Financial Accountant

Working closely with the CFO and Financial Controller, the Financial Accountant will be a hands‑on owner of the finance rhythm in a fast‑paced, investor‑backed environment. The role is responsible for delivering a clean, timely month‑end close, accurate management accounts, strong balance sheet control, cashflow discipline, statutory compliance and practical improvements to finance systems and processes. This is not a narrow processing role: the successful person will combine technical accounting accuracy with commercial curiosity, problem‑solving, and proven experience implementing AI or automation solutions that reduce manual work and improve decision‑making would be an advantage.

Responsibilities

• Own the month‑end and year‑end close timetable, ensuring accruals, prepayments, fixed assets and other accounting journals are posted accurately and on time.
• Deliver a high‑quality month‑end close by WD5, with clear status tracking, issue escalation and audit trail.
• Prepare management accounts for assigned entities, including clear commentary on performance, variances and key risks.
• Complete monthly balance sheet reconciliations and review bank reconciliations, ensuring reconciling items are resolved promptly.
• Perform a qualitative review of expenses as part of month end to confirm completeness of accruals and cost classification.
• Support statutory accounts preparation and the external audit process, responding to queries accurately and within agreed deadlines.
• Track costs, investigate variances and analyse profitability by product, entity or business line.
• Provide practical financial insight and recommendations to senior management, highlighting trends, risks and opportunities.
• Support forecasting, budgeting and cashflow planning with accurate source data and sensible assumptions.
• Use finance data to identify margin leakage, cost efficiency opportunities and process issues requiring management attention.
• Prepare and manage weekly payment runs, ensuring appropriate approval, documentation and control.
• Maintain visibility of rest‑of‑year cashflow, funding requirements and cash timing risks.
• Support transfer of surplus funds to appropriate interest‑bearing accounts, in line with treasury and approval procedures.
• Work with stakeholders to resolve supplier, employee and internal finance queries quickly and professionally.
• Prepare quarterly VAT returns for trading entities and maintain supporting schedules and reconciliations.
• Complete confirmation statements and other routine statutory administration to agreed timelines.
• Maintain robust internal controls, finance procedures and process documentation suitable for a growing PE‑backed business.
• Ensure financial records, journals and reconciliations are clear, reviewable and compliant with accounting standards and internal policies.
• Identify, prioritise and implement practical AI and automation opportunities across month end, reconciliations, expense reviews, reporting, variance analysis and stakeholder query management.
• Create controlled AI‑enabled workflows where outputs are reviewed by finance before use, with appropriate confidentiality, accuracy checks and audit trails.
• Improve Sage coding, management account structures and reporting templates to support multi‑entity reporting and better management information.
• Develop simple dashboards, exception reports or automated templates that reduce manual processing and improve the speed of insight.
• Train finance colleagues on new processes, tools and controls so improvements are embedded rather than dependent on one person.
• Support the Financial Controller and CFO with reporting, audit, process improvement and ad hoc analysis.
• Coach the Finance Assistant on VAT returns, confirmation statements, bank reconciliations and other recurring controls before review.
• Build strong working relationships across the business, responding to questions with pace, clarity and commercial judgement.
• Operate with ownership, discretion and accountability in a lean finance team where priorities can change quickly.

What we need from you

• Qualified (ACA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent) or qualified by experience with a strong technical track record.
• Strong month‑end accounting experience, including journals, accruals, prepayments, fixed assets, balance sheet reconciliations and management accounts.
• Advanced Excel capability and confident use of accounting systems.
• Strong analytical and problem‑solving ability, with the confidence to challenge data, investigate issues and recommend solutions.
• Ability to prioritise and deliver accurate outputs in a fast‑paced, deadline‑driven environment.
• Clear communication skills and confidence in partnering with non‑finance colleagues.
• Experience in a private equity‑backed, investor‑backed, SME, scale‑up or acquisitive environment.
• Experience preparing VAT returns, supporting audit queries and maintaining financial controls.
• Multi‑entity reporting experience, including onboarding new entities or integrating acquired businesses.
• Experience using Power Query, Power BI, SQL, Power Automate, Zapier, RPA tools or finance AI assistants.
• Experience in media, events, professional services, SaaS, subscriptions or other data‑rich recurring revenue models.
• Exposure to budgeting, forecasting, cashflow forecasting and board or investor reporting.
• Sage experience is highly desirable.
• Demonstrable experience implementing AI, automation or finance process improvements, not just using tools casually.