Senior Accountant

Rakuten International is a division of Rakuten Group, Inc., a Japanese global technology leader in services that empower individuals, communities, businesses and society. Headquartered in San Mateo, California with more than 4,000 employees worldwide, the Rakuten International business portfolio includes market leaders in e-commerce, digital marketing, advertising, communications and entertainment. We create products and services that provide exceptional value by aligning members and the businesses that want to engage them in a shared community. 
 
Rakuten Inc. established Rakuten Europe Sarl as its European regional Headquarters Luxembourg and started building its centralized Headquarter functions in 2013. Rakuten European Headquarters is mainly responsible for harmonizing business operations of its European businesses, building synergies, driving alignment and ensuring that European businesses work as one team. 

 
Job Summary: 
Reporting to the Senior Controller, you will be responsible for accurate and comprehensive financial accounting & reporting to the stakeholders of various legal entities for which the Finance team within Rakuten Europe provides accounting services. As a senior accountant with a wide range of traditional accounting duties, the role will require the working closely with one or more accountants and accounting assistants. 
 
In this role, you will be responsible for work across multiple areas of accounting including ensuring compliance with financial transaction recording standards (e.g., general ledger, accounts payable/collections, tax transactions, etc.), control/reconciliation of accounts and records (balance sheet, P&L, bank accounts, etc.) and accounting reports/schedules for internal audiences (management reporting). You may also be responsible for reporting to external audiences (compliance reporting) including consolidation of financial statements, cash flow reporting, budget reporting, etc.). 
 
Key Responsibilities: 

• Acts as a specialist in accounting practices, providing expertise and insights on financial matters within the department. 

• Advises on accounting processes and controls, working closely with the team and the managers to support financial decision-making 

• Develops actionable insights through analysis of financial data, supporting the core purpose of enhancing financial operations. 

• Checks and verifies complex financial documents and records, ensuring accuracy and compliance with standards. 

• Coordinates externally with stakeholders and auditors to facilitate audits, ensuring timely and accurate reporting. 

• Provides guidance to other departments on accounting policies, influencing alignment with organizational objectives. 

• Consults on financial strategies and budgets, offering input to enhance overall financial stability. 

• Coaches junior accounting staff, providing mentorship and sharing best practices. 

• Handles sensitive financial information with confidentiality and integrity, ensuring secure data management. 

Accounting Activities: 

• Bookkeeping under IFRS: day to day accounting (AP/AR), invoicing, billing, bank & other balance sheet reconciliations.  

• Manage the monthly accounting closing, review & reporting to strict deadlines.  

• Produce monthly financial statement reports for the entities within scope. Include informative commentary, distribute and communicate to stakeholders.  

• Work with and coordinate external accounting service providers to ensure accurate and timely monthly accounts close (e.g. PWC Italy, Axiome France etc).  

• Be main point of contact for coordination and management of all external statutory audits. Assist with internal audit requests.  

• Support accurate and timely tax reporting & support the tax team as required.  

• Support the production of annual statutory financial statements as required for the legal entities.  

• Manage important SAP aspects (including vendor setup, admin tasks (fx, periods/yrs set up, period and yr close), etc), working with the SAP Admins to ensure proper controls are maintained.  

• Responsible for the monthly Ibara & Expense reporting for the EU Tech Division operations.  

• Review banking activity, provide accurate & timely cashflow reporting to management.  

• Monthly payroll review, posting and reconciliation  

• Support the Monthly and Quarterly Stravis submissions for Group  

• Monitoring of IFRS/GAAP/JSox/Group Accounting for compliance and adoption of best practice.  

• Provide relevant information as required by law to government offices in a timely manner (BCL, Statec etc)  

• Assist with ensuring appropriate written accounting policies are in place, updated and communicated for all legal entities within the Finance departments scope.  

• Strict adherence to internal or group policies/procedures  

Project Activities:  

Contribute to Finance on-going projects such as…  

• Implementation of new systems to improve team efficiency, such as AP workflow software, T&E tools, AI adoption, SAP improvements etc)  

• Legal entity projects where either new companies are added to our scope of accounting responsibility or close and removed from our scope.  

• Other projects as required to support the Groups operations. 

Qualifications: 
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. 

Minimum Requirements: 

• 8-11 years relevant work experience Required  

• 12-14 years Preferred  

• Bachelor's Degree Required  

• Master's Degree Preferred  

• Qualified member of an accountancy body or holder of an equivalent qualification