Financial Accountant – Technical Accounting & Reporting

Responsibilities

• Prepare the annual statutory accounts under FRS 102 and lead the day-to-day relationship with the external auditors.
• Maintain audit working papers on a continuous basis through the year rather than reconstructing them at year end.
• Form, research and document technical accounting judgements – revenue recognition, work in progress valuation, lease accounting under the revised Section 20, provisions and accruals.
• Prepare corporation tax computations and manage the relationship with external tax advisers.
• Own VAT compliance, including the partial exemption calculation and its annual adjustment.
• Support compliance with the SRA Accounts Rules, including client account reporting and the annual Accountant's Report.
• Maintain the control framework over client money in conjunction with the cashiering team.
• Review the monthly balance sheet, including the fixed asset register, accruals and prepayments, and the cashiering-to-ledger reconciliations.
• Prepare the technical elements of the close – provisions, WIP valuation and any judgemental adjustments – and pick up hands-on production work where the team needs it.
• Contribute to documenting and improving the close process as the function scales.
• Own intercompany accounting and reconciliation across the group's entities and prepare the group consolidation.
• Support external due diligence and funder reporting requirements, working alongside the firm's advisers.

Qualifications

• ACA, ACCA or CIMA qualified.
• Demonstrable experience preparing statutory accounts under FRS 102 and managing an external audit through to sign-off.
• Strong technical accounting judgement, with the confidence to research a position, document it and defend it.
• Comfortable in an environment where process documentation is limited, and motivated to build it rather than wait for it.
• Working knowledge of group structures, intercompany accounting and consolidation.
• Happy to work hands-on and to deadline in a high-volume environment, including the detail.
• Able to move between detailed hands-on work and board-level output.
• (Desirable) Experience in the legal sector or professional services.
• (Desirable) Familiarity with the SRA Accounts Rules and client account accounting.
• (Desirable) VAT partial exemption experience.
• (Desirable) Exposure to Proclaim or a comparable legal case management system.

Benefits & Rewards

• Real ownership. The technical agenda is yours, not a slice of someone else's.
• A defined progression path. The structure anticipates a Financial Controller role as the business grows, and this position is the natural route to it.
• Direct exposure. You will work closely with the Finance Director, contribute to board reporting, and see how a growing regulated business is run.
• Transaction exposure. The firm is preparing for its next phase of growth and this role sits at the centre of the reporting and due diligence work that involves – experience that is difficult to acquire and highly transferable.
• A function being built, not maintained. There is significant investment going into finance and you will help shape how it works.
• A business that values innovation and is open to evolving how finance supports the wider organisation.
• Hybrid working environment because we recognise the importance of work/life balance.
• 25 days AL + Bank Holidays, with buy/carry over options.
• Employee benefits: death in service, healthcare plan, EAP, counselling, and salary sacrifice.
• Extras: free conveyancing, mortgage advice, staff discounts, free uber service to/from Navigation Road station and our office.