Assistant Management Accountant

Devon Partnership Trust; Exeter; Hybrid; GBP 28,000 - 36,000; Full time

Job summary

Devon Partnership Trust is seeking an Assistant Management Accountant to support the management accounts team with budgets, month-end reporting and business cases. You will work closely with accountants and budget holders to ensure accurate financial information and timely decisions across multiple sites.

The role requires strong analytical ability, data handling skills and experience of working in a large organisation.

Qualifications

• Strong communication skills, both verbal and written.
• Ability to explain financial information to non-finance managers.
• Excellent planning and organisational abilities.
• Solid analytical and judgement skills.
• Experience working in finance in a team environment.

Responsibilities

• Support the finance team and operational managers with data requests, reconciliations and reports.
• Maintain and reconcile budgetary control systems, develop spreadsheets and databases.
• Deputise for finance colleagues at meetings when required.
• Provide financial information to stakeholders including variance analysis and business cases.
• Meet with stakeholders regularly to advise on current financial position; may require travel between sites.
• Work as part of the finance team under supervision of Senior/Accountants.
• Ensure procedures have clear, interpretable notes for finance and non-finance colleagues.
• Provide guidance on Finance Procedures, Scheme of Delegation and Standing Financial Instructions.
• Manage own workload to meet monthly/annual/ad-hoc timetables.
• Deliver informal training to colleagues on relevant topics.
• Suggest improvements to accounting systems and processes to reduce costs and add value.
• Assist in other duties as required by finance leadership.
• Line manage Finance Assistants where applicable.
• Attend finance team and wider organization events and share information.

Skills

Communication skills

Explain finance information

Planning & organising

Analytical skills

Teamwork

Education

GCSE Maths and English

AAT Qualified or equivalent

Tools

Word

Excel

Job description

Are you someone looking to start a career in one of the UKsmost respected mental health trusts?

Would you like to do a job that makes a difference everyday?

An excellent opportunity has arisen for a highly motivated,enthusiastic and flexible professional to join our finance team as an AssistantManagement Accountant working within the Management Accounts function.

As an Assistant Management Accountant, you will be required to assist Accountants with preparing accounts and budgets whilst providing financial support to budget holders and business cases.

Main duties of the job

You will have demonstrable financial experience across awide range of areas, including management and financial accounting, and be ableto confidently apply the principles of double-entry book-keeping. You need tobe comfortable handling and manipulating large datasets accurately and oftensimultaneously, and ideally your experience will have been gained in a largemulti-faceted organisation.

The role is busy and you will often be required to workunder pressure and to tight deadlines, so we expect you will be self-motivated,and be able to work independently, as well as working as part of a team.

As a team we support one another to focus on findingsolutions to some of the challenges we face and ensure that our work is of ahigh standard. This role has a wide-ranging impact, and is key to the successof the team.

If you are an energetic team player, and feel you have theskills and values to join our friendly, outward looking, proactive team, we look forward to hearing from you.

About us

We provide mental health, learning disability and neurodiversity services, as well as a range of specialist & secure services for the wider south west region & nationally. We are passionate about promoting good mental health & wellbeing. We strive to use the expertise & resources within our organisation, and through our partnerships, to deliver high quality services that are safe & focused on people's recovery.

We are committed to developing a culture of coproduction, involving patients, families & carers in everything we do

Our values

We not only recruit based on qualifications & experience - we recruit individuals who possess & demonstrate the behaviours which underpin our Trusts core values. These include such attributes as showing a commitment to quality of care, improving lives of others, giving respect, dignity & compassion. We can bring those values to life in our everyday tasks by giving a smile; making time for people; challenging ourselves & others, & being open to new ideas.

We are committed to being an inclusive employer & applications are encouraged & welcomed from all sections of the community, regardless of any protected characteristics as governed by the Equality Act 2010. Part time & flexible working applications will be considered & supported, where possible. We particularly encourage applicants with lived experience of mental health conditions, neurodiversity or learning disabilities. We are a Disability Confident Leader.

