Management Accountant in Walsall

Walsall Healthcare NHS provides integrated acute and community healthcare in the West Midlands serving a population of 260,000 residents. Walsall Manor Hospital houses the full range of district general hospital services. The £170 million development was completed in 2010 and we are continually upgrading. Construction of the new integrated critical care unit was completed in 2018, extension of a Neonatal Unit and an approved plan to build a brand new, state of the art Emergency Department which commenced in 2021. We provide high quality, friendly and effective community health services from multiple sites covering Walsall. Our multidisciplinary services include rapid response and home‑based care, so that those with long‑term conditions and the frail elderly can remain in their own homes. We are recommended by colleagues as a place to work which is supported by the Trust's values to work as part of a team, being respectful, compassionate and professional. We are committed to investing in our workforce. Following our recent CQC visit the Trust was rated as outstanding for care and this has been recognised by NHS Improvement. The work we do is highly rewarding, and in addition to an attractive salary, we offer a valuable range of benefits, including: salary sacrifice scheme; car leasing scheme; on‑site staff accommodation (subject to availability); the ability to retain your NHS pension (where applicable) or the opportunity to join an alternative scheme; and the opportunity to develop and implement your expertise in an encouraging yet challenging environment.

We would particularly welcome applications from people from a Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic background and from people with a disability; these groups are currently under‑represented at senior level, we value diversity within our Trust and are working to achieve equality in our recruitment. COVID‑19 vaccination remains the best way to protect yourself, your family, your colleagues and of course our patients from the virus when working in our healthcare settings. Whilst COVID‑19 vaccination is not a condition of employment at this time, we do encourage our staff to get vaccinated. We will be checking the vaccination status of all new starters so that we can manage individual and environmental risks, and so that we can support those who may be undecided about vaccination.

Job overview: Working as part of a team, the post holder will assist in completing the monthly management accounting processes. The post holder will provide financial support and advice to specified departments. This will include advising a range of budget holders, e.g., Department Heads.

Main duties of the job: The Management Accountant will be part of a finance team who are responsible for financial advice, financial information and other financial input (e.g., business planning, service level agreements, costing and market testing) to a range of clinical and support services. In addition, they will assist in specific Trust‑wide projects where the work cannot be divided into separate teams due to the necessity for a single and consistent output and approach.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities:

• To undertake, delegate and supervise tasks as part of the monthly management accounting cycle, within specified criteria and deadlines.
• To ensure procedure notes for junior staff are clearly documented and revised on a timely basis, and that correct accounting treatment is understood and applied.
• To interrogate all financial ledgers and Payroll systems and use, design and format spreadsheets and databases in order to analyse, interpret and present information.
• To take responsibility for preparing monthly budget reports, ensuring all jobs are complete and reports are as up to date and accurate as possible.
• Preparation of variance analysis and investigation of variances on budget reports and taking corrective action where necessary.
• Presentation of detailed Final variance analysis to Deputy Divisional Business Accountant.
• To meet with budget holders on a monthly basis to explain and discuss the financial position.
• To appraise the Deputy Divisional Business Accountant of any concerns/issues regarding financial objectives being met so to ensure that action can be planned and implemented that will correct any adverse trends or meet specified cost reductions.
• To contribute to the ongoing training and support to budget holders in understanding and making the best use of their budget reports.
• To advise the budget holders on a wide range of financial issues, including identifying cost improvement targets, income generation, costing of rebased establishments and financial management.
• To ensure that all financial proposals have been accurately costed, and that the department is aware of the full implications of the proposals.
• To seek advice on issues from the Senior Management Accountant/ Deputy Divisional Business Accountant.
• Prepare year end financial forecasts for Departmental budgets incorporating all known and potential financial issues.
• Discuss and agree resultant figures with budget holders and Senior Management Accountant/Deputy Divisional Business Accountant.
• Contribute towards the annual Trust business planning and budget setting process.
• Ensure that all relevant issues are considered by budget holders (e.g., cost pressures, cost improvements plans, service developments), and that the financial implications have been fully costed and feedback to the Senior Management Accountant/ Deputy Divisional Business Accountant so they can be included in any business cases, service developments or business plan submission.
• Investigating and responding to complex ad‑hoc queries, both internally and externally, in an appropriate format and in a timely and accurate manner, involving more senior team members where appropriate.
• Responsibility for specific projects within the team, or department wide, as directed by Senior Management Accountant/Deputy Divisional Business Accountant.
• Provision of detailed pay and non pay costing information.
• Deal with ad‑hoc financial coding queries and amendments e.g., from Creditors, Procurement, budget holders and managers.
• Responsibility for ensuring the team year end control account codes are fully reconciled and have supporting information.
• Support the Management Accountancy Assistant where required.
• Provide cover during Senior Management Accountant's absence.

Person specification:

• Qualifications: AAT, GCSE maths, GCSE English, Professional Accounting qualification.
• Experience: Previous experience of working in a finance role and using financial ledger packages. Computer literacy, with competent use of Excel spreadsheets. Ability to work to own initiative on a regular basis and prioritise workloads. NHS Experience.
• Knowledge: Ability to work flexibly in order to meet deadlines.

Please note your application will be transferred from the NHS Jobs system to internal Walsall Healthcare Trac System. All correspondence will be sent via Trac. IMPORTANT NOTE ON COMPLETION OF REFERENCE SECTION OF APPLICATION FORM: References from current and previous employers will be sought and must cover a minimum of 3 years employment. When completing the reference section of your application form, please give the address, telephone number and work email address of each of your current/previous line managers that cover this period. Failure to complete this section may result in your application not being processed. Please review the attached Job description and person specification carefully before applying to ensure that you meet the essential job requirements. Candidates should be aware that, regardless of country of origin, their ability to communicate in written and spoken English to the standard required to carry out the post, will be assessed during the selection process. Referee email addresses should be provided on your application form. Following the closing date, if you have not heard from us within 6 weeks you may assume your application has been unsuccessful. We reserve the right to close this job early. Interested applicants are therefore advised to apply as early as possible. If a large number of applicants meet the essential criteria then random selection will be applied. We are committed to operating flexible working practices wherever possible and committed to equal opportunities.