Accountant; Retail

C2i a subsidiary of Aldar Retail Management is a forward-thinking holding company redefining the future of Hospitality, Retail, and Lifestyle destinations. Through innovation, strategic partnerships, and purpose-driven initiatives, we develop vibrant communities and pioneering concepts that include co-working, retail, and fine-dining ventures.

Job Purpose

The Accountant ensures accurate, timely and compliant financial records for C2i's retail apparel business. The role owns day-to-day accounting across stores, with a strong focus on sales reconciliation, inventory accounting and month-end close.

Working closely with store operations and finance management, the Accountant turns transactional data into reliable reporting.

Key Responsibilities

Retail Sales & Cash Management

• Reconcile daily POS sales to cash, card settlements, bank deposits and payment gateways across all stores.
• Investigate and resolve cash shortages, card chargebacks, refunds, exchanges and voided transactions.
• Account for gift cards, store credit, loyalty points, promotions and discounts.
• Monitor petty cash and store floats and review store-level cash handling controls.

Inventory & Cost Accounting

• Maintain accurate inventory valuation and cost of goods sold across stores, warehouse and in-transit stock.
• Calculate landed costs for imported apparel, including freight, customs duty, insurance and clearing charges.
• Support periodic stock counts and post shrinkage, damage and write-off adjustments.
• Review slow-moving and aged stock and calculate inventory provisions in line with company policy.
• Track gross margin by brand, category, season and store, highlighting markdown and margin erosion.

Payables, Receivables & Consignment

• Process supplier and brand-principal invoices, matching them to purchase orders and goods received notes.
• Prepare supplier statement reconciliations and payment runs.
• Manage receivables from wholesale customers, franchise partners, marketplaces and concession arrangements.
• Account for consignment stock and concession or department-store commissions.

Month-End Close & Reporting

• Prepare month-end journals, accruals, prepayments and balance sheet reconciliations.
• Account for store fixed assets and fit-outs, including capitalisation and depreciation.
• Prepare store P&Ls, four-wall profitability and monthly management accounts for the retail division.
• Support budgeting, forecasting and variance analysis against sales and margin targets.
• Report retail KPIs such as like-for-like sales, sales per sq ft, sell-through, stock cover and shrinkage.

Compliance, Tax & Controls

• Prepare UAE VAT workings and returns, and support Corporate Tax compliance.
• Ensure accounting follows IFRS and C2i's financial policies and delegation of authority.
• Support external and internal audits, preparing schedules and responding to queries.
• Strengthen controls over cash, inventory, pricing and markdown approvals.

Qualifications & Experience

Education & Certification

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance or Commerce.
• Professional qualification (ACCA, CPA, CMA or CA) completed or in progress is preferred.

Experience

• 3–5 years of accounting experience, with at least 2 years in multi-store retail, ideally fashion or apparel.
• Hands-on experience with POS reconciliations, inventory costing and month-end close.
• UAE or GCC experience, including VAT, is strongly preferred.

Technical Skills

• Working knowledge of IFRS.
• Advanced Excel (pivot tables, XLOOKUP, large data sets);
  Power BI or similar is a plus.