Payroll Consultant

ABOUT US

Nawiri Group operates a portfolio of leading responsible travel companies and is a core partner of impact organisations and initiatives in some of the greatest, globally important natural wilderness areas on the African continent. Our roots date back to the nineties when some of the companies within Nawiri Group were first established. Across various brands, we employ more than 1,100 people and have a footprint of 20 camps and lodges in Kenya and Tanzania and commercial and support offices in multiple countries.

Our commitment to making a positive impact in the wilderness areas and local communities where we operate has earned us international recognition, including our first B-Corp certification, the first in Africa, over a decade ago.

As a certified B Corp, Nawiri Group and its multi award winning companies are deeply committed to the well-being of natural ecosystems and local communities. We have ambitious growth plans and are expanding our operational, commercial, analytical and technology capabilities to enable the further scaling of both our guest experiences and travel offerings as well as our positive impact activities in the region.

Why should you work for us?

• Become a part of a purpose driven company, a certified B Corporation, which harnesses the power of business for the greater good.

• Join a group that has been consistently pioneering and innovating at the frontier of responsible travel

• Through your day-to-day work achieve meaningful impact both on the business, customers and our foundation

• Enjoy the flexibility of a hybrid working arrangement to get the most out of your working hours. Combine work in one of the Nawiri Group offices, located in the picturesque cities of Cape Town, Nairobi, Arusha, and London, with the option of remote work.

• Collaborate with outstanding coworkers and teams who strive for excellence.

• Join a community that has continuously led the way in our industry, ranging from creating cutting-edge technology platforms to incorporating groundbreaking solar-powered water purification technology into our guest experiences through a microbrewery in a remote corner of the Serengeti.

ROLE SUMMARY

Payroll Consultant for a group of companies in the travel industry with a focus on payroll processing and accounting for South African entities as well as working with the Financial Manager and HR Executives within the group for HR and payroll reporting requirements.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Commission

• Management of commission calculations, ensuring accurate calculations of commission due to staff/contractors

• Processing of commission payments to the GL ensuring correct/accurate GL accounts and periods used, reporting costs accurately

• Monthly calculation of commission to sales consultants

• Review commission calculations with Junior Financial Manager

• Forward commission statements to staff/contractors for review

• Attend promptly to any queries regarding commission calculations

• Capture sales consultant commission payment batch in normal banking profile and take to relevant parties to release

• Process independent contractor payments in Standard Bank current account cash book

Payroll

• Calculation and management of salaries ensuring staff are paid accurately and timely, recoveries of all relevant costs from staff salaries and related entries are captured correctly to the GL accounts and cost centres

• Monthly receiving of all salary information, ensuring that all salary changes are authorised and correct documentation is received

• Capturing of all payroll changes on SAGE 300 People

• Monthly reconciliation of staff loans schedule, ensuring all staff loans are recovered timely and pre-authorised by management

• Monthly reconciliation and update incentive schedule

• Print and reconcile Earnings and Deductions lists (payroll schedules)

• Review salaries with Junior Financial Manager

• Publish payslips to ESS; Assist with payslips queries or requests timely

• Import salary journal into in accounting system and ensure excel salary spreadsheet net pay agrees to accounting system salary import and salary payments made from salary bank account

• Process salary month end journals for errors and losses, staff loans, salary cost allocations.

Company benefits management

• Ensure company benefits are consistently applied across all South African payroll entities.

• Perform the monthly reconciliation of the benefits schedule/statement received from the medical aid schemes, retirement and pension funds to the total benefits in SAGE 300 People.

• Processing payment to the medical aid schemes, retirement and pension funds monthly.

• Liaising with the company brokers on any group benefit related matters.

Statutory submissions and filing with the relevant governing body

• Bi-annual payroll taxes reconciliation and filing of returns on SARS E-filing (IRP5 reconciliations)

• Annual payroll taxes reconciliation and filing of returns on SARS E-filing (EMP501)

• Monthly payroll taxes reconciliation and filing of returns on SARS E-filing (EMP201)

• Assist HR with annual CATHSETA reporting.

• Prepare and submit annual WCA Return of earnings.

• Collaborate with HR for the completion of UIF forms (staff on maternity leave)

GL Management

• Ensure monthly journals are processed accurately and timely to the correct GL accounts and relevant reconciliations are being performed:

  • Payroll costs import from SAGE 300 People journal

  • Commission deductions journal

  • Salary incentives accruals journal

  • Salary deduction journals

•  Monthly review of balance sheet accounts - supporting schedules and recons for all balances

  • Payroll Liability accounts (Medical Aid Control, Company Benefits Control, Salary Control, UIF Control, PAYE control, SDL control, Staff loans Control)

  • Accrued Leave

Payroll and HR Reporting

• Maintain and update HR and payroll reporting ensuring that they are updated timely, focusing on accuracy and usefulness of data

• Monthly: Update the HR reports once month end is completed, among other:

  • Staff turnover

  •  Payroll cost analysis Masterfile update for all South African entities

  • Accrued leave balances – flagging excessive balances to managers, etc.

• Monthly: Update the Payroll reports once month end is completed

• Ad hoc reporting requests from HR Managers, Financial Manager and Managing Director

Error and Loss

• Ensure all error and losses recorded are reported to Management and recovered from staff or authorisation received for write off, minimising risk on unrecovered errors

• Monthly update of the error and loss report and send to Team Leaders/Managers

• Follow up on outstanding errors to ensure prompt recovery from staff

• Recording of error and loss forms received on the Under/Over spreadsheet

• Monthly update of the error and loss report on the MIS reporting directory

Yearend / Audit

• Assist Financial Managers for the South African entities in year end and audit of the payroll accounting to ensure a smooth audit/year end with accurate reporting and minimal audit queries

• Assist in yearend preparation of schedules for audit file

• Assist in yearend supplying information requested and resolving audit queries

Backup for roles within department

• Keep up to date on Payroll Accountant role and serve as a backup when required

General

• Ensure monthly filing is up to date and filed in the correct files/sections

• Maintenance of email inbox and sub-folders

  • Timely response to emails and queries sent to the central payroll email box.

Quarterly objectives

• Achieve all agreed goals, objectives and targets on a periodical and annual basis

• Set quarterly objectives for yourself and manage against achieved objectives

QUALIFICATIONS

• BCom in Accounting or Diploma in Bookkeeping

SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

• Minimum of 5 years of experience in payroll processing, including payroll accounting, reconciliations, and managing statutory requirements such as PAYE, UIF, and SDL.

• Proficient in managing international finances, adhering to IFRS standards, and handling multi-country and multi-currency accounting.

• Strong knowledge of accounting systems and procedures, with hands-on experience in SAGE 300 People and familiarity with SAGE Accpac (advantageous).

• Skilled in negotiating, reviewing, and interpreting contracts to ensure compliance with applicable standards and regulations.

• Background in the travel industry (advantageous).

EMPLOYMENT EQUITY

At Nawiri Group, we are committed to fostering diversity and inclusion. We encourage Employment Equity candidates and individuals with disabilities to apply. As an equal opportunities employer, we believe that a diverse workforce is key to our success. We welcome applications from individuals of all backgrounds, regardless of age, gender, disability, sexual orientation, race, religion, or beliefs.