Job responsibilities

• 1. To support the finance team andoperational managers in provision of data requests, reconciliations and reportsin a timely manner, ensuring financial information is processed in accordancewith procedures and in order to provide information for statutory returns.
• 2. Assist with the maintenance,input, updating and reconciliation of computerised budgetary control systems.This involves developing spreadsheets and databases for specific purposes andundertaking enquiries on several financial based systems. The post requiresusing a computer on a daily basis with speed and accuracy.
• 3. To deputise for financecolleagues at meetings etc. when required.
• 4. Assist in all aspects ofsupplying financial information to key stakeholders including non-financialstaff when requested. This will include variance analysis, analysis of pay andnon-pay, evaluating a range of options, supporting business cases, directorateperformance reporting etc. This will involve providing and receiving complexand contentious information, some of which may be sensitive.
• 5. Meet with relevant stakeholderson an on-going basis advising on the current financial position. This mayinvolve travel between different sites.
• 6. Working as a finance team,adopting a task-based approach to workload, which will be co-ordinated bySenior Accountants and Accountants.
• 7. To ensure every process has anaccurate procedure note that can be interpreted by both finance and non-financecolleagues.
• 8. To provide guidance andinterpretation of the Trusts Financial Procedures, Scheme of Delegation,Standing Orders and Standing Financial Instructions where necessary.
• 9. Manage own time and workload inaccordance with monthly / annual and ad-hoc timetables, ensuring all deadlinesare met on a timely basis.
• 10. To deliver informal training towork colleagues and non-finance staff on a range of subjects related to ownarea and a range of general procedures.
• 11. Contribute to the effectivenessof accounting systems, processes and procedures and make recommendations toreduce costs and enhance value.
• 12. Undertake other duties asagreed with the Accountants, Senior Accountants, Assistant Director of Finance.
• 13. Line management of FinanceAssistants (Bands 2, 3 or 4) where relevant.
• 14. To attend and contribute toboth the wider finance team developments such as attendance of away days, theannual Budget Holders Conference etc. Separately, to contribute to non-financecommunications such as the Budget Holders Newsletter etc.

In addition to the job purpose setout above, below is the range of assistant accountant roles across the financedepartment, together with a description of the core role of each:

• a) Assistant Accountant Management Accounts (assisting theManagement Accountants and Senior Management Accountants to prepare annualbudgets, process month end reporting and year end accounts, and to supportbudget holders / business cases as required)
• b) Assistant Accountant Systems (assisting the Accountantfor systems to provide comprehensive systems support in relation to financesystem maintenance and developments to maximise efficiency and effectiveness offinancial systems, processes and procedures.
• c) Assistant Accountant Costing (assisting the Accountantfor systems and costing to provide a comprehensive financial service inrelation to activity planning, monitoring and reporting, and aiding in theimplementation of Payment by Results (PBR) in the Trust).
• d) Assistant Accountant Financial Accounts (assisting theFinancial Accountant and Senior Financial Accountant to prepare monthlyanalysis as required by the Trusts financial reporting requirements, to carryout balance sheet reconciliations of the Trusts financial ledger takingremedial actions as appropriate, process journals and salary sacrificeapplications as required and to assist in the production of the Trusts externalmonthly returns and statutory accounts).
• e) Assistant Accountant Capital / Charitable Funds(assisting the Financial Accountant and Senior Financial Accountant with theoverall management and performance of the Trusts capital and charitable fundsaccounting functions).
• e) Assistant Accountant Cash Management (assisting theFinancial Accountant and Senior Financial Accountant to provide a reliable andeffective service in respect of income/accounts receivable, banking andaccounts payable functions, VAT and other statutory returns).

During the recruitment and selection process, from the abovelist, the available assistant accountant role being advertised will be clearlyset out. The Assistant Director of Finance, in conjunction with the SeniorAccountants, reserve the right to change the role to another assistantaccountant role listed above due to resource pressures or any other reasondeemed appropriate.

Person Specification

• Good communication skills both verbal and written
• Ability to explain finance information to non-finance managers

Planning and Organising skills

• Manage own workload within agreed parameters and deadlines
• Regular reliable method of transport and mobility throughout the area

Analytical and Judgement skills

• Good analytical skills
• Ability to interpret financial information
• Logical approach to problem solving

Knowledge

• Knowledge of NHS finance
• Knowledge of ledger systems/accounting strategy and budgetary control processes

Qualifications

• GCSE Maths and English (or equivalent)
• AAT Qualified or equivalent accounting experience

Experience

• Accounting experience - three years
• IT literate including extensive use of Word and Excel