Accounts Assistant in Watford

An exciting opportunity has arisen to work as an Accounts Assistant as part of the Trading and Reporting team within the Project Finance Delivery Team delivering customer focused Project Finance support as part of the Capability Centre for a leading Aerospace client at their Warton site. In this role you will aid the Business Unit in the effective and profitable delivery of customer projects.

The Project Finance Delivery team contains key capability groups that support the project lifecycle with the ambition to strive for excellence, efficiency and provide world class analysis. As part of the team, you are going to be delivering best-in-class financial planning, analysis and insights, to all internal and external customers, to drive growth and deliver superior performance. You will work collaboratively with the Project Finance Leads, the other teams within the Project Finance Capability Centre (PFCC), the Wider Finance and Non-finance Stakeholders to deliver key project information providing world-class insights and analysis to drive both Service Delivery Unit (SDU) and Contract performance.

Typical duties include:

• Completing the Sales and Margin Trading on a monthly basis ahead of month end for your assigned area in line with the latest signed Quarterly SSR in accordance with IFRS 15 principles.
• Support the AIR FPA Business Performance teams in completing their accounts and month end process through the IFRS 15 Loaders, Late Adjustment and Integrity Checks.
• Support the Half Year and Full Year Statutory Reporting process and provide support to external audit during these periods.
• Support Financial Updates for the Monthly DD/PPR Packs that will be distributed to the Project Finance Lead and Project Management Contact ahead of the review.
• Support the Balance sheet process and completion of Balance Sheet review packs by preparing and updating your assigned area's Monthly and Quarterly Balance Sheets.

Responsibilities will include investigating IT system lines, interrogating options to ensure a correct recommendation and pursuing action to complete it. Root cause identification and process improvement recognised along the way should be appropriately fed back to help set the standard going forward.

The role will interact with a variety of stakeholders and the successful candidate must be able to communicate with different departments and levels of the organisation effectively. The project has a high degree of importance within the business so the successful candidate must be deadline driven, ensuring clear communication of progress and issues faced in a time appropriate manner.

The jobholder will act as a trusted advisor to the business on project finance related outputs and deliverables, providing effective Financial Reporting to Stakeholders, Implementing Sales and Margin Trading and support to the PFCC Project teams and Central Finance.

Responsibilities will include:

• Preparing, Supporting and Implementing the Sales and Margin Trading Plan for the Assigned Contract Area in accordance with IFRS 15 principles.
• Support the Month End Process through the Sales and Margin Trading Calculator (SMTC), IFRS15 Loaders, Actualisation Files, Late Adjustment and carrying out Integrity Checks.
• Review of Sales and Margin Trading Calculator (SMTC) / Actualisation File integrity checks & update of Actualisation Plan to keep stakeholders informed on progress.
• Support the Half year and Full Year End Process.
• Complete any Journals required on the Source Systems and Late Adjustments on Planning analytics.
• Prepare working files with correct supporting information, liaise with sub team lead for working file guidance, approval & raise journals within the relevant system.
• Save down journals on JSH within deadlines.
• Support with the latest monthly financials slides for the DD/PPR Pack that will be used by the Project finance Lead and Project management.
• Update the Monthly and Quarterly Balance Sheet for the Assigned Contract Area.
• Initial roll forward of supporting data and files.
• First pass at commentaries using key viewpoints (focus on What) and approaches key stakeholders for info, e.g. populating comments with viewpoints that are driving the movement balances.
• Support the External Auditor Process, ensuring that all Deloitte requests are completed on time and any control issues are flagged.
• Ensure mandated training is completed.
• Attend and contribute at Modernisation workshops including initiating ideas for continuous improvement.
• Other ad-hoc queries from the other PFCC Teams or Wider Finance such as interrogating the IT systems for information on claims and receipts to identify corrective actions and set up a clear and robust process going forward.

Knowledge:

• Proficient in use of Microsoft Office packages, such as Excel including VLOOK ups, pivot tables and Sum Ifs.
• Operate robust and effective financial controls in line with Financial Control Framework and Finance Policies manual.
• Collaborate with colleagues and support external and internal audit as required.

Experience:

• Proven experience in process improvement, preferably within a finance department.
• A self-starter.

Skills:

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to interpret complex data.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills to effectively collaborate with various stakeholders.
• Meticulous attention to detail to ensure accuracy in process analysis and implementation and the ability to manage multiple work streams simultaneously.
• Self-motivated and proactive in identifying opportunities for improvement.
• Flexible and adaptable to changing business needs and environments.
• Recognises best practice in applying financial controls.
• Experience of using MRPs or ERPs (e.g. SAP, Infor LN, Oracle) and financial reporting, forecasting and analytical tools (e.g. SAP BPC / SAC, Cognos, Tableau) would be an advantage.
• Strong problem-solving skills.
• Ability to build good working relationships with key contacts in business.

Qualifications:

• Part-Qualified or Qualified member of a professional accounting body (ACA, ACCA, CIMA) would be an advantage but is not essential. AAT or equivalent would be preferable.