Position Description :  Finance Manager

Role Purpose:

Being the school's finance leader and a key member of the management team, the Finance Manager is accountable for financial stewardship, business performance, planning, governance and the development of a capable, responsive finance function. 

The Finance Manager will provide clear commercial insight to the school leadership team, strengthen financial controls and help improve the school's long-term financial sustainability 

The successful candidate must be able to connect enrolment, retention, staffing, teacher productivity, capacity utilisation and operating costs to EBITDA and cash flow, and translate the analysis into practical management actions.

Key Responsibilities

1. Financial Planning, Forecasting and Business Performance

• Own and lead the annual budget, monthly rolling forecast and longer-term financial projections in accordance with Group Finance requirements.

• Develop driver-based forecasts that link enrolment, staffing, capacity utilisation and operating expenditure to revenue, EBITDA and cash flow.

• Monitor performance against budget and prior periods; identify emerging risks and opportunities early and recommend specific corrective actions.

• Prepare concise monthly performance commentary and management reports for the school leadership team, Board Meetings and Group Finance.

• Work with academic and operational leaders to establish realistic targets and hold budget owners accountable for financial outcomes.

• Model downside and upside scenarios, including enrolment shortfalls, changes in fee yield, staffing decisions and major operating initiatives.

2. Financial Reporting and Control

• Own the integrity, accuracy and timeliness of the school's financial statements, general ledger and management information.

• Lead the monthly and annual closing process and ensure all balance-sheet reconciliations are complete, supported, independently reviewed and audit-ready.

• Ensure compliance with MFRS, Malaysian statutory requirements, tax regulations, Group accounting policies and delegated authority limits.

• Maintain effective segregation of duties, approval controls and supporting documentation across billing, collections, purchasing, payments, fixed assets and journal processing.

• Resolve legacy accounting issues, control gaps and audit findings promptly, and establish controls to prevent recurrence.

• Act as the primary school liaison with internal and external auditors, tax agents, bankers and Group Finance.

• Maintain the school's financial risk register and escalate material financial, control, compliance and forecast risks to the General Manager and CFO.

3. Revenue, Billing and Credit Control Governance

• Maintain oversight of the completeness and accuracy of student billing, credit notes, deposits, receipts and other school revenue, including activities performed by the central AR team.

• Review aged receivables, doubtful-debt exposure, collection effectiveness, payment plans and material parent-account exceptions.

• Ensure sensitive or overdue parent accounts are escalated and resolved in accordance with Group policy.

• Define clear responsibilities and service standards between NISM and the central AR team, avoiding duplicate processing and control gaps.

4. Cash Flow, Treasury and Working Capital

• Prepare and maintain reliable rolling cash-flow forecasts and monitor liquidity requirements.

• Oversee bank reconciliations, payment controls, authorised signatories and cash-management activities.

• Support Group Treasury requirements, including cash reporting, funding placement and working-capital management.

• Safeguard school funds and ensure that all bank and payment activities comply with approved mandates and Group policy.

5. Procurement, Capital Expenditure and Asset Governance

• Provide financial governance over purchasing and ensure compliance with procurement policies, competitive sourcing requirements and approval authorities.

• Challenge expenditure specifications, commercial terms and total cost of ownership for significant purchases and contracts.

• Lead the financial evaluation of capital expenditure proposals, including affordability, return on investment, payback and lifecycle cost.

• Monitor capital expenditure against approved budgets and maintain appropriate fixed-asset records, verification and disposal controls.

• Work with Operations to clarify the future ownership of purchasing activities while retaining Finance's independent budget and control oversight.

6. Team Leadership and Capability Building 

• Assess the capability, capacity and performance of each team member against the future operating model and role requirements.

• Set clear individual accountabilities, performance standards, deadlines and development plans, and address persistent underperformance promptly and fairly.

• Coach staff to move beyond repetitive transaction processing towards stronger ownership, problem-solving, analysis and internal customer service.

• Build cross-training and documented procedures to eliminate single-person dependency and support business continuity.

• Create a collaborative, responsive and improvement-oriented culture while maintaining high standards of accuracy, integrity and control.

Qualifications and Experience

• Degree in Accounting, Finance or a related discipline and a recognised professional accounting qualification such as ACCA, CPA, CIMA, ICAEW, MICPA or equivalent.

• Typically 10-15 years of relevant finance experience, including at least five years in a finance leadership or controllership role.

• Demonstrated ownership of financial reporting, budgeting, forecasting, cash flow, audit, taxation, internal control and team management.

• Strong commercial and FP&A capability, with evidence of using financial and operational data to improve business performance.

• Advanced Excel and basic financial modelling capability, together with practical experience of an enterprise ERP or advance accounting software.

• Strong written and verbal English, with the confidence to present, influence and challenge senior stakeholders.

Leadership and Behavioural Competencies

• Commercial judgement - connects financial results to operational drivers and prioritise actions that create sustainable value.

• People leadership - sets standards, coaches constructively and deals fairly but decisively with underperformance.

• Analytical discipline - identifies root causes, tests assumptions and distinguishes material issues from noise.

• Continuous improvement - challenges legacy practices and uses systems, standardisation and automation to improve quality and efficiency.