Leonard Lorna

 Lorna Leonard Mobile: - Email:-LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/lorna-leonard-a4 SummarySkilled and detail-orientated Accountant with 20 years’ experience in the accounting sector, holding a national Diploma in Accounting and studying towards a BCom degree in international accounting. Well versed in various ERM and accounting platforms coupled with excellent financial management, accounting and reconciliation acumen. Exhibits strong problem-solving skills, a proven ability to work independently and as part of a team. Experience Accountant (Project Accountant) USAID 08/2020 – present Groenkloof, Pretoria Accounting duties Preparing, reviewing and posting journal vouchers to adjust accounts and records in Phoenix as identified through monthly accounts review and analysis of funding allocations, advances, and any payments processed in Phoenix (and ERP financial system). Reviewing training and travel requests and ensuring these requests are in line with the Automated Directive System (ADS) and Foreign Affairs Manual and Handbook (FAM and FAH) before funding provision Reviewing commitments and funding allocation documents to ensure accuracy and completeness in line with relevant USAID rules and regulations Funding of offshore employee allowances as per Department of State Standardized Regulations (DSSR) Periodically reviewing the status and validity of funding allocations and ensuring that funds are available and recorded in Phoenix. Reviewing disbursements processed against funding allocations and creating journals to move disbursements identified as incorrectly processed. Verifying accuracy of financial and accounting data and the appropriateness of documentation supporting accounting entries to ensure compliance with USAID rules and regulations. Providing fiscal data for fund-cite requests from various offices. Funding property leases and ensuring that the leases comply with the guidance as per USAID rules and regulations. Creating monthly bulk funds allocation templates for lease payments and yearly bulk funds allocation templates for utility payments with the correct accounting classifications. Performing pipeline analysis (funds utilization projections) for funding allocations to ensure compliance with forward funding policy Ensuring that the data base for lease payments and utilities is always up to date and reconciles with the leasing list provided by the leasing department. Troubleshooting and resolving discrepancies identified with fund allocation documents. Preparing, posting and managing recurring funding allocations and ensuring they are always appropriately funded. Performing regular reconciliations of accounts, records, and source documents to ensure that the open commitments are sufficient and valid. Determining required burn rates for funding allocations and increasing funds where there will be a predicted short fall. Periodic reconciliation of disbursements posted to ensure they relate to the correct accounting period and division Performing quarterly and routine close out commitment reviews and de-funding allocations as per USAID guidelines. Creating and updating of mass funding documents for Program Funded offices. Estimating quarterly accruals ensuring accurateness and feasibility as per USAID requirements Ensuring that documents for funding allocations and commitments are certified for funds availability and processing of funding allocations and commitments in a timely manner to avoid funds control violations. Posting of accruals and de-funding allocations in Phoenix system. Calculating, reviewing and funding individual employee contracts. Calculating and forward funding of expected salary expenses for 57 employees on a 6 month basis Supporting other accountants as needed. Budget duties Budgets ranged from $2million to $50million per annum Preparing annual budgets and quarterly review of budgets and submission of quarterly budgets to request funds from the various offices. Ensuring that the yearly and quarterly budget aligns with the requirements of USAID guidelines. Analyzing and forecasting expenditure based on historic data and known planned actions. Updating of the budget as per valid requests received and communicating changes to the budget to all offices and interested parties involved. Monthly tracking of funds availability for lease and utility funding allocations Calculating and processing of forward funding needs for the next fiscal year as per USAID guidelines and requirements. Budgets prepared and submitted had a 5% variance from actual. Accounts payable and receivable duties Reviewing and processing of payments and refunds identified through monthly disbursement review. Other duties Funding procurement requests on Ariba in line with the Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM) Reviewing purchase requisitions for budget compliance. Creating new vendor codes and updating existing vendor codes in Phoenix system as per USAID and STATE rules and guidelines. Creating accounting templates in Phoenix on a yearly basis or as new templates are required. Assisting with audits as required. Maintaining of accounting records of obligating documents as per document handling guidelines. Analyzing, reviewing and posting of cost allocations as per service agreements. Junior