National Fixed Assets Controller

Job Purpose

• To ensure effective control, management, accounting, and reporting of the company's fixed assets across all regions nationally. The role is responsible for maintaining the fixed asset register, ensuring compliance with accounting standards and company policies, safeguarding company assets, coordinating asset verification processes, and supporting accurate financial reporting and audit requirements.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage and maintain the national fixed asset register by ensuring all asset acquisitions, transfers, disposals, impairments, and retirements are accurately recorded, classified, and supported by the appropriate documentation. Ensure the register remains complete, accurate, and aligned to financial records.
• Administer the fixed asset accounting process including asset capitalization, depreciation calculations, useful life reviews, residual value assessments, impairment assessments, and asset disposals in accordance with IFRS, accounting standards, and company policies.
• Perform monthly reconciliations between the fixed asset register and the General Ledger, investigating discrepancies, processing corrective entries, and ensuring all balances are accurately reflected in financial reports.
• Provide financial control over capital expenditure (CAPEX) by reviewing project expenditure, validating asset capitalization criteria, monitoring project closures, and ensuring approved capital projects are accurately transferred into the fixed asset register upon completion.
• Process purchase orders and investment orders within SAP to support the acquisition, capitalization, and management of fixed assets and capital expenditure projects across the business.
• Manage CAPEX approval workflows by coordinating the submission, review, routing, and authorization of capital expenditure requests in line with approved budgets, policies, and delegated authority limits.
• Monitor and control capital expenditure projects, ensuring that approved CAPEX spending is accurately tracked, recorded, and capitalized upon project completion.
• Process weekly supplier payments through SAP, prepare CAPEX payment forecasts, and validate payment runs to ensure timely settlement of supplier obligations while maintaining cash flow visibility and financial control.
• Prepare and analyse CAPEX expenditure reports and forecasts, monitoring budget utilization and highlighting potential risks, variances, and overspending to management.
• Prepare weekly and monthly Stanfleet reporting, including fuel, repairs, maintenance costs, and related journals, ensuring the accurate recording, allocation, and reconciliation of fleet-related assets and expenses.
• Coordinate annual and cyclical asset verification programmes across all operational sites to confirm the existence, location, condition, and ownership of assets. Investigate variances, losses, and unrecorded assets, and recommend corrective actions to management.
• Establish and monitor fixed asset control procedures to safeguard company assets, minimize financial risk, improve asset visibility, and ensure compliance with internal control requirements and governance standards.
• Prepare and analyse monthly, quarterly, and annual fixed asset reports including depreciation reports, capital expenditure analyses, asset movement schedules, asset ageing reports, and management reporting packs to support business decision-making.
• Partner with operational, procurement, engineering, IT, and finance teams to ensure all fixed asset transactions are accurately recorded and that asset-related activities are executed in accordance with approved policies and procedures.
• Support budgeting and forecasting processes by providing insights into asset replacement requirements, planned capital investments, depreciation forecasts, and asset lifecycle costs to assist with strategic financial planning.
• Lead audit engagements relating to fixed assets by preparing audit schedules, providing supporting documentation, resolving audit queries, and implementing recommendations arising from internal and external audits.
• Monitor compliance with accounting standards, statutory requirements, and company policies by conducting regular reviews of asset-related transactions and ensuring consistency in the application of accounting treatments across all business units.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives within the fixed asset management environment by identifying process inefficiencies, implementing automation opportunities, improving reporting capability, and enhancing asset governance and control frameworks.
• Provide technical guidance and training to finance and operational teams on fixed asset policies, capitalization principles, asset tracking requirements, and compliance obligations to improve understanding and adherence across the business.
• Identify and mitigate asset-related risks by monitoring asset utilisation, reviewing asset performance trends, ensuring timely disposal of redundant assets, and escalating significant control weaknesses or financial risks to management.

Key Relationships

Internal

• Finance Managers
• Business Unit Leaders
• Operations Managers
• Procurement Teams
• Supply Chain Teams
• IT Departments
• Regional Management

External

• Auditors
• Asset Verification Service Providers
• ERP System Vendors
• Consultants
• The incumbent is required to maintain strong professional working relationships to ensure accurate asset control and reporting.

Qualifications, Skills and Experience Required for the Job

Qualifications and Experience

• Bachelor's Degree in Accounting, Finance, Commerce, or related field.
• Professional accounting qualification (CA(SA), CIMA, ACCA, SAIPA, or equivalent) advantageous.
• Advanced Microsoft Excel qualification or demonstrated advanced proficiency.
• Knowledge of IFRS and fixed asset accounting principles.

Experience and Training

• Minimum 5 to 8 years' experience within finance, accounting, or fixed asset management.
• At least 3 years' experience managing a large fixed asset portfolio within a multi-site environment.
• Experience in reconciliation, financial reporting, and month-end procedures.
• Experience working with ERP systems and asset management modules.
• Previous experience supporting audits and compliance reviews.

Skills and Competencies

• Strong knowledge of fixed asset accounting and asset lifecycle management.
• Sound understanding of IFRS, taxation implications, and financial controls.
• Experience with ERP systems such as SAP, Oracle, Syspro, Dynamics, or similar.
• Advanced Excel skills including Pivot Tables, VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, Power Query, and reporting tools.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving capability.
• Excellent attention to detail and high levels of accuracy.
• Project management and organizational skills.
• Strong stakeholder engagement and relationship management.
• Ability to interpret financial and operational data.
• Knowledge of internal control frameworks and audit requirements.