Accountant in Training in Basingstoke, Hampshire

As a Financial Accountant, you’ll play a key role in delivering a high-quality, professional finance and accounting service across the AA Group, working closely with the wider Insurance Finance team.

Supporting the Financial Controller, you’ll get involved in a broad range of activities, including:

• Management accounting
• Financial reporting
• Financial control
• Technical accounting

You’ll help ensure strong governance and accountability, while maintaining the accuracy and integrity of our Insurance accounts. You’ll also play an important part in strengthening our financial controls, supporting existing systems and helping to embed effective controls as new systems are introduced.

Key responsibilities include:

• Supporting the month-end process for the Insurance Division, ensuring accurate and timely financial and KPI reporting that meets internal and external deadlines.
• Preparing monthly financial reports, including analysis and insightful commentary across financial performance, KPIs, balance sheet and cash flow.
• Maintaining the accuracy and integrity of financial records, accounts and processes, ensuring appropriate accounting standards, governance and controls are consistently applied.
• Reviewing balance sheet reconciliations, identifying and resolving issues and ensuring appropriate action is taken where required.
• Partnering with Commercial Finance teams and the wider business to understand performance, challenge results and provide meaningful financial insight.
• Supporting the Insurance Division’s financial control framework, including strengthening controls across existing and new systems.
• Producing regulatory returns, including Retail Mediation Activities Returns (RMAR) and Product Sales Data (PSD) returns for the FCA, alongside other regulatory requirements.
• Contributing to forecasts, budgets and five-year plans, including maintaining accurate information within planning and consolidation systems.
• Driving continuous improvement across financial processes and reporting, identifying opportunities to automate, standardise and simplify ways of working.
• Collaborating with external advisers, auditors and colleagues across Insurance and Group Finance, supporting year-end and interim audits as well as wider projects.

Qualifications:

• Part-qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent), with good progress towards completing your qualification.
• Strong technical accounting knowledge with the ability to apply it confidently in a commercial environment.
• Confident communication skills, both written and verbal, with the ability to produce clear and effective financial reports.
• Advanced Microsoft Office skills, particularly Excel, with confidence working with financial data.
• Practical experience of finance systems such as SAP, BPC or Trintech, alongside strong general IT skills.
• Good understanding of process improvement, automation or finance transformation initiatives.
• Relevant experience gained within an accountancy practice or similarly fast-paced finance environment.

Benefits include:

• 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays + holiday buying scheme
• Worksave pension scheme with up to 7% employer contribution
• Free AA breakdown membership from Day 1 plus 50% discount for family and friends
• Discounts on AA products including car and home insurance
• Employee discount scheme that gives you access to a car salary sacrifice scheme plus great discounts on healthcare, shopping, holidays and more
• Company funded life assurance
• Diverse learning and development opportunities to support you to progress in your career
• Dedicated Employee Assistance Programme and a 24/7 remote GP service for you and your family

The AA values diversity and the difference this brings to our culture and our customers. We have five communities to bring together people with shared characteristics and backgrounds and drive positive change.

As part of the onboarding process, we complete several pre-employment checks including work reference, credit and criminal record checks.