Senior Trust Accountant Edinburgh Trust & Executry

We have a new opportunity for a Senior Trust Accountant to join our Tax & Succession team, with a view to leading and developing our in‑house Trust Accounts team. The position is full‑time permanent, core hours Monday to Friday, 9 am to 5 pm, 33.75 hours per week. The role will principally be based in our Edinburgh office, although we support a hybrid working approach once sufficient experience of performing the role has been obtained.

As the role is intended to lead and develop our Trust Accounts team, previous supervisor experience would be advantageous. However, we would also be interested in candidates who do not yet have supervisory experience but have an ambition to become a team lead.

As part of the day‑to‑day work, the successful candidate will prepare and co‑ordinate accounts for trusts, executries and charities from inception to completion and assist where appropriate the Tax & Succession legal teams in the administration of trusts and charities. You will audit, edit and undertake the comparison of all types of trust accounts, including all related tasks involved in accounts preparation and finalisation. As a Trust Accountant, you will determine the correct opening balances from previous year’s figures and collate information necessary to prepare the accounts from all available sources.

The successful candidate will reconcile the Trust cash accounting and the Investment register and liaise with the Tax team to establish tax retentions and reconcile the Trust tax position, where relevant, to the periodic accounting work required. Our Trust Accounting team liaises closely with our Tax & Succession legal/tax teams, external investment managers and external tax advisors regarding the procedures for dealing with periodic accounting requirements for trusts, executries and charities. The successful candidate will ideally be able to work with minimal supervision in the preparation of periodic accounts, with high attention to detail and accuracy.

The role can be expanded to provide additional administration support for larger trust and charity clients, and work with Tax & Succession legal teams to streamline the ongoing administration of these clients. Financial and business awareness is also vital to ensure that work is delivered for clients in a cost‑effective and efficient manner.

This is the ideal role for an individual with strong knowledge of legal accountancy, particularly in relation to trusts and executries. Training can be provided on accounting for charitable trusts as well as bespoke accounting and administration requirements for particular clients. The ability to work directly and professionally with clients and colleagues of all levels is required. Strong organisation and communication skills will be essential as is experience using Microsoft Office packages, particularly Excel. Full training will be given on other platforms which are used in the business. You will have a continuous improvement mindset and a keen interest in using business systems to improve the efficiency of accounting and reporting processes.

Experience working in a similar role within professional services is desirable. A high level of discretion and confidentiality is a requirement of this role, as you will be exposed to sensitive client data and financial information.