Trade Accountant

Finance Department

Location:

Bottelary Road, Koelenhof, Stellenbosch

Reports to:

Senior Trade Accountant

About the role
An international commodity trading business is seeking a skilled Trade Accountant to support front, middle, and back-office functions through accurate accounting, reconciliation, and reporting of commodity trading transactions. The role plays a critical part in ensuring trade P&L accuracy, inventory valuation, and compliance across international markets.

This is a commercially exposed role, working closely with traders, operations, and external stakeholders in a fast-paced, transaction-driven environment.

Key responsibilities

• Record and reconcile physical and derivative commodity trades in the trading and ERP systems.

• Prepare monthly trade P&L per trading strategy and reconcile trader P&L to accounting records.

• Investigate and resolve P&L, pricing, and timing variances.

• Ensure accurate booking and accounting of purchase and sales contracts.

• Reconcile freight, insurance, demurrage, and other trade-related costs.

• Monitor open contracts and ensure timely recognition of revenue and costs.

• Perform inventory accounting and reconciliations, including silo, warehoused, and in-transit stock.

• Support month-end and year-end close processes.

• Prepare balance sheet reconciliations related to trading activities.

• Assist with external audits and provide supporting documentation.

• Ensure compliance with IFRS / US GAAP, internal policies, and control frameworks.

• Maintain strong internal controls and segregation of duties.

• Contribute to system improvements, automation initiatives, and process optimisation.

Requirements

• Degree in Finance, Accounting, Business, or a related field.

• 2–5+ years’ experience in trade accounting within a commodity trading, energy, or shipping environment.

• Strong understanding of the physical commodity trading lifecycle.

• Proven experience with trade P&L reporting and balance sheet reconciliations.

• Advanced Excel skills.

• Ability to work accurately under pressure in a deadline-driven environment.

• Strong communication skills and ability to engage with traders, operations, and external parties.

• Curious, self-starting, and commercially minded.

Advantageous experience

• Knowledge of derivatives and hedging instruments.

• Experience in a multi-currency, multi-entity environment.

• Exposure to ERP systems (People Soft or similar).

• Power BI or process automation exposure.

Culture and values
The organisation values respect, accountability, passion, collaboration, excellence, agility, and integrity. You’ll be joining a professional, high-performance team that values ownership, transparency, and continuous improvement.