Accounts Payable Lead

Accounts Payable Lead

Department: Finance Department

Reports To: Accounting Manager

Direct Reports: Accounting Officer (1 Position)

School Overview & Commitment

St Andrews International School Bangkok is a world-class inclusive school and a member of the Nord Anglia Education family. We provide a high-quality British curriculum to over 2,000 students from more than 50 nationalities across two specialized campuses in the heart of Bangkok.

St Andrews is committed to ensuring the safety of all our students and expects all staff to share the same commitment. No applicant will be appointed without at least two references, a ten-year criminal record check, and relevant regional Prohibition Order/DBS checks.

Role Purpose and Summary

The Senior Finance & Vendor Relations Officer serves as the Accounts Payable Lead and the primary liaison between the Finance Department and the school’s external vendors and internal stakeholders. This highly visible, front-facing role is responsible for delivering a professional, responsive, and transparent vendor payment experience while ensuring strong governance, accuracy, and compliance.

The role has end-to-end ownership of the procure-to-pay lifecycle, including invoice processing, payment execution, vendor account management, issue resolution, and adherence to internal controls and school policies. A key focus is modernizing vendor services through system implementation, process optimization, and digital transformation to improve efficiency, visibility, and data integrity.

Reporting to the Accounting Manager, the role works closely with the Accounting Officer to ensure accounts payable activities, accruals, and payments are fully aligned with month-end closing, statutory reporting, and audit requirements.

Key Responsibilities

1.      Accounts Payable Operations

• Accounts Payable Operations Leadership: Lead end-to-end accounts payable processes, including invoice verification, accurate coding, approval workflow management, and timely payment execution in line with school policies and controls.
• Policy-Aligned Invoice Validation: Ensure all invoices are properly reviewed and matched to approved purchase orders, contracts, or authorized documentation, maintaining strict compliance with school financial policies.
• Staff Expense & Cash Oversight: Oversee staff reimbursements, petty cash administration, and corporate credit card settlements, ensuring accuracy, completeness, and timely processing.
• Vendor Data Governance: Manage and maintain vendor master data, ensuring records are accurate, complete, and up to date to support efficient processing, reporting, and audit readiness.

2.      Payment & Cash Management

• Payment Execution & Control: Prepare, review, and process weekly and monthly payment runs for local and overseas vendors, ensuring accuracy, completeness, and compliance with approved payment schedules.
• Cash Flow Stewardship: Ensure all payments are executed accurately and on time while actively managing payment timing to support optimal cash flow and liquidity planning.
• Banking Coordination & Authorization: Coordinate closely with banking partners on payment setup, authorization workflows, and issue resolution, ensuring secure and efficient payment operations.
• Payables Monitoring & Resolution: Monitor outstanding payables, investigate discrepancies, and proactively follow up on overdue or disputed items in collaboration with vendors and internal stakeholders to ensure timely resolution.

3.      Month-End Closing & Reporting

• Month-End Close Ownership: Prepare and review accounts payable–related journal entries, including accruals and prepayments, ensuring accuracy and compliance with accounting standards and school policies.
• Reconciliation & Control: Perform monthly reconciliation of the accounts payable sub-ledger to the general ledger, promptly investigating and resolving reconciling items.
• Expense Recognition & Cut-Off Discipline: Ensure accurate expense recognition and proper cut-off during month-end and year-end close to support reliable financial reporting.
• Management Reporting & Analysis: Prepare detailed AP schedules, reconciliations, and analytical reports to support management review, cash flow planning, and audit requirements.

4.      Compliance, Controls & Audit Support

• Policy & Control Compliance: Ensure all accounts payable activities are performed in accordance with internal control frameworks, school policies, and applicable statutory and regulatory requirements.
• Documentation & Audit Trail Integrity: Maintain complete, accurate, and well-organized documentation and audit trails for all AP transactions to support transparency and audit readiness.
• Audit Coordination & Support: Act as a key point of contact for internal and external auditors, preparing required schedules, explanations, and supporting documentation in a timely and professional manner.
• Continuous Control Improvement: Support the implementation of audit recommendations and proactively identify opportunities to strengthen controls, improve processes, and reduce operational risk.

5.      Team Leadership & Capability Development

• Team Management & Coaching: Supervise, coach, and develop Accounts Payable team members, ensuring clear role definition, task allocation, and appropriate coverage to meet operational and closing timelines.
• Performance & Continuity Management: Build team capability and resilience by reducing key-person dependency and ensuring consistent service quality through structured training and knowledge sharing.

6.      Process Excellence & Cross-Functional Collaboration

• SOP Development & Governance: Develop, document, and maintain robust AP standard operating procedures (SOPs) to ensure consistency, control, and continuity across the function.
• Process Improvement & Automation: Identify and implement opportunities to improve efficiency and accuracy through automation, system enhancements, and workflow optimization.
• Cross-Functional Partnership: Work closely with Procurement, HR, and academic departments to ensure smooth end-to-end processes, timely issue resolution, and alignment with school operational needs.

7. Ad-Hoc

• Project Execution & Support: Assist the Senior Finance/Accounting Officer by performing repetitive system testing and documenting errors for IT/Consultants.

Qualifications, Skills, and Experience

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration or related field
• Experience: Minimum 5–8 years of accounts payable or accounting experience, preferably in an international school or service organization, including a professional approach to clear face-to-face problem-solving. Experience in leading or supervising AP staff is a plus.
• Analytical Skills: Strong logical thinking capabilities for financial reconciliation, mathematics, and accounting processes.
• Communication: Exceptional command of English and Thai.

Key Attributes

• Strong attention to detail and accuracy
• Good planning and time-management skills, especially during peak periods
• Ability to communicate clearly with non-finance stakeholders
• Hands-on experience with accounting systems
• Proficiency in Excel and financial reporting tools
• Service-oriented mindset with strong problem-solving skills