Finance Manager in Congleton

This expanding business in Congleton is looking for a Finance Manager to lead a small team. Please see the details below:

Role purpose

The Finance Manager will take ownership of the day-to-day finance function and provide the Managing Director with accurate, timely and commercially useful financial information. This is a hands-on position in a small finance team, combining transaction-level oversight with management accounts, cash-flow control and process improvement.

Key responsibilities:Financial operations and control

• Lead the day-to-day finance function while remaining actively involved in bookkeeping, reconciliations and transaction processing.
• Maintain accurate accounting records, ensuring information is complete, consistent and up to date.
• Oversee sales ledger, purchase ledger, bank reconciliations, expense processing, VAT returns, payroll inputs and payment runs.
• Ensure sales invoices are raised promptly, supplier invoices are correctly authorised and all balance sheet control accounts are regularly reconciled.
• Manage credit control proactively, resolving queries quickly and escalating overdue or high-risk balances.
• Maintain an effective month-end timetable and provide accurate information to the company's external accountants for statutory accounts and tax compliance.
• Maintain clear project-by-project records of purchase orders, client receipts, supplier commitments, payments, fees and outstanding balances.
• Work with the team to prepare, monitor and reconcile client budgets, highlighting overspends, missing costs, timing risks and variations promptly.
• Prepare short-term cash-flow forecasts that distinguish operating cash from amounts held or committed for client projects.
• Ensure suppliers are paid accurately and on time without exposing the business to avoidable working-capital risk.
• Produce a reliable monthly management accounts pack, including profit and loss, balance sheet, cash flow, aged debt, aged creditors and relevant commentary.
• Develop practical reporting by client, project, service line or event where the underlying systems and data allow.
• Provide the Managing Director with concise explanations of performance, cash requirements, risks and actions needed.
• Support budgeting, forecasting and variance analysis, maintaining clear assumptions and following up agreed actions.
• Supervise, support and develop the Accounts Assistant, setting clear priorities, checking work and maintaining appropriate segregation of duties.
• Create and maintain documented workflows, standard operating procedures, checklists and a finance calendar so key activities can continue during absence or staff changes.
• Identify capacity constraints and provide evidence-based recommendations when additional resource or external support is required.
• Lead the practical digitalisation of finance processes, reducing manual work and duplication while improving control, visibility and data quality.
• Promote a responsive, service-focused finance culture that works constructively with the wider business.
• Maintain appropriate financial controls, approval limits and audit trails for banking, payments, supplier changes, client receipts and journal entries.
• Protect against fraud and error through independent verification of bank-detail changes and secure payment processes.
• Ensure compliance with VAT, payroll, record-keeping and other routine financial obligations, seeking specialist advice where needed.
• Maintain suitable records and support external reviews, audits, insurance queries and due-diligence requests.
• Work closely with the Managing Director, providing clear, timely financial information and practical advice.
• Build effective relationships with clients, suppliers, external accountants, payroll providers, banks and other professional advisers.
• Explain financial information clearly to non-finance colleagues and promote shared ownership of accurate, timely data.
• Proven experience managing a small finance function and delivering accurate end-to-end accounting processes.
• Strong hands-on bookkeeping and management accounting capability, including month-end, balance sheet reconciliations, cash-flow forecasting and credit control.
• Experience supervising or developing finance staff and improving ways of working.
• Confident using cloud accounting software, ideally Xero, with strong Excel skills and the ability to learn industry-specific systems.
• Ability to manage high volumes of detail and competing deadlines without losing sight of cash, risk or client service.
• Clear communicator who can make financial information accessible to non-finance colleagues.
• Proactive, organised and comfortable challenging established processes constructively.
• Qualified by experience, part-qualified or fully qualified accounting professional. Relevant qualifications may include AAT, ACCA, CIMA, ACA or equivalent.
• Experience gained across more than one sector or business model is desirable.
• Month-end reporting is accurate, useful and delivered to an agreed timetable.
• Cash-flow forecasts, debtor follow-up and supplier payment planning prevent avoidable cash pressure.
• Client project funds and supplier commitments are fully reconciled, visible and controlled.
• Finance processes are documented, consistently followed and not dependent on one person.
• The Managing Director and operational teams receive timely answers and clear financial insight.
• Manual work, duplicated entry and recurring errors reduce over time.

Please submit your CV for immediate consideration.