LEGAL BOOKKEEPER

Minimum requirements:

• Matric with Mathematics or Accounting
• A recognised bookkeeping qualification - ICB National Diploma: Financial Accounting, SAIPA Technician, or equivalent
• Registration (or eligibility for registration) with a recognised professional body - ICBA, SAIPA, or similar
• Minimum 3 - 5 years' bookkeeping experience, with at least 2 years in a law firm or professional services environment
• B. Com (Accounting / Financial Management)
• Studying towards SAIPA / AGA(SA) / SAIBA Business Accountant designation

• Hands-on experience with s86 trust accounting, including daily trust posting, trust-to-business transfers, and monthly trust reconciliations
• Experience supporting an annual statutory trust audit
• Multi-entity bookkeeping experience (group, related entities, or consolidation environments
• Practical VAT experience including the agency principle and disbursement treatment
• Experience with a legal practice management system (AJS, LegalSuite, Lexpro, or similar)
• Exposure to trust investment accounts (s86(3)/(4)) and interest allocations to the Legal Practitioners' Fidelity Fund
• Prior experience working under a designated trust account practitioner
• Accounting systems: Xero and/or Sage (Pastel / Sage Business Cloud) - proficient user, not just data capture
• Payroll systems: Sage familiarity (for journal interpretation, not processing)
• Microsoft Excel: Strong working level - pivot tables, lookups, reconciliation templates, structured referencing
• SARS eFiling: VAT201 preparation and submission workflow
• Capture, import and post bank transactions across the firm and related entities
• Bank reconciliations across allocated accounts, with appropriate segregation of duties
• Post allocated general journals, including monthly payroll and annual leave liability journals
• Monthly balance sheet account reconciliations
• Maintain the fixed asset register - additions, disposals, depreciation, and reconciliation to the GL
• Review of Balance Sheet and Income Statement for allocated entities
• Daily posting of receipts, payments and transfers across the firm's s86(2) trust banking account and s86(3)/(4) investment accounts
• Correct allocation of every trust transaction to the relevant matter and client ledger
• Posting of trust-to-business transfers against properly billed fees and recovered disbursements
• Monthly trust bank and trust creditors reconciliation, confirming trust cash equals or exceeds trust liabilities and escalating any shortfall immediately
• Maintain supporting documentation and audit trail to the standard required by the LPC Rules and the annual statutory trust audit
• Support the preparation of the annual trust audit
• Process downstream accounting entries from the firm's practice management system into the GL
• Reconcile control accounts (debtors, disbursements, trust) between the PMS and the accounting system, and clear variances
• Respond to fee earner and operational queries on matter postings, debtor accounts and trust ledger balances
• VAT review and population of the eFiling template, with correct treatment of disbursements (agency vs principal) and trust-related flows
• Support the preparation of internal finance reports
• Run with allocated tasks in the preparation of and during the annual firm and related-entity audits
• Support secretarial duties across the firm and related entities - new bank accounts (including trust and investment accounts), replacement cards, bank verifications, ETC
• Handle queries from team members and operational staff
• Provide backup to other team members during absence or capacity constraints