Little Zak's Academy is privately owned and family run. Our aim is to provide early childhood care and education in a safe, welcoming, adopting and nurturing environment.

Our staff are dedicated professionals who value the importance of maintaining an optimum level of care and education for all children. We select our staff based on knowledge and values, vision for children and learning, and commitment to families.

We are looking for an experienced Finance Manager to join our Support Office in Ryde. This is a full-time, office-based role, Monday to Friday.

About the Role

We are seeking an experienced and hands-on Finance Manager to oversee the financial operations of a portfolio of early childhood education and care centres.

This role will have end-to-end responsibility for the finance functions associated with the allocated centres, including accounts payable, fortnightly payroll, daily bank reconciliations, monthly revenue reconciliations, budgeting, cost control, financial reporting and quarterly BAS.

The Finance Manager will work closely with Centre Directors and Operations to monitor financial performance, control costs, manage budgets and ensure the financial operations of each centre are accurate, effective and compliant.

Key responsibilities include:

Accounts Payable

- Manage the full accounts payable function for allocated centres.
- Process and review supplier invoices through Lightyear.
- Ensure invoices are correctly coded, approved and allocated to the appropriate centre and cost centre.
- Monitor supplier accounts, outstanding invoices and payment schedules.
- Investigate and resolve invoice and payment discrepancies.




- Review supplier costs and identify opportunities to control expenditure.
- Maintain accurate accounts payable records in Xero.

Cost Control & Budget Management

- Take ownership of cost control across the allocated centres.
- Prepare, monitor and manage centre budgets in consultation with Centre Directors and Operations.
- Track actual expenditure against budget and investigate significant variances.
- Monitor labour costs, supplier costs and other major centre expenses.
- Identify areas of overspending and work with Centre Directors to implement corrective actions.
- Review expenditure to ensure purchases are appropriate, approved and within budget.
- Identify opportunities to reduce unnecessary expenditure while maintaining operational requirements.
- Prepare regular budget versus actual reports.
- Assist with annual budgeting, forecasting and financial planning.
- Provide Centre Directors and management with clear financial information to support decision-making.

Payroll

- Manage and coordinate fortnightly payroll processes for the allocated centres using Tanda.
- Review payroll data for accuracy, including timesheets, leave, allowances and payroll adjustments.
- Monitor labour costs against centre budgets.




- Investigate payroll discrepancies and work with Centre Directors and Payroll to resolve issues.
- Ensure payroll information is reviewed and submitted within required deadlines.
- Maintain accurate payroll-related financial records.

Bank Reconciliation

- Complete daily bank reconciliations for the allocated centres.
- Reconcile bank transactions in Xero and investigate unreconciled items.
- Ensure all transactions are accurately recorded and allocated to the correct centre and account.
- Identify and resolve discrepancies promptly.

Revenue Reconciliation

- Complete monthly revenue reconciliations for each allocated centre.
- Reconcile centre revenue against relevant systems and financial records.
- Investigate revenue variances and resolve discrepancies.
- Monitor outstanding revenue and follow up on issues as required.

Financial Reporting

- Prepare monthly financial reports for the allocated centres.
- Analyse revenue, expenditure, labour costs, budgets and centre profitability.
- Prepare budget versus actual reports and investigate material variances.
- Provide financial commentary and identify areas requiring management attention.
- Assist with forecasting and financial planning.
- Provide Centre Directors with clear and practical financial information.

BAS & Compliance

- Assist with the preparation and lodgement of quarterly BAS.
- Complete and review GST reconciliations.
- Ensure financial records are accurate and maintained appropriately.
- Assist with financial audits and other compliance requirements.
- Maintain appropriate financial controls across the allocated centres.

Centre Finance Support

- Act

📌 Finance Manager (Ryde)
🏢 Little Zak's Academy
📍 Ryde