About Lesaka

Lesaka is a leading South African financial technology company delivering financial services across Southern Africa. We operate across both consumer (B2C) and merchant (B2B) markets, offering banking, lending, insurance, payments, and merchant enablement solutions through our proprietary platforms.

Role Overview

We are looking for a FP&A Analyst CA(SA) to join the Group Finance team at a critical point in our finance transformation journey.

The Group FP&A function currently supports 50+ entities across Southern Africa, managing budgeting, forecasting, consolidation, and reporting processes. A significant portion of this work is currently Excel-based and manually intensive, creating capacity pressure and increasing operational risk.

Over the next 12 months, Lesaka will be transitioning to a new financial planning and reporting system. During this period, the FP&A function will carry a dual burden: maintaining existing manual processes while supporting the design and implementation of a more automated, scalable reporting environment.

This role is therefore essential to ensure continuity, accuracy, and efficiency during this transition, while also helping shape the future FP&A operating model.

Why this role exists

This position has been created to:

• Support budgeting and forecasting across multiple Group entities
• Reduce reliance on manual Excel-based processes
• Strengthen data accuracy, validation, and reporting turnaround times
• Support the implementation of a new FP&A and reporting system
• Reduce key-person dependency and operational risk within FP&A
• Enable a more automated, scalable Group reporting environment

Key Responsibilities

Budgeting & Forecasting

• Support annual budgeting and quarterly forecasting cycles across Group entities
• Distribute templates, instructions, and timelines to business units
• Review, challenge, and validate submissions from multiple entities
• Consolidate inputs into Group-level budgets and forecasts
• Perform variance analysis (Actual vs Budget vs Forecast vs Prior Year)

Management Reporting

• Assist in preparing monthly management reporting packs across segments
• Maintain and update reporting dashboards and financial packs
• Analyse financial performance and provide meaningful commentary
• Track key financial metrics and drivers across the Group

Data Management & Process Improvement

• Maintain and enhance budgeting and reporting models and templates
• Automate manual processes using Excel (Power Query, Macros, advanced formulas)
• Improve data collation, consolidation, and validation processes
• Support integrity and consistency of financial models across entities

System Implementation Support

• Support the rollout of the new FP&A / reporting system
• Assist with data mapping, testing, and validation activities
• Contribute to defining budgeting and forecasting templates within the new system
• Provide support to business units during transition and adoption

Ad-Hoc Analysis & Decision Support

• Build financial models and scenario analyses
• Support business case development and investment analysis
• Conduct cost and profitability analysis across divisions
• Perform detailed variance investigations and insights generation

Minimum Requirements

• Qualified CA(SA)
• 1–3 years post-articles experience in:
  • Management accounting, FP&A, financial analysis, or business analytics
• Advanced Excel skills (formulas, pivot tables, modelling, data handling)
• Strong analytical and problem-solving ability
• Ability to work with large datasets across multiple entities
• High attention to detail and accuracy under pressure

Advantageous Experience

• Exposure to FP&A, budgeting, forecasting, or group reporting environments
• Experience in multi-entity or group structures
• Exposure to financial systems implementation or transformation projects
• Power BI or similar reporting tools
• SQL or data querying experience (advantageous)
• Experience with Excel automation (VBA / Macros / Power Query)

Key Competencies

• Strong analytical thinking and numerical capability
• Process improvement and automation mindset
• Comfortable working in structured, deadline-driven environments
• Strong communication skills across multiple stakeholders and business units
• Ability to work independently while managing multiple deliverables
• High levels of accuracy, accountability, and organisation
• Commercial awareness of business performance drivers

What success looks like in this role

• Accurate and timely budgeting and forecasting across all entities
• Improved efficiency through automation of manual FP&A processes
• Reduced reporting turnaround times and improved data integrity
• Strong support for system implementation and transition success
• Clear, insightful financial reporting that supports decision-making
• A more scalable and controlled FP&A operating environment