Accountant

Wood is currently looking for an Accountant with oil and gas petrochemical industry experience to join the Aberdeen team on a 3 month fixed term basis. The Accountant will ensure all aspects of contract finance; all accounting activities are undertaken in a timely and accurate manner for the contract covering invoicing, month end close, budget/forecasting, internal reporting of monthly financials and completion of profit & loss / balance sheet reconciliations.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES:

• Review and analysis of costs coded to contract within the accounting system to ensure charges are correct and adjust as applicable.
• Undertake manhour reconciliations between systems to ensure all hours have been captured for invoicing and costing purposes.
• Ensure invoices are prepared in a timely and accurate manner in line with contract terms and conditions and agreed invoice timetable.
• Preparation of annual budget, quarterly and monthly forecast for contract in conjunction with Contract Manager in line with Wood reporting calendar.
• Preparation of monthly accounts for contract covering reimbursable labour, recovered in rate costs, lump sums, procurement, plant & equipment, plus other reimbursable and non-reimbursable items.
• Directly responsible for contract month end close activities in Oracle system to ensure results are accurately reported and analysed.
• Main activities include calculation of accruals, unbilled and unearned entries as required in compliance with Wood corporate deadlines, technical accounting standards, and in accordance with company procedures for reconciliations and balance sheet controls.
• Completion of monthly financial report comprising detailed:
• Profit and loss comparison of actuals against budget/forecast capturing clear and concise operational commentary for variances.
• Balance sheet analysis focusing on unbilled, unearned, accounts receivable, and cost accruals or deferrals, explaining the nature and age of balance and movement from prior month, plus resolution plan for clearance of aged items.
• Rolling forecast for year, and reasons for change from prior forecast.
• Days Sales Outstanding.
• Upsides / downsides to results and likelihood of items being realised.
• Any other detailed analysis that may be relevant to the contract.
• Reporting of monthly results to contract manager to ensure visibility of actual performance and any actions required in specific areas.
• Active management of cash to ensure payment is received from client in line with payment terms, optimisation of Days Sales Outstanding and minimisation of unbilled items.
• Ensure all finance reconciliations are prepared, analysed and reviewed on a monthly basis to establish over/under-recoveries and enable any corrective actions to be taken in a timely manner.
• Knowledge of contract commercials to understand rate build-ups and recovery of costs to ensure maximisation cash position.
• Responsible for identifying and highlighting opportunities for continuous improvement within the contract and sharing of best practice within the function.
• Responsible for maintaining contract delegation of authority matrix in line with any personnel changes on the contract.
• Ensure compliance with accounting, credit risk and code of conduct policies.
• Ensure all contracts process and procedures used on contracts are fully documented.
• Liaising with external, internal and client auditors.
• Execution of various ad hoc tasks as and when requested.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications:

• HNC/HND or other recognised accounting qualification.
• Preferably working towards professional qualification (ACCA / CIMA etc).

Minimum Experience:

• Some accounting experience.
• Proficient user of Excel.
• Good systems experience.
• Competent at using ERP/ forecasting systems.

Job-Specific Skills:

• Oil and gas experience preferred.