Card & Merchant Accounting and Control (CMAC) team manages the accounting for $1.3 Tn of Card spend, Remittances and Merchant payments. We manage 80% of Assets, 25% of Liabilities and 50% of AXP Bank accounts. Due to our unique position, we are involved in almost each and every enterprise-wide initiative.
This B30 role will primarily be responsible for managing operational accounting processes for AXP merchants and research & clearance for accounts payable related balance sheet ledgers. This position will also require supporting critical enterprise/finance initiatives like project Orbit, Rainbow, Aquarium, Falcon implementation which aims at modernizing AXP merchant platforms and transforming overall process.
Key responsibilities:
Responsible for maintaining financial integrity of ledgers for Merchant Payable Accounts.
Lead a team responsible for accounting, research & clearance to maintain financial integrity of AP process
Provide SME accounting expertise on various enterprise and technology projects impacting AP accounting and controls
Partner with Key stakeholders in Market / LE / Segment controllership, Treasury, Technology, Automation COE & GFII on new business initiatives, automation, new system implementation etc.
Deliver on the commitment to customers as per agreed timelines, with high quality in a controlled environment.
Improve the process(es), effectiveness, to advance his/her area of functional expertise and to ensure that integrity, control and optimal functionality / efficiency is established, maintained and improved for the assigned processes
Incumbent will serve a critical role in the development and implementation of the process standardization & continuous improvement
Expected to quickly gain detailed understanding of inputs, processes, controls, flows, metrics, risks, SLA and outputs of E2E Merchants process.
The Incumbent shall ensure that all deadlines are continually met and adequate controls are maintained over the processes handled by the team
The incumbent shall ensure compliance with the prevailing Policies and Procedures besides contractual and regulatory requirements as applicable
The Incumbent shall be required, among other things, to maintain close contact with Customer / Business Partners, Technologies and other Interface groups
Required Qualification:
Experience
- Graduate/ Post-graduate in Commerce / MBA Finance with 5-6 years of relevant financial experience
- Must have 3-4 years of experience as People leader and should have led small /medium size finance team
- Sound technical accounting background and experience in accounting and reconciliation process.
- Awareness about financial system upgrade /new features/products support from controllership
Technical
- Awareness of US GAAP/Local GAAP/IFRS (Accounting knowledge)
- Analytical skills with the ability to undertake cause effect analysis
- Knowledge of financial systems preferred
- Basic understanding & appreciation of automation capabilities
Critical Factors to Success:
- Good communication skills (verbal and written)
- Adherence to reporting timelines and requirements
- Ability to communicate with business partners and customers on governance related requirements
- Ability to collaborate across geographies in a matrix structure and deliver on customer expectations
- Good understanding of financial systems and processes as well as control environment
- Strong understanding of end-to-end AR/AP process flow, accounting & reconciliation
- Ability to connect accounting & reporting
- Understanding of operational, SOX & other related control framework compliance
- Ability to research & embed relevant best practices preferred
Problem Solving & Decision Making:
- Personal accountability in ensuring all tasks and activities are carried out in accordance with policy and on timely basis
- Able to perform multiple tasks, work to strict deadlines and prioritize tasks
- Analytical and problem-solving skills to identify and resolve queries and track issues to conclusion
System Knowledge Preferred
- Oracle GL
- Front end AP systems
- Advanced MS Office
- Expert knowledge of FIS Intellimatch – Reconciliation system
- OBIEE, Essbase,
- Gen AI