Principal Accountant

Principal Accountant

Directorate:                            Resources

Division:                                  Financial Services

Grade:                                     9 (£33,799 - £37,849)

Responsible To:                         Finance Manager

Location:                                 Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire

Job Purpose

To support the Finance Manager in achieving the objectives set out in the Resources Directorate Service Plan and MTFP thereby ensuring effective financial services are provided to the various clients.

Principal Accountabilities

Working within operational guidelines set by the Deputy Chief Finance Officer and work priorities set by the Finance Manager, the Principal Accountant will be assigned a wide range of service areas and take responsibility for accounting, financial governance, budgeting and accounts closure within these areas.

Each Principal Accountant will be supported by an interchangeable team of Senior Accountants and Accounting Technicians, the team will be responsible for the financial management of the Authority’s services within an agreed service area, individuals within the team will be rotated periodically to aid their professional development and provide the Authority with some resilience, to cover staff absences.

The post holder will be expected to:

• Brief and/or prepare reports for Directors, Heads of Service and budget managers on financial matters providing a clear analytical picture and ensuring they understand all the underlying issues and consequences
• Ensure all work is completed within set deadlines
• Incorporate Council decisions affecting estimates into the management budget
• Ensure the approved management budget is accurately input onto the corporate financial information  system and is amended for any subsequent virement decisions or additional resource allocations
• Undertake regular budget monitoring review and prepare an executive brief for the Budget Panel, identifying high risk areas, working with budget managers to investigate issues, identifying budget pressures and savings and informing the Finance Manager of any areas of concern and proposed remedial actions.
• Ensure the preparation and timely submission of all grant claims and other returns associated with the services and monitoring the receipt of grants and other reimbursements.
• Ensure staff in the client departments can access and understand how to use the various financial systems for monitoring and other purposes 
• Ensure the accounts are closed and relevant parts of the associated statements are completed within the set deadlines
• Advise on the appropriate financial governance processes and procedures that may be required by clients
• Management on a day to day basis of staff assigned by the Finance Manager
• Undertake any other duties, commensurate with the level of responsibility of this post, as may be determined by the Deputy Chief Finance Officer or the Director of Resources.

Person Specification

EDUCATION AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING:

Full professional qualification, or in the final stage of achieving full professional qualification with a body recognised by the CCAB, CIMA or overseas equivalent; with a record of Continuing Professional Development. Part Qualified candidates will be considered on merit and work experience, however progression up the pay spine will be limited pending full qualification.

EXPERIENCE

Significant proven experience in an accountancy related post to include:

• the preparation of financial control information for senior management
• detailed involvement in final accounts work
• experience of financial governance issues
• supervision of staff 

ESSENTIAL SKILLS/COMPETENCES:

• the ability to work effectively under pressure unsupervised by the Finance Manager
• the ability to meet pre-set deadlines
• proven numeracy, accuracy and logical approach to problem solving
• Advanced use of spreadsheets, databases and other technical tools used for the analysis and summarisation of financial data.
• good communication skills and the ability to train others in financial systems and explain financial controls etc
• the ability and confidence to represent the accountancy division at Directorate Management Teams
• the ability to optimise new technologies using digital storage/retrieval effectively

KNOWLEDGE:

• a detailed knowledge  of the services area for which the post-holder is responsible
• the Council's financial and other systems providing information to
• clients
• existing and proposed legislation as it affects the finances of the  services area for which the post-holder is responsible
• a detailed knowledge of the Council’s financial regulations, the control procedures operating within the Council generally and within the specific service areas for which responsibility is assigned
• a detailed knowledge of the budget and final account policies and procedures

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