Accountant Superway Construction 10/2013 – 08/2020 Willow Glen, Pretoria I was the first junior accountant to fulfil senior accountant duties. Accounting duties Responsible for full function accounting up to trial balance for two companies. Ensuring that accrual method is used throughout the capturing of any income or expenses. Analyzing Bill of Quantity to ensure that the quality and quantity of works required to be carried out by the subcontractor matches the invoice received from the subcontractor. Discussing discrepancies discovered during Bill of Quantity analysis and proposing of available solutions to quantity surveyor and director – discovered and corrected a fraudulent claim from a contractor which saved the company R1,2million Creating and posting journals for intercompany transfers to allocate assets and funding used to the correct company and project. Creating and posting of journal entries to move revenue and expenses incorrectly processed Analyzing and reviewing of general ledger and ensuring that all postings are allocated to the correct ledger Capturing of petty cash and petty cash reconciliation for all projects. Capturing and reconciliation of bank statements (9 bank accounts) Preparing payment requests and submitting payments on ABSA payment platform. Verifying of transactions processed in BuildSmart to ensure they are captured and reconciled against the correct company and project. Reconciling actual spend plan on a weekly basis. Fleet and plant control: Analyzing fleet and plant expenses and allocating fleet and plant costs to relevant sites and updating fleet list and list of allocated fleet vehicles. Assisting the other accountants with their projects as and when needed. Preparing and submitting of cost allocation of plant and fleet to the correct projects. Monitoring the cash flow of assigned projects to ensure that they do not exceed the weekly allocated funds. Capturing of new assets in BuildSmart and ensuring that the depreciation is calculated and captured as per SARS regulations. Using percentage of completion method to determine if total anticipated revenue and expenses have been recognized. Budget duties Budgets ranged from R500,000.00 to R80million per project Budgeting estimated need for monthly provisions using budget submitted and approved for the project as supporting basis. Estimating weekly cash flow forecast for projects using the project timeline submitted by the site supervisor at commencement of the project and actual spend plan reconciliation. Preparing and presenting of monthly budget versus actual report. Assisting in the preparation of budgets for a new project using zero based and job costing method depending on the type of project. Monthly estimation of project profitability and bringing any budget deficit to the attention of the Financial Manager and Director. Calculating the percentage of payment which will be held back from the subcontractor for retention purposes. Financial reporting duties Preparing management statements in line with GAAP and IFRS and discuss with director. Finalize management statements after director approval and submit to financial manager. Preparing and submitting monthly fleet and plant reports to the financial manager. Accounts payable and receivable duties Supervising two staff members Full function accounts payable including journals, reconciliations, and submission of payment (book value of around R18 million for both companies) Forecasting monthly funds need for a minimum two payment runs Capturing and reconciliation of payments made to creditors Forecasting monthly funds need for a minimum two payment runs Negotiating discount from suppliers for early settlement Managing vendor database, ensuring that vendors are compliant to company and continuously seeking better vendors where necessary. Reconciling of the accounts payable at month end and ensuring that our liabilities is on par with our supplier statements. Performing accounts analysis to detect errors as early as possible and resolving errors or queries in a timely fashion Preparing monthly aging analysis of accounts payable for the financial manager Debtors invoicing and debtor’s reconciliation (book value of R55 million) Preparing monthly age analysis of accounts receivable and discuss with Financial Manager. Other duties Dealing with subcontractor, contractor and site queries. Manual filing of various paperwork related to the projects. Email and telephonic correspondence with various sites, creditors, and debtors. Completing tender documents for submission for various Government Tenders Procurement – acquiring quotes and creating orders on BuildSmart Ensuring that orders are issued for external plant hire and plant acquisition and that the plant is delivered to the site on time and collected from the site as per the agreed timeline. Creating orders for fleet and plant repairs and maintenance. Monthly reconciliation of fleet card payments, cell phone contract payments and creating a spreadsheet to submit to HR for deductions of excessive usage of fleet cards and cell phones from the relevant employees. Preparing annual audit files and assist with audit where necessary. Assisting the Financial Manager with the preparation, compilation and submission of the various documents needed for the annual