Main Purpose of Job

The Accountant is responsible for the execution of comprehensive general accounting and period closing activities.

They are responsible for supporting the Finance Manager to provide the accurate and timely execution of general accounting, period end closing, and reporting activities, and delivery of reporting information to the wider Finance community in line with defined reporting protocols.

Personal Attributes

A high level of flexibility and adaptability is essential. They must have a proactive hands-on approach and possess strong communication skills.

Key Accountabilities

1. Period end close & reporting

• Review of material mid-month and month end journals applying knowledge of financial and management accounting, an appropriate level of judgement and communicating changes required to the Accounts Analyst.
• Review by delegation of mid-month and month end reports and communicating changes required to the Accounts Analyst.
• Support the Accounts Analyst in the preparation of supporting journal calculations for non-recurring/nonstandard and/or complex journals.
• Monitor personal and shared inboxes and take ownership of resolving queries from Finance and other areas of the business delegating to the Accounts Analyst where appropriate.

2. P&L preparation & BS reconciliations

Review by delegation of P&L and BS control account reconciliations using judgement to highlight and investigate key and unexpected variances providing supporting commentary when required

3. Management Reporting

Review by delegation of management reports (e.g. Flash reports, KPI, etc.) using good knowledge of the business to provide commentary at a level dictated by the Finance Manager prior to review by the Business Partner.

4. Statutory Reporting

• Provide support in the preparation of statutory technical areas with some guidance from the Finance Manager.
• Provide support and guidance to ensure defined deadlines are met.
• Review of the Statutory Accounts prior to reviews by the Finance Manager and Business Partner.
• Accurate and timely processing of adjustment journals and report changes following any review.

5. Regulatory and Other Reporting

• Ensure there is a clear understanding of what is required from the return.
• Review by delegation of regulatory report pro-forma's (e.g. OFCOM, OFGEN, OFWAT, and ONS etc.) and communicating changes required.
• Review by delegation of the VAT return pro-forma prior to detailed review by Group Tax

6. Fixed Assets

• Approval of capex and project budget requests following a clerical review by the Accounts Analyst
• Review of automated fixed asset journals and the posting of manual correcting journals if required
• Review by delegation of fixed asset and project manual journals

7. Budgeting & Forecasting

Provide technical and business specific knowledge and support to the Business Partner team during the budgeting and forecasting process as delegated by the Finance Manager

8. Project Work

Support the Finance Manager to provide specific project related activities at the BU level, such as preparation of acquisition completion accounts, chart of account changes and process changes.

9. Continuous improvement

Support the Finance Manager to identify initiatives and opportunities e.g. process improvements.

10. Continued Compliance

• Adhere to Group and BU specific policies and procedures.
• Support External and Audit activities as required, such as providing information as requested in a timely manner.
• Monitor and remediate effectiveness of controls by responding to breaches in a timely manner with guidance from the Finance Manager.
• Ensure accurate recording of transactions for tax purposes.

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

Essential job specific skills and experiences

• 5+ years' experience within a financial department
• Qualified with a professional accounting body (e.g. CIMA, ACCA, ACA, or CPA)
• Supervisory experience preferred but not essential
• Ability to work unsupervised and deliver high quality work to tight deadlines
• Good knowledge of core financial systems and general accounting procedures
• Awareness of current regulations including IFRS / New UK GAAP and Companies Acts an
• Advantage

Functional and technical skills

• Proficient in MS Office applications (particularly excel)
• Degree-level education or equivalent
• In depth knowledge of ERP software