Deputy Systems, Reporting and Subsidiary Accountant

Finance Systems and Ledger Maintenance

The post holder will support the Systems, Reporting and Subsidiary Accountant in keeping up to date with system opportunities and networking with the wider NHS to ensure that the Trust is utilising the latest technology and optimising the resources and outputs from the department. They will support in ensuring the General Ledger and associated financial systems are designed and developed to improve the level of service (quality, relevance, accuracy and timeliness of information) and increase efficiency to allow Financial Management to better support operational managers.

They will maintain clear and understandable documentation regarding system design, set-up, configuration and access, ensuring that this is maintained and up to date on an ongoing basis. They will be responsible for ledger maintenance and the finance master data spreadsheet, ensuring that Senior Management can review and analyse the full financial position on the premise that all coding and mapping is fully understood and correctly accounted for.

They will provide the first point of contact for all financial system users with technical and system problems. They will close the accounts receivable application monthly, ensuring that the process is completed successfully and all relevant postings are taken to the general ledger. They will deliver financial systems training to both finance and non-finance managers across the Trust at all levels of seniority, ensuring it is fit for purpose and addresses the needs of the organisation.

The post-holder will support in periodically reviewing departmental processes and procedures to ensure optimum efficiency from technology. They will play a key part in developing the department's intranet site, providing useful and easy to access information for service users, ensuring that all information is regularly reviewed and updated. They will liaise with financial management to understand feedback from service users to continuously improve the site to ensure departmental reputation is improved and maintained. They will support the department by working with our system provider to ensure that we are utilising the system to its full potential.

Trust Financial Reporting

The post holder will support the Systems, Reporting and Subsidiary Accountant in the completion of monthly statutory returns accurately and to deadline. They will support with all internal reporting requirements to the Board and other Committees and Groups, developing and improving these reports to ensure that the position of the Group is accurately and clearly conveyed via a professional and high standard reporting suite.

The post holder will be responsible for creating and circulating the department's annual reporting timetable, ensuring external deadlines are achievable and monitoring compliance to this timetable. They will support the completion of the NHSE final accounts return to deadline, ensuring that all information is accurate. The post holder will be responsible for producing specific reports and working papers to satisfy both internal and external audit requests, ensuring that the integrity and reputation of the Trust is upheld.

They will report to the Systems, Reporting and Subsidiary Accountant, ensuring that they are kept up-to-date with developments and advise on corrective courses of action.

Business Planning and Forecasting

The post holder will support in the Trust's business planning return to external deadlines. They will also be responsible for collating, reviewing and producing the monthly forecasting template for the Systems, Reporting and Subsidiary Accountant to deadline to support year-end planning and inform Senior Management of any risks in the financial position for the year. The post-holder will support in the production of the cash flow forecast on a monthly basis.

Budgetary Control and Cost Efficiency

To ensure the provision of accurate and timely financial management information and monitoring reports to the subsidiary management teams. To attend regular meetings with subsidiary management teams to support the Systems, Reporting and Subsidiary Accountant. Support the subsidiary management teams to agree and set the annual budgets for income, expenditure, staff resources, internal recharges and targets for commercial activities and full operational budget.

Support with the LLP 25-year Financial Model as a tool used as the basis for recharging as set out in the Master Services Agreement. Support the Systems, Reporting and Subsidiary Accountant in providing advice and challenge to the subsidiary management teams on technical accounting and the model, ensuring that the ledger and internal and external transactions reflect correctly the model and that the model is regularly updated.

Responsible for the completion and monitoring of contract variations to the main Master Services Agreement and financial model, associated recharge mechanisms and virements. Responsible for reconciliation of intra-group transactions to ensure all income, expenditure and balance sheet codes do not distort the individual subsidiary/Trust financial position and the Group overall.

Support the Systems, Reporting and Subsidiary Accountant in regularly interrogating/auditing subsidiary expenditure to ensure that the subsidiary and Group Boards can take confidence in the monthly position. This is required on a monthly basis. Support the subsidiary management teams to understand any transactions outside of the normal month-end processes. Support in providing a financial management service to Optimus Health Ltd.

To support in ensuring that appropriate budgetary management and budgetary control systems and procedures are in place and to ensure that financial control is maintained. This will involve an ongoing review of current practices.

Financial Control

The post-holder will be responsible for pulling together the Group VAT returns for review by the Head of Financial Services and submit these returns to HMRC. They will be responsible for reviewing all control accounts, ensuring that they are reconciled monthly and that any reconciling items are cleared regularly.

Performance Management

To produce regular reports to all subsidiary management teams and Boards, where applicable, as required. To support in providing briefing papers for senior managers on specific issues as required.

Business Planning and Capital

To support in providing financial information to the subsidiary management team, to support the production of complex business cases, developments, tenders and other commercial opportunities relating to the subsidiaries and Trust.

Financial Governance

Ensure the Directorate adheres to financial policies, procedures and the Trust's Standing Financial Instructions. Respond positively to internal and external audit reports, taking corrective action where necessary. To support in the production of the annual subsidiary accounts.

The post holder is responsible for the maintenance and accuracy of the authorised signatory list and users provided with approval access in our procurement application. They will ensure that these approvers are in line with Trust standing financial instructions in terms of areas and levels of approval, to support financial control and governance.

The post holder is also responsible for ensuring that finance user access to the ledger system is appropriate and provides sufficient segregation of duties to support financial control and governance. They will have overall responsibility for ensuring the accuracy and timely input of the monthly payroll feeder file to allow Financial Management adequate time to review and complete the monthly closedown processes and procedures.

They will be responsible for ensuring that the Group's banking authorisers and users are kept up to date and are in line with SFIs.

Person Specification

Knowledge and Skills

• Good team player able to contribute effectively to the achievement of shared objectives.
• Well-developed verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to analyse issues and exercise sound judgement in resolving financial problems relating to area of responsibility.
• Well-developed ability to plan the delivery of the workload associated with the postholder's areas of responsibility including the ability to liaise with other staff to ensure timely financial input.
• Excellent IT skills.
• Ability to work with frequently high levels of concentration to perform ledger checks, reviews and reconciliations of data input, reports and returns.
• Ability to work flexibly to meet demand during busy periods of each month.

Qualifications

• Part qualified CCAB, CIMA or equivalent qualification.
• AAT qualified or equivalent qualification.

Experience

• Experience of working in a complex finance department.
• Considerable experience of computer systems including general ledger, reporting software and Microsoft Office applications.
• Basic understanding of the final accounts process and preparing associated reports and working papers.
• Knowledge, understanding and experience of operational requirements to support development and maintenance of sound financial management throughout the Trust.

Personal Attributes

• Friendly/approachable attitude with a pleasant, helpful and willing disposition.
• Ability to work well under pressure and to respond positively to the demands and frequent interruptions placed upon them.
• Ability to adapt to different working methods.