Country Office, Accra (Hybrid arrangement)
Contract: Fixed term – 12 months
Salary: GHA 93,195 (annual/gross)
Reports to: Senior Management Accountant
ABOUT WSUP
Water and Sanitation for Urban Populations (WSUP) is a not-for-profit company that drives
inclusive and resilient urban water and sanitation systems through pioneering practices,
partnerships, and policies. Established in 2005 in response to the rapid expansion of cities unable
to meet the demand for clean water and sanitation, WSUP works to ensure that low-income
communities have access to these essential services.
We collaborate with local service providers to strengthen their capacity, develop infrastructure,
and attract investment, ensuring that water and sanitation services are financially viable and
reach the most vulnerable urban residents. Beyond direct service delivery, we work with
governments and regulators to create an enabling environment for sustainable solutions.
As a global leader in urban water and sanitation, we are committed to sharing evidence-based
insights and scalable innovations to drive systemic change. WSUP operates in seven countries
across sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, supported by a UK-based office. Since our inception, we have
helped over 42 million people gain access to improved water, sanitation, and hygiene services. For
more information about WSUP’s vision and approach, see www.wsup.com.
WSUP’s innovative approach to creating impact is guided by our values, which are the common
fundamental beliefs and principles that inform our approach and work. All our staff are expected to
embody these values in their day-to-day work and interactions. To learn more about our values,
please see Work with us – WSUP
ABOUT THE ROLE
We’re looking for a proactive Management Accountant to be responsible for meeting WSUP’s
management reporting requirements, assist with WSUP’s funder reporting requirements in
accordance with funders’ contracts and compliance rules, working closely with the country teams
to ensure timely recharges of timesheets. The role provides collaborative financial and technical
support in budget preparation, financial accounts, management accounts, project reports, and
year end audit reports and schedules.
Finance has been a centralised function in WSUP, with limited delegation of financial
responsibilities to the country programme teams. This is now changing. The local finance teams
collect data and invoices, make payments, and input to our finance systems, supported and
overseen by the Secretariat finance team. It is intended to decentralise the finance function,
providing more responsibility and autonomy within the WSUP framework, to the Country Managers
(CMs) and finance leads in country to improve efficiencies, produce monthly reports on a timely
basis, and be more cost effective.
JOB DESCRIPTION
Main responsibilities & tasks
- Funder budgets and reports
- Assist the Senior Management Accountant with producing funder budgets for new
projects. - Upload funder budget templates to Xledger accounting system in a timely manner.
- On initiation of funder contracts, set up new funder analysis codes in the Xledger
accounting system. - Maintain funder budget records for all funders in a logical and consistent manner.
- Assist with posting monthly global support recharges into Xledger.
- Assist with the production of accurate monthly funder reports.
- Management accounting
- Assist the Director of Finance and Senior Management Accountant in the preparation of
the annual organisational budgets and quarterly reforecasts by cost centre and entity. - Assist with the upload of budgets and forecasts into Xledger.
- Assist with the production of monthly management reports, cost centre reports,
cashflow forecasts, restricted fund reports, and general fund reports.
- Timesheet recharges
- Assist with producing monthly timesheet funder codes and hours available information
for each member of staff in the country teams and Secretariat. - Support the timely completion of timesheets each month.
- Assist with posting timesheet recharges to the Xledger accounting system, querying any
errors and missing information.
- Finance Support to Country Teams and Balance Sheet Reconciliations
- Provide day-to-day finance support to one or more country teams, including
answering routine queries, clarifying financial processes, and helping colleagues
follow WSUP’s financial procedures. - Collaborate with colleagues across departments (e.g., Programmes, People &
Support, Fundraising, Communications, etc) to ensure smooth, timely financial
operations and resolve issues as they arise. - Maintain good working relationships with all teams by providing clear guidance on
finance requirements such as coding, documentation standards, and monthly
deadlines. - Carry out balance sheet reconciliations including debtors, creditors, bank accounts,
cash advances and resolve any issues that arise. - Assist with posting reconciling transactions that arise each month.
- Ensure that balance sheet accounts are reconciled and up to date.
- Year end audit support
- Support the Director of Finance and Senior Management Accountant with the
collation and preparation of the year end group accounts, analyses, and audit
schedules. - Upload documentation to the auditor’s online portal including payroll, supplier and
banking documentation and analyses and liaise with in-country finance officers as
necessary. - Provide explanations and answer any queries the auditor might have in regard to the
documentation presented.
- Other
- Participate in finance meetings and share skills with colleagues within the Global Finance
Team. - Contribute to the improvement of team processes and policies considering relevant
standards, best practice and organisational needs. - Perform any additional tasks as reasonably requested by the Director of Finance and
Senior Management Accountant.
- Computing software
WSUP’s accounting software is Xledger both for inputting data into the ledger and for
reporting. Training will be provided as required. Excel spreadsheets, often employing
advanced functions, are used extensively.
Country Programme finances are organised as follows:
Branch office registration:
- A local bank account is usually maintained.
- Perform any additional tasks as reasonably requested by the Director of Finance and
Senior Management Accountant. - Local country programme staff are employed directly by WSUP and paid from the local
account. - Local office running costs, including contractual payments to local suppliers, consultants
and staff are paid through the local bank account. - Local subsidiaries e.g. WSUP Zambia and Clean Team Ghana
- Local WSUP staff are usually employed either directly by the subsidiary or through a
hosting arrangement. - Contractual payments to local suppliers, consultants and WSUP Members are paid either
by the subsidiary or by the WSUP UK Finance Team.
JOB SPECIFICATION
Evidence that applicants meet the essential criteria will be assessed by the following methods:
Application (A), Interview (I), Test (T), as indicated below.
Essential requirements
Experience and knowledge - Part-qualified or fully qualified accountant (CCAB or equivalent) (A)
- Experience of working with accounting software and writing reports e.g. Xledger finance
system or similar (A+I) - Experience of managing accounting controls in the context of a month end close (A) (I)
- Experience in working with overseas currencies (A+I)
- Good understanding of fundamental accounting principles and able to apply them in
practice (A+I) - Good understanding of IT systems and processes, including Microsoft environment and
cloud-based applications (A+I) - Good understanding of the month-end close process and balance sheet reconciliations
(A+I) - Good understanding of payroll accounting and journals (I+T)
Skills - Strong numeracy skills (A)
- Excellent Excel skills, including experience of using complex formulae and functions (T)
- Evaluation and analytical skills (I+T)
- Meticulous attention to detail whilst meeting deadlines (A+I)
- Ability to communicate financial matters clearly to a range of different audiences,
including non-finance specialists (A+I) - Strong written and verbal communication skills (A+I)
- Organisational and time management skills, including prioritisation (A+I)
- Ability to build and maintain effective relationships with internal and external partners at
all levels (A+I) - Solutions-oriented approach (A+I)
- Completer/ finisher’ able to follow through actions and chase progress (A+I)
Attributes - Commitment to the vision and aims of WSUP (A+I)
- Demonstrable enthusiasm for continuous learning (I).
- Resilient, self-starter, able to act on initiative (A+I).
- A team player willing to assist other members of the team when necessary (A+I).
Desirable - Liaison with international projects and/or offices – including offices in developing
countries – in a multi‐currency environment (A+I). - Barclays Bank B.Net and ABSA Bank online banking experience (A).
- Barclaycard online card administration system experience (A)
- Ability to speak and read French or Portuguese would be an advantage (A).
HOW TO APPLY
To apply for this position, go to https://www.wsup.com/vacancies/ to upload your resume and
cover letter by Friday, 3 April 2026. Please apply as soon as possible as the advert may close early
due to a high response.
Please note: Applicants must have the right to work in the country they are apply for at the
time of application. Please do not apply if this is not the case. Unfortunately, we do not sponsor
visas.
While we value innovation and emerging technologies, we kindly ask that applicants refrain
from using AI tools to write their applications, take assessments and during their interviews.
We are seeking authentic, personal responses that reflect your own experiences in your own
voice.
EMPLOYMENT ELIGIBILITY AND SAFEGUARDING DISCLOSURE
All offers of employment will be subject to satisfactory references and appropriate screening
checks, which can include criminal records and terrorism finance checks. WSUP also participates
in the Inter-Agency Misconduct Disclosure Scheme.
The core of the scheme is that participating organisations will share information in the
recruitment process about safeguarding-related misconduct (i.e. sexual exploitation, sexual
abuse or sexual harassment) that a candidate has been found to have committed.
This information will be shared in the form of a “Statement of Conduct”. For more information on
the Scheme, please click on the following link: www.misconduct-disclosure-scheme.org.
In line with this Scheme, we will request information from job applicants’ previous employers about
any findings of sexual exploitation, sexual abuse and/or sexual harassment during employment, or
incidents under investigation when the applicant left employment. We will request information
from all of your employers from the last five years. By applying, the job applicant confirms their
understanding of these recruitment procedures.