This Assistant Cost Accountant post sits within the costing service at Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust, working alongside the Cost and SLR Accountant. The work centres on keeping PLICS, national costing submissions, Service Line Reporting and the Trust costing manual accurate, and on giving divisions unit cost and cost driver analysis. The post also liaises with system suppliers and peer trusts and answers costing queries across the organisation. Candidates sit an Excel assessment before a face-to-face interview.
What the job involves
- Support the collection, processing, validation and maintenance of costing data, including PLICS, national costing submissions, Service Line Reporting and the Trust costing manual
- Help ensure compliance with national costing guidance
- Develop costing and apportionment methodologies
- Provide costing insight, including unit costs, cost drivers and analysis of variation
- Respond to costing queries from clinical divisions and corporate departments
- Support benchmarking and service reviews
- Support improvements in costing and activity data quality
- Give timely advice on costing methodology
- Liaise with system suppliers and peer NHS trusts
- Help divisions understand the link between activity, resource use and cost, and identify unwarranted variation
- Assist the Cost and SLR Accountant in developing costing intelligence for operational and strategic decisions
What’s required
Qualifications
- Five GCSEs or equivalent, including English and Maths
- CCAB or CIMA part-qualified at certificate level, or AAT qualified
Experience
- Previous experience in a financial management or costing role
- Handling complex numerical data and producing accurate, meaningful analysis
- Communicating financial or costing information to managers from a non-finance background
Skills & knowledge
- Knowledge of the NHS finance regime, particularly financial management and costing
- Producing clear, accurate and meaningful figures from data
- Analysing data and trends to draw conclusions and support decisions
- Excellent attention to detail and identifying anomalies in data
- Advanced Microsoft Excel skills
Other
- Concentrating over long periods while dealing with interruptions
- Managing own time and administration effectively
- Working as part of a team
- Working without direct supervision
- Continuous self and professional development
Nice to have
- Degree or postgraduate management qualification
- Progression towards or willingness to study CCAB or CIMA
- Experience of working in an NHS finance department
- Experience of using an activity-based costing system
- Experience of staff management
- Knowledge of the Costmaster costing system
- Knowledge of NHS costing procedures
- Knowledge and use of Microsoft Power BI
What’s offered
- Flexible working requests considered
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Contact Details:
The Methodist Church in Britain Recruitment Team
