Semi-Senior Accountant

Remote from South Africa | Supporting a UK Accountancy Practice

GCO Partners is seeking a practice-trained Semi-Senior Accountant to support a UK accountancy firm that works closely with SME clients across a range of industries.

This engagement offers the opportunity to work directly with an international accounting team while remaining based in South Africa. You will contribute to client work that includes statutory accounts preparation, reconciliations, and SME portfolio support.

At GCO Partners, we connect talented professionals from Africa with meaningful global work. Our people-first approach ensures that our professionals are embedded in real client teams, supported by our engagement and people teams, and given the opportunity to grow through international experience.

This role is expected to begin as a short-term engagement, with the potential to extend depending on client needs and performance. 

The Opportunity

You will support a UK accountancy practice serving small and medium-sized businesses. The work involves preparing year-end accounts from cloud accounting systems and supporting the preparation of statutory financial statements and working papers.

This role is well suited to someone who has trained in an accountancy practice environment and enjoys working across multiple client files in a fast-moving SME environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Prepare draft statutory accounts from trial balances and client records
• Post year-end journals including accruals, prepayments and depreciation
• Reconcile balance sheet control accounts, including VAT and payroll balances
• Prepare and maintain detailed Excel working papers and schedules
• Support preparation of management accounts and year-end financial statements
• Respond to review notes and implement required adjustments
• Communicate professionally with client teams via email and occasional calls
• Work across multiple SME clients, managing deadlines and competing priorities

Requirements

• Previous accountancy practice experience is essential
• Experience preparing statutory or annual financial statements
• Strong working knowledge of Xero
• Confidence preparing year-end journals, reconciliations and working papers
• Strong Excel skills
• Excellent written and verbal English communication
• Ability to manage multiple client files and deadlines in a practice environment

Advantageous Experience

• Experience with CCH accounts production software
• Exposure to UK accounting environments or UK clients
• Experience preparing management accounts
• Understanding of VAT and payroll reconciliations

What We Look For

At GCO, we work with professionals who combine technical capability with strong personal accountability. The right candidate will be:

• Detail-oriented and analytical
• Comfortable working across multiple client engagements
• Reliable and able to work independently
• Clear and professional in client communication
• Curious, proactive and committed to continuous learning

These qualities reflect the way we work as a community built around People, Performance, and Progress.

Why Join GCO Partners

Global work without relocation
Work directly with international accounting firms while remaining based in South Africa.

Meaningful client experience
Contribute to real engagements and develop practical experience working with global teams.

Support and community
You will be supported by GCOs engagement and people teams and become part of a growing community of professionals working with global clients.

Career development
Many of our professionals build long-term international careers through these opportunities.