Financial Accountant (Capital)

An exciting opportunity has become available within the Finance Department at Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. The position of Financial Accountant (Capital) will be based at Knowsley Community College and will be full time (37.5 hours).

Main duties

• Provide key aspects of financial accounting services which include monitoring and assisting with planning of the Trust's capital programme.
• Updating and monitoring the Trust's asset register.
• Support the Assistant Director of Finance - Financial Services on aspects of internal and external reporting including monthly reporting and statutory year end accounts.
• Assist with the year end external audit exercise and be responsible for provision of information as it relates to the role.

Capital expenditure monitoring

• Ensure that records relating to capital accounting are accurately and effectively maintained on the Finance General Ledger and the Trust's asset register including regular reconciliations to assist in the accurate production of the Trust Balance Sheet to the required reporting timetable.
• Undertake a rolling programme of physical asset audits, including the development of systems and reports to allow for regular verification with the Divisions of capital assets within their areas.
• Liaise with budget holders, Divisional managers and the Assistant Director of Finance to ensure continued accurate identification of additions, disposals, transfers, upgrades and replacements / damaged / obsolete assets.
• Update the asset register on a quarterly basis for such amendments.
• Liaise with the Estates Capital Team and other capital budget holders to maintain accurate records and reconciliations of assets under construction (AUC), ensuring correct categorisation with the Asset Register and Balance Sheet and capitalisation in accordance with the agreed timetable.
• Maintain an accurate audit trail of AUC records for the annual statutory accounts.
• Calculate the Trust's capital charges, ensuring that these are an accurate reflection within the timetable specified.
• Prepare forecasts for the Trust's capital charges and ensure this is integrated into the financial plans for the Trust.
• Produce accurate and timely capital monitoring reports, both for in year and year end capital budget monitoring purposes.
• Attend meetings as required with the Facilities Department to discuss any issues relating to capital and to use the information from these forums to improve the overall capital planning process.
• Assist the Facilities Department in the profiling of the annual capital programme.
• Ensure the Assistant Director of Finance is kept up to date with all issues relating to capital cashflow to assist in the production of the overall cash flow to the agreed timetable.
• Meet regularly with the relevant Estates Managers to ensure that the Trust maximises its VAT recovery in respect of capital expenditure.

General Ledger

• Assist in the production of statutory annual accounts for the Trust, primarily relating to capital.
• Deal with internal and external audit requirements as required.

Administrative responsibilities

• Ensure all relevant procedure notes and associated forms are completed in line with departmental policy and audit requirements.

Clinical and professional responsibilities

• Maintain professional registrations as necessary.
• Adhere to relevant code of practice of professional body.

Teaching and training responsibilities

• Actively participate in the annual performance development review to identify personal needs.
• Attend Trust statutory and mandatory training sessions.

Line Management/Supervisory responsibilities

• Day to day management of the General Office teams in Southport and Ormskirk ensuring that both are staffed appropriately, workload is distributed according to priorities, mandatory training is up to date, annual leave is controlled, annual performance reviews conducted, personal development plans constructed, appropriate training is delivered and sickness is recorded.

Person specification

• CCAB qualification.
• Significant financial accounting experience.
• Supervisory experience.
• Experience of working in NHS finance.
• Experience of the Oracle General Ledger System including Business Intelligence.
• Experience of providing training and support to others in own specialist area.
• Evidence of planning and organising tasks required to achieve a specific outcome within a specified timeframe without direction from line manager.
• Experience of analysing, interpreting and presenting complex data and producing robust forecasts.
• Highly computer literate including MS Word, Excel, Access. Able to extract data, create and manipulate complex spreadsheets.

Skills

• Good standard of communication skills including the ability to effectively communicate complex financial information to non-finance managers.
• Acts professionally in all dealings with colleagues and in liaising with external bodies; must be able to adapt style appropriately to deal diplomatically with senior personnel.
• Good standard of written communications.
• Excellent problem solving and analytical skills.
• Well organised, able to plan and prioritise own workload.
• Good negotiating and influencing skills.
• Ability to work under pressure and to meet tight deadlines.
• Ability to support change.
• Ability to manage conflicting priorities.
• Requirement to concentrate for long periods when inputting data and when analysing data/statistics.

Thank you for considering an application to work for Mersey West Lancashire NHS Trust. MWL is an exciting and forward-thinking NHS Trust who are one of the best places to work for in England.

The Trust may contact you during the recruitment process for your feedback on your experience. We always aim for continuous improvement in our practice.

Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion

We actively cultivate a professional environment of fairness, equality, dignity, and respect for all individuals. We welcome individuals from all backgrounds and value the unique skills, perspective and experience you bring. We are grounded in the belief that diversity enhances our collective strength, fostering innovation and excellence within our workforce. We welcome all applications irrespective of race, disability, gender, sexual orientation, religion/belief, age, gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy/maternity and in particular those from under-represented groups.

As a Disability Confident Leader, we commit to offering an interview to all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the job (the essential criteria) listed in the personal specification. If you wish to apply under this Guaranteed Interview Scheme, please indicate this on the online application form.

If you are having difficulty completing an online application, or require any disability reasonable adjustments, to the application process, please contact [email protected]

We also commit to offering an interview to all armed forces veterans who meet the minimum criteria for the job (the essential criteria) listed in the personal specification. If you wish to apply under this Guaranteed Interview Scheme, please indicate this on the online application form.

The Trust operates anonymous shortlisting where no personal information about you, including your name or personal details are shared with the recruiting manager. No equality information is shared at any time during the recruitment process with the recruiting manager or other people involved in the decision-making process.

The equality monitoring information you provide is used in the following situations: to review our recruitment practices; where a job is limited to a specific person to verify their eligibility to apply; and to offer disability reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process.

Additional Information

Before applying, we encourage you to review the Trust's Values and Behaviours which are We are KIND, We are OPEN, We are INCLUSIVE.

An applicant guide to help and support you with your application and what to expect during your recruitment journey can be accessed in the supporting documents.

Good luck with your application. We hope to welcome you to Team MWL very soon.