BBEE verification. Ensuring that all contractors and sub-contractors are compliant as per CIDB guidelines. Junior Bookkeeper EY Stuart Inc Attorneys 04/2011 – 10/2013 Brooklyn, Pretoria Accounting duties Creating and processing journal entries Analyzing and reviewing of general ledger and processing the necessary actions to correct any discrepancies identified. Electronic bank payments/transfers daily. Writing and issuing of cheques Issuing petty cash as per company guidelines and reconciliation of petty cash Requesting of new and closing of Art 78 (2)(a) investment accounts and that the handling of the investment accounts are in compliance with the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act 37 of 2002 Preparing the annual BEE file. Filing various documents Capturing and reconciling bank statements Administrating employees’ various leave entitlements Compiling annual audit file as per accounting practices and assisting auditors. Accounts payable and receivable duties Capturing and reconciliation of payments. Capturing, reconciliation and payment of accounts payable. Allocating funds received to the correct accounts receivable ledger. Invoicing of work done and sending invoices and statements to debtors. Other duties Training of staff members on Ghost Practice and liaising with Ghost Practice to resolve queries and facilitate upgrades. Sales Executive Allen Joss Ford 11/2009 – 04/2011 Annlin, Pretoria Creating quotations and invoices for clients Reconciling payments and receipts Delivering new vehicles to clients and explaining the service and warranty agreements Registering and licensing vehicles Ensuring that the client and vehicle file is complete. Collecting all the documentation and information needed for a finance application. Trainee Accountant Thomson Accountants 10/08 – 10/2009 Wierda Park, Pretoria Accounting duties Individual and Company Tax Returns Provisional Tax returns, EMP501 returns, EMP201 returns, PAYE returns, UIF returns and VAT returns for companies and individuals. Registering companies and individuals for UIF, PAYE, Workers Compensation, VAT, and Income Tax Registering companies and changing company details on CIPC. Capturing payments and receipts on QuickBooks Pro Creating journal entries and invoice entries on QuickBooks Pro Reconciling bank monthly bank statements for various clients Assisting in the preparation of Annual Financial Statements and basic Management Statements in line with GAAP and IFRS. Turnaround time for personal tax was on average half an hour from receiving all the clients’ information. Reduced the time used to capture a full year’s bank statements, invoices, cheque, and cash payments to 2 or 3 days depending on the number of transactions. The turnaround time on full financial statements - with all the information supplied - on average was one full day. Helpdesk Operative The Global Draw Ltd 02/2008 – 09/2008 Hounslow West, London Receiving calls from customers Logging calls on Database (CRM and TrackIt) Resolving technical queries over the phone Finding alternative ways to resolve difficult technical queries. Retrieving information from GIS database to confirm large wins. Gained invaluable customer relation experience Data Administrator Acumen Recruitment 06/2005 – 02/2008 Rayners Lane, London Creating and maintaining the database (Recruit Studio) Receive time sheets and create invoices for time sheets. Using Kashflow to update the daily cash flow. General office administration Recruiting new employees, registering new employees, and entering their information into the database Booking employees for courses and sending employees on courses Raising and issuing invoices and receiving payments Production Team Supervisor Mack Mulitiples Division Factory Paddock Wood, Kent 06/2004 – 05/2005 To prioritize, allocate and supervise production operatives. Monitor, report issues, adopt “clean-as-you-go” policy to ensure health and safety standards are adhered to. Monitor and uphold quality control set standards for products and labels. Gained leadership and supervisory skills. Promoted from line worker to production team supervisor in 3 months. Managed 3 lines of workers consisting of 10 workers per line. Neither of the lines missed a deadline nor was late on an order. This was achieved by working with the team members and encouraging them throughout the day and ensuring that they always had everything they needed to complete the specific order. Education Computer literacy Skills Current: UJ – University of Johannesburg Bachelor of Commerce in Accountancy (NQF 7) Previous: ICB – Institute of Certified Bookkeepers National Diploma: Financial Accounting (NQF 6) National Diploma: Technical Financial Accounting (NQF 5) Further Education and Training Certificate: Bookkeeping (NQF4) National Certificate Bookkeeping (NQF 3) Hercules High School, Pretoria Matric Microsoft Office Suite GhostPractice LawPlan Windeed Quickbooks Buildsmart Pastel Xero Phoenix Phoenix Viewer Ariba Slack Bill.com Google drive Draftworx Excellent verbal and written communication Attention to detail Financial management and accounting Ability to work under pressure Problem solving Time management Analytical Highly organized Deadline orientated Ability to work independently as well as in a team Advanced reconciliation