Assistant Financial Accountant - Fixed Term Contract

Hire Ground; City Of London; On-site; GBP 35,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading luxury retailer in London is seeking a part-qualified Assistant Financial Accountant for a 4-month contract with the potential for permanence. Responsibilities include managing finance queries, supporting month-end close, and ensuring compliance. The ideal candidate is part-qualified in CIMA and has experience in financial accounting. Strong skills in Xero and Excel are essential. Competitive salary circa £35K.

Qualifications

• Part-qualified and actively studying toward CIMA.
• Experience in financial accounting with strong reconciliation skills.
• Good understanding of UK GAAP, with excellent attention to detail and communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Act as the first point of contact for day-to-day finance queries.
• Post journals, maintain accurate financial records, and support month-end close.
• Manage the Purchase Order process and Balance Sheet reconciliations.

Skills

Part-qualified and studying toward CIMA

Experience in financial accounting

Strong reconciliation skills

Strong Excel skills

Good understanding of UK GAAP

Excellent attention to detail

Good communication skills

Organised and proactive

Education

Part-qualified in CIMA or similar

Tools

Xero

PowerBI

SQL

Job description

Luxury Retailer 4-Month Contract (Potential to Go Permanent) Full-Time 4 Days in Office

A leading luxury retailer is looking for an immediately available, part-qualified Assistant Financial Accountant to join its finance team on an initial 4-month contract, with strong potential to become permanent. This is a great opportunity to gain broad exposure, take on real responsibility, and make an impact within a small, supportive team.

Key Responsibilities

• Act as the first point of contact for day‑to‑day finance queries.
• Post journals, maintain accurate financial records, and support month‑end close.
• Draft payroll amendments and support Auto‑Enrolment compliance (processing outsourced).
• Manage the Purchase Order process, Fixed Asset Register, and Balance Sheet reconciliations.
• Assist with management accounts, internal reporting, variance analysis, VAT return drafts, budgets, and forecasts.
• Support e‑commerce/POS data integrity and help build PowerBI dashboards.
• Process AP invoices, prepare payments, and reconcile supplier statements.
• Generate customer invoices, manage AR collections, resolve discrepancies, and prepare ageing reports.
• Assist with onboarding/offboarding payroll tasks, holiday accruals, P11Ds, and PSA.

What We re Looking For

• Part‑qualified and actively studying toward CIMA (or similar).
• Experience in financial accounting with strong reconciliation skills.
• Familiarity with Xero and retail finance systems; strong Excel skills.
• Good understanding of UK GAAP, with excellent attention to detail and communication skills.
• Organised, proactive, and able to maintain confidentiality.

Nice to Have

• Multi‑currency or UK GAAP reporting experience.
• Exposure to US GAAP, IFRS, consolidated reporting.
• Knowledge of PowerBI, Zoho, SQL, or payroll processes.

Salary circa 35K Apply now for immediate consideration!