Accountant

Elvis Eckardt Recruitment & Sales Solutions Limited; Greater Manchester; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 48,000; Full time

Job summary

Elvis Eckardt Recruitment & Sales Solutions Limited in Lowton, Greater Manchester, seeks a Practice Accountant for a small, friendly firm. You’ll own a portfolio of SME clients and work closely with the Director, using Xero confidently to manage year-end accounts, VAT, tax work and payroll.

You'll be the main contact for clients, chase missing information, and explain numbers in plain English, helping businesses understand their finances.

Qualifications

• Currently working or recently worked in an accountancy practice.
• Experience managing your own portfolio of clients.
• Strong Xero proficiency.
• Experience with accounts preparation, VAT and tax work.

Responsibilities

• Prepare year-end accounts and financial statements.
• VAT returns.
• Corporation Tax and Self Assessment work.
• Payroll and associated filings.
• Review bookkeeping for accuracy.
• Speak directly with clients about their accounts.
• Chase missing invoices, receipts and information.
• Explain numbers clearly to clients.
• Identify problems before they become bigger problems.
• Support clients in managing their finances.

Skills

Client management

Accounts preparation

VAT & tax

Communication with clients

Education

ACA/ACCA qualified or part-qualified

Tools

Xero

Job description

Position: Practice Accountant

Lowton, Greater Manchester | Full-time or Part-time | Flexible hours

If you're an accountant who enjoys working with actual people, not just spreadsheets, this might be worth a read.

We're recruiting for a small, modern accountancy practice based in Lowton, and this isn't one of those jobs where you disappear into a huge finance department and nobody notices whether you're there or not.

The team is small. Very small.

That means you'll know the clients, the clients will know you, and you'll work closely with the Director rather than being employee number 437 on an organisational chart.

They're looking for an experienced Practice Accountant who can take ownership of their own clients, knows their way around Xero without having to Google where everything lives, and is happy picking up the phone when a client has inevitably forgotten to send half their VAT receipts.

Because they always do.

What you'll actually be doing

You'll manage your own portfolio of SME clients and become one of their main points of contact.

• Preparing year-end accounts and financial statements
• VAT returns
• Corporation Tax and Self Assessment work
• Payroll and associated filings
• Reviewing bookkeeping and making sure everything actually makes sense
• Speaking directly with clients about their accounts
• Chasing missing invoices, receipts and information
• Helping clients understand their numbers without making it sound like an accounting textbook
• Spotting problems before they become bigger problems
• Supporting and improving how clients manage their finances

And importantly, every client is on Xero.

This is a Xero practice through and through, so we're looking for somebody who uses it confidently and regularly rather than somebody who once logged into it in 2022.

Who we're looking for

You'll ideally be:

• Currently working, or recently worked, within an accountancy practice
• ACA or ACCA qualified or part-qualified
• Experienced managing your own portfolio of clients
• Very comfortable using Xero
• Confident with accounts preparation, VAT and tax work
• Comfortable speaking directly with business owners
• Organised enough to manage several clients without needing somebody constantly checking where things are up to
• Proactive enough to chase information rather than waiting for it to magically arrive
• Friendly, approachable and able to work closely within a small team

You don't need to be the loudest person in the room.

But you do need to be comfortable building relationships with clients and becoming somebody they trust.

Why this role might be different

The business understands that good accountants have lives outside work.

So there's genuine flexibility around full-time or part-time hours, making this potentially a really good opportunity for somebody who wants to stay in practice but no longer wants the traditional practice lifestyle.

Maybe you've worked for a larger firm and want something more personal.

Maybe you're tired of timesheets, layers of management and meetings about meetings.

Maybe you've had some time away from work and want to return somewhere that will value your experience.

Or maybe you simply want to work somewhere local where you can do a good job, build relationships with your clients and actually enjoy the people you work with.

All perfectly valid reasons.

Location

The office is based in Lowton, so ideally we're looking for somebody reasonably local to areas such as:

Lowton, Leigh, Golborne, Culcheth, Newton-le-Willows, Warrington, Wigan, Atherton, Tyldesley or surrounding areas.

If your commute currently involves spending half your life on the M60, this could be a welcome change.

Contact: Elvis Eckardt