Financial Accountant - Sales & MI

Responsibility for the overall preparation and delivery of UK and Corporate MI reporting for UK operating expenses to assist the business in meeting its UK and parent company expense objectives.

To work with the business areas to identify, analyse and comment on expense variances and trends and to communicate variances and trends with senior management.

To meet the regulatory requirements for expense reporting within the specified deadlines.

To maintain UK expense accounting records to help the business meet its ongoing objectives.

- Manage the completion of regulatory and statistical expense related returns including SII returns and ONS within the required timescale.
- Administer the expense accounting data in the corporate ledger (Including SAP Fixed Asset Module), and within the department, to ensure that accounting data is up to date and accurate and meets the needs of the business. Understand inconsistencies and where appropriate challenge cost centre managers.
- Control function and maintenance for the SAP Fixed Assets module, including all major capital projects - appropriate splits, sign off and depreciation.
- The preparation and delivery of all UK and Corporate Expense Management Information including detailed variance analysis and commentary relating to direct and allocated expenses for inclusion in the MI packs, expenses by "Lines of Business", allocated expenses, and expense reporting to parent company. Comprehensive, comparative analysis of expense data, identifying primary expense drivers and significant trends.
- Responsibility for preparation of the monthly allocation reporting. Be able to investigate any inconsistencies and where appropriate challenge cost centre managers on their allocation percentages.
- UK Expense Budget - Assist in the submission of the consolidated UK expense budget, collating detailed expense information from cost centre managers. Preparing financial reports and data uploads, with accompanying analysing of results. Assist with the annual budget allocation process, completing allocations for cost centre assigned and ensuring the integrity of the allocations data is up to date and correct for upload into SAP.
- Continual analysis of existing departmental expense processes and controls. Ensuring accounting treatment of all material accruals and prepayments is inline with relevant standards and policy. Recommendations and implementation of changes to improve the efficiency of these processes.
- To develop understanding of and complete all General Ledger reconciliations assigned to the team in an accurate and timely fashion. These reconciliations should be of a suitable standard and all reconciliation items resolved appropriately.
- Responsibility for the production of monthly and quarterly Board reporting packs for review by Senior Management, delivered in an accurate and timely basis, to the required Corporate deadlines.
- Produce the Finance expense Basis Review proposals, including completing templates, coordinating time tables with the Actuarial and Corporate functions and ensuring all deliverables are met in an accurate and timely fashion.
Provide Dynamic Capital Adequacy Testing (DCAT) expense data analysis, for SII expense basis to the Actuarial function in an accurate and timely manner. Investigate year-on-year changes and any other anomalies. Continually develop understanding of these processes to provide higher quality analysis.
- Act as the main internal and external audit contact for expense enquires. Assist and support the external auditors during year end, SII expense and statutory audits as well as at other times. Provide assistance to business and cost centre managers to help them analyse their expenses and explain variances and other expense related queries.
- Provide cover for the Sales and MI team when required and provide training when required for SAP (GL, AP and AM modules), Expenses reporting functions including allocations. Assist and provide major input on expense related project and queries.
- Liaising with Canada with regard to requesting future codes in SAP and ensuring uploads to SAP are correct and fit for use.
- Ensure AP, system testing and controls for SAP are correct and fit for purpose.
- Submission of Audit, Leases and Related Party Transaction summaries to Canada.
- Provide Ad-hoc support to Chief Accountant and Chief Financial Officer

EXPERIENCE NEEDED

- (ACCA/ACA/CIMA) minimum 2/3 years post qualification
- Ability to work in an organised and efficient way to meet monthly and quarterly departmental deadlines
- To be able to analyse, identify and comment on variances and trends when presented with expense and other business performance data
- To identify and seek to understand the drivers of expenses and other performance measures within the business
- Good understanding of accounting transactions including accruals, prepayments and journals
- Good MS Office (excellent Excel) and systems skills as well as knowledge and experience of corporate ledger systems (preferably SAP GL, AP, and AM modules)
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills including the ability to communicate with all levels of seniority
- Fixed Asset Accounting knowledge particularly in SAP