Accounts Payable Intern

📋 Description

• • Join the African Leadership University (ALU) as an Accounts Payable Intern and play a crucial role in supporting the financial health and operational efficiency of our transformative educational institution.
• • At ALU, we are dedicated to developing ethical and entrepreneurial leaders for Africa's future through an innovative curriculum and experiential learning. Our Finance team is integral to this mission, ensuring robust financial operations that enable us to deliver exceptional educational experiences.
• • As an Accounts Payable Intern, you will gain invaluable hands-on experience within our structured, process-driven finance environment, working closely with the Accounts Payable, Treasury, and Procurement teams.
• • This junior support role is designed to provide comprehensive exposure to core finance operations, with a specific focus on the Accounts Payable and Expense Management functions.
• • You will be instrumental in providing operational and administrative support, ensuring the smooth processing of invoices, meticulous maintenance of vendor documentation, and accurate preparation of payment lists.
• • Your responsibilities will extend to maintaining precise Accounts Payable records and conducting thorough reviews of employee expense claims, including preliminary General Ledger (GL) coding for various expenses such as travel, accommodation, and meals across all ALU entities.
• • Working under the direct supervision of the AP / Finance Associate, you will be a key support to the wider Finance team, contributing directly to our financial integrity and operational excellence.
• • *Invoice Processing & AP Operations:**
• • Accurately capture and process a high volume of supplier invoices within our accounting/ERP system, ensuring timely and correct recording.
• • Diligently validate invoices against corresponding purchase orders, contracts, and other approved documentation to ensure accuracy and compliance.
• • Meticulously check the accuracy of invoice coding, verify tax treatment (including VAT/WHT where applicable), and confirm the completeness of all supporting documents.
• • Ensure that all invoices are recorded within the agreed timelines and adhere strictly to payment cut-off dates to maintain financial accuracy.
• • Proactively follow up on any pending approvals or missing information required for invoice processing, escalating issues promptly when necessary to ensure workflow continuity.
• • *Vendor Management & Data Maintenance:**
• • Actively support the vendor onboarding process by collecting, verifying, and organizing essential documentation, including bank details, tax documents, and reconciliation information.
• • Maintain the accuracy and up-to-dateness of all vendor records within the financial system, ensuring data integrity.
• • Guarantee that all vendor master data changes are processed only after obtaining proper approvals and submitting complete documentation, upholding strict data governance.
• • *Payment Processing Support:**
• • Assist in the preparation of scheduled payment runs, including mid-month and month-end payment cycles, ensuring efficiency and accuracy.
• • Maintain detailed payment trackers, comprehensive invoice ageing reports, and organized payment readiness lists to support financial planning and execution.
• • Ensure that all invoices included in payment runs are fully approved and compliant with internal policies and procedures before processing.
• • Provide assistance with urgent payment requests, ensuring that correct escalation channels and approval workflows are strictly followed to meet critical business needs.
• • *Reconciliations & Month-End Support:**
• • Aid in performing supplier statement reconciliations, identifying any discrepancies between internal records and supplier statements.
• • Proactively identify and escalate any discrepancies found during reconciliations to the appropriate personnel for timely resolution.
• • Support crucial month-end closing activities for Accounts Payable, including assisting with accruals, prepayment allocations, and conducting thorough invoice cut-off checks to ensure accurate financial reporting.
• • *Administrative & Compliance Support:**
• • Maintain a highly organized system for all Accounts Payable documentation, ensuring easy retrieval for audit and compliance purposes.
• • Strictly adhere to established segregation of duties and approval workflows to maintain internal control effectiveness.
• • Support internal and external audits by efficiently preparing and providing required documentation and information.
• • Ensure unwavering adherence to all finance policies, procedures, and internal control frameworks, upholding the highest standards of financial governance.
• • *Travel & Expense (T&E) Management Support:**
• • Conduct thorough reviews of employee expense claims, verifying completeness and validating supporting receipts against policy.
• • Ensure all submitted expense claims are in strict compliance with the company's travel and expense policy.
• • Perform preliminary GL coding for various expense categories, including travel, accommodation, meals, and other related expenses, ensuring accurate financial classification.
• • Diligently flag any policy exceptions or non-compliant items for review by the appropriate finance personnel.
• • Support the preparation of employee reimbursements as part of scheduled payment runs, ensuring timely and accurate processing.
• • Collaborate closely with the People Operations and Finance teams to streamline and support the overall reimbursement and claims processing workflow.
• • Uphold ALU’s comprehensive safeguarding policy, maintaining a zero-tolerance approach to any violations of safeguarding standards to ensure the safety and well-being of all individuals associated with the university.