Finance Manager - eCommerce in Leeds

Besque is a fast growing ecommerce brand in the health and beauty space, built on natural, traditional formulations rooted in Eastern heritage.

Our products are formulated and made in the UK and shipped worldwide.

We have served over 500,000 customers, hold a 5 star Trustpilot rating from more than 10,000 reviews, and are scaling quickly across our UK and US operations.

Growth is the priority this year, and we need a finance function that can keep pace with it.

The Role

We are looking for a Finance Manager to lead the finance function at Besque.

This is a hands on controllership role with real ownership: you will run month end, own the numbers end to end, and build the reporting the founder and advisors rely on to make decisions.

You will report directly to the Financial Director &CFO, with opportunities to present to the full C-Suite, and you will lead a young and growing finance team: an assistant finance manager and an accounts assistant, with scope to shape and expand the team as the business scales.

Key Responsibilities

• Month End Ownership and Financial Controllership
• Own the month end close end to end, delivering an accurate P&L and balance sheet within 5 to 7 days of month end, delivering a set of management accounts as part of the month end close.
• Take full controllership of the ledger: COGS, product costing and inventory valuation, accruals, prepayments, VAT treatment and balance sheet integrity.
• Design and embed standard operating procedures and internal controls across all financial record keeping, including balance sheet reviews.
• Work closely with the Finance Director on ad hoc special projects e. g. Improving inventory reporting through IMS implementation.
• Group Accounting Across UK and US Entities
• Own group accounting and consolidation across the UK and US entities
• Ensure balance sheet integrity and validate numbers that the team can stand over
• Manage intercompany transactions, eliminations and multi currency translation, bearing in mind our transfer pricing policies
• Ensure financial reporting compliance under both GAAP and IFRS
• Strategic and Management Reporting
• Produce the monthly management pack: P&L, balance sheet, cash flow and variance analysis with clear commentary
• Provide inputs into strategic packs for the founder, advisors and external stakeholders
• Cash Flow and Treasury
• Prepare payment runs for approval and manage the AP cycle
• Manage working capital and the cash conversion cycle, with particular focus on stock investment ahead of growth
• Tax and Compliance
• Prepare and file VAT returns
• Manage corporate tax filings and statutory reporting across both entities
• Prepare the business for its first audit
• Leadership and Team Development
• Lead, mentor and review the work of a young and growing team: an assistant finance manager and an accounts assistant
• Own the development of juniors, setting objectives, coaching them through technical work and supporting study where relevant
• Set the standard for accuracy, documentation and turnaround across the function
• Shape the structure of the team as the business grows, including scoping and hiring future roles
• What You Will Need
• Ecommerce accounting experience is required. You must have worked in or for a direct to consumer ecommerce business and understand how the numbers behave.
• Expertise in A2X, Dext and Xero is mandatory. You should be able to own, configure and troubleshoot this stack without support. Experience with Shopify and Syft is a strong plus.
• Fully qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent)
• At least 4-5 years of relevant experience, including full ownership of a month end close
• Proven track record of closing the books quickly and accurately, ideally within a 5 to 7 day window
• Multi entity, consolidation and multi currency accounting experience
• Working knowledge of GAAP and IFRS reporting requirements
• Advanced Excel skills
• Expert communicator and articulator
• Bonus
• Experience taking a business through audit, or working closely with external auditors
• UK VAT and US sales tax experience across cross border ecommerce
• Familiarity with AI or automation tooling for anomaly detection and forecasting
• Experience building or rebuilding a finance function, or leading significant process improvement
• Experience with end-to-end processes, including record-to-report, and procure-to-pay (includingproduct costing and inventory valuation)
• Holistic operator who thinks ahead and assesses second & third order consequences
• The Person

We want an expert voice, not someone who toes the line.

You should be detail oriented enough to catch a single wrong entry, and commercial enough to explain why it matters.

You will be expected to challenge assumptions, including ours, and to bring a point of view to the table.

Package and Working Arrangements

• Salary of £60,000 to £75,000 depending on experience
• Year end bonus of 10 to 20%
• Hybrid - Office in Bingley & Remote
• Office and warehouse in Bingley. Ad hoc team meetings are expected
• A genuine leadership opportunity: full ownership of a young finance team you will develop and grow
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