Financial Accountant

Hillarys; East Midlands; On-site; GBP 42,000 - 56,000; Full time

Job summary

Hillarys is seeking a proactive Financial Accountant to lead financial reporting and balance sheet control across UK entities. You will manage month-end close, prepare reconciliations, post journals, and support statutory audits and tax compliance.

The role offers independent ownership, effective stakeholder engagement and opportunities to improve processes and controls within a manufacturing/retail finance environment.

Qualifications

• Part-qualified ACCA, CIMA or ACA status with a related degree.
• Minimum two years in a finance or accounting role.
• Experience with month-end close activities and balance sheet reconciliations.
• Strong Excel skills and experience with ERP systems.

Responsibilities

• Act as the primary finance lead for smaller UK entities and manage period-end activities.
• Prepare and complete monthly balance sheet reconciliations and investigate discrepancies.
• Support month-, quarter-, and year-end close processes and post accurate journals.
• Assist with statutory and audit requirements and tax compliance.
• Strengthen SOX controls and maintain financial master data.

Skills

Financial reporting

Balance sheet control

Month-end close

Analytical ability

Communication with stakeholders

Education

Part-qualified ACCA/CIMA/ACA

Degree in Accounting/Finance

Tools

Excel (Pivot Tables, VLOOKUP, XLOOKUP)

ERP systems

SAP ECC6 / SAP S/4HANA (advantageous)

Job description

This is a varied role where you will support the delivery of accurate and timely financial reporting, balance sheet control, statutory compliance and financial governance. You will play an important part in month end activities, reconciliations, audit requirements, tax compliance and maintaining effective financial controls. As Financial Accountant, you will have plenty of opportunity to take ownership of your work, so we are looking for someone who is confident working independently, comfortable using their own initiative and able to manage your workload with minimal supervision. You will be naturally inquisitive, able to investigate and resolve discrepancies, and confident making decisions within established accounting policies and procedures. You will work closely with colleagues across Finance, Commercial and Operations, as well as GBS, Group Finance and external stakeholders, helping to maintain a strong financial control environment while identifying opportunities to