Assistant Cost Accountant

North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust; Carlisle; On-site; GBP 27,000 - 38,000; Full time

Job summary

A regional healthcare organization is seeking an Assistant Cost Accountant to prepare financial reports and assist with service line reporting. The ideal candidate should be AAT qualified and have strong Excel skills. This role offers a salary range of £27,485 to £37,796, dependent on experience. The organization is committed to providing high-quality healthcare services across North Cumbria.

Benefits

27-day holiday scheme rising to 33 after 10 years

NHS Discounts

Salary Sacrifice schemes including lease cars and Cycle to Work

Free confidential counselling service

Qualifications

• Significant practical experience working in finance roles.
• Ability to work accurately to deadlines and under pressure.
• Good communication skills in order to explain complex financial issues.

Responsibilities

• Prepare regular service line reports and assist in service line reporting.
• Maintain awareness of Trust-wide financial issues and contribute to targets.
• Assist with the production of quarterly Service Line Reports.

Education

AAT qualified or similar experience

Good general education including Maths and English at GCSE level

Actively studying towards higher CCAB/CIMA qualification

ECDL or equivalent

Tools

Microsoft Office

SQL

Computerised ledger systems

Finance and information systems

Advanced Excel skills

Job description

Go back North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust

Assistant Cost Accountant

The closing date is 03 October 2025

The post holder will prepare regular service line reports and contribute to future development of service line reporting.

The post holder will assist with the production of the annual National Cost Collection, Service Line reporting through maintaining the PLICS (Patient Level Information and Costing system) and other national returns and subsequent related analysis and management information. It will be necessary to interpret and apply national guidance in relation to these submissions.

The post holder will assist in the promotion of financial awareness to Trust management and staff.

The post holder will assist in supporting the Cost Accountant and Lead Cost Accountant who in turn support the collaborative structure at NCIC with reporting on the cost base of services and using benchmarking data. In addition, the post holder will be supporting the Information Analyst with data feeds for the Trust, identifying data quality issues and opportunities to improve.

The post holder will have a good background in Finance, preferably AAT qualified, and be adept at using a range of finance and information systems and be proficient in the use of MS Excel. Displaying good communication skills to discuss income and costing issues with a range of staff.

The post holder will be expected to work on their own initiative by planning and organising their own workload in order to meet set deadlines. But also needs to work well as a team to meet numerous deadlines.

Main duties of the job

Assist with Statutory Returns production and verification as required

Assist with the production of quarterly Service Line Reports working closely with other teams to identify Activity and costs.

Liaise with care group and clinical colleagues to improve operational and clinical understanding and respond to queries from care group and service managers.

Maintain an awareness of all key Trust-wide financial issues and contribute to the achievement of the Trust's financial targets.

Maintain a knowledge of national and NHS accounting regulations

Maintain a working knowledge of national costing standards for all Trust operating and service sectors.

Undertake appropriate reconciliation of data reported in statutory and non-statutory submissions

Responsible for development and maintenance of documentation for procedures undertaken, ensuring that they accurately reflect current practice.

Prepare ad hoc reports and analysis for the Cost Accountant and Lead Costing Accountant

About us

At NCIC, we have an ambition to deliver outstanding hospital and health services to half a million people. Established on 1st October 2019, the Trust is creating a centre of excellence in providing rural and remote healthcare and provides a wide range of community and acute services throughout North Cumbria and beyond. We're responsible for delivering over 70 services across 15 main locations and we employ more than 6,500 members of staff.

Our 5 key principles demonstrate our belief in the delivery of 'safe, high quality care every time'.

• Being a clinically led organisation
• Quality and safety at the heart
• A positive patient experience every time
• A great place to work
• Managing our money well

As an organisation we are serious about supporting a diverse workforce that reflects our local community and are very much focused on being an inclusive and compassionate place to work.

Across the North East and North Cumbria we are working together to deliver our ambition to be the greenest region in England by 2030. All staff are expected to support sustainability.

Job responsibilities

Please see attached job description and person specification for further information regarding the role and the essential and desirable criteria required to be met by applicants.

Please note, due to changes implemented by the Government to the UK immigration policy, individuals who require a Health and Care Visa or a Skilled Worker Visa may no longer be eligible for sponsorship where the UKVI salary threshold is not met or if the occupation is not included in the updated Immigration Salary List (ISL). Applicants must check their eligibility to be employed in any role they are interested in applying for, prior to completing an application for employment.Any applicants who do not meet the eligibility criteria will not be progressed. For further information visit theUK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

If you are applying under the Disability Confident Scheme or Armed Forces Covenant and you meet all the essential criteria for a post, you will be guaranteed an interview.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

The cost of the DBS must be met by the successful candidate(s) through salary deduction. DBS charges are as follows if applicable to the post:

Standard Check: £21.50 + Administration cost of £5.90 = £27.40. Deducted from salary over a 4 month period or a one-off payment.

Enhanced Check: £49.50 + administration cost of £5.90 = £55.40. Deducted from salary over a 4 month period or a one-off payment.

NCIC can offer successful future employees the following benefits:

27-day holiday scheme rising to 33 after 10 years

NHS Discounts*

Salary Sacrifice schemes including lease cars and Cycle to Work*

Vivup is a free, confidential counselling and information service to assist with personal or work-related problems

*Subject to eligibility

Please ensure that you document evidence of meeting all the essential criteria in the supporting information.

If sufficient response is received this post could be closed earlier than the specified closing date, please apply as soon as possible to ensure that your application is considered.

Candidates who have been successfully shortlisted for interview will be asked via an email notification to log on to their Trac account to select an interview time. This will usually be within 2 weeks of the closing date.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Certificate level/Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) member, or demonstrable experience of successfully performing a substantially similar role to degree level
• Good general education including Maths and English at GCSE level or equivalent
• Actively studying towards higher CCAB/CIMA qualification
• ECDL or equivalent.

Knowledge and Experience

• Significant practical experience working in finance roles
• Working effectively in a team and on own initiative
• Undertaking financial analysis. Preparation of complex written and numeric reports.
• Application of national guidance
• Computerised ledger systems.
• Good knowledge of Microsoft Office
• Knowledge of accounting concepts, e.g. accruals, prepayments, debtors and creditors.
• Understanding of internal financial control systems.
• Demonstrable knowledge of technical accounting issues, e.g. VAT
• Costing experience
• Awareness of NHS costing methodologies and standards
• Knowledge of costing systems
• Advanced Excel skills
• Have used AI tools and developed skills in this area in addition to knowledge of how AI will impact Finance in the NHS
• SQL Skills
• Self-motivated, proactive and flexible.
• Ability to use initiative appropriately.
• Ability to work accurately to deadlines and under pressure, and prioritise workloads.
• Ability to frequently switch between tasks as priorities and deadlines change.
• Ability to concentrate for long periods of time on data input and analytical tasks.
• Advanced IT and spreadsheet skills, with ability to create and maintain complex spreadsheets to reconcile, analyse and manipulate large volumes of data.
• Ability to analyse, manipulate and present complex information using a range of analytical and IT skills.
• Ability to identify and resolve errors and discrepancies.
• Ability to interpret and apply national guidance.
• Ability to work with non-finance staff.
• Good communication skills in order to explain complex financial issues and procedures and to convey financial Good personal skills Good organisation and planning skills Project experience information to both a finance and non-finance audience.
• Ability to raise queries and discuss with budget holders adverse performance which is not being satisfactorily addressed.
• Good personal skills
• Good organisation and planning skills

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust

£27,485 to £37,796 a yearPA Pro Rata, Salary dependent upon experience and training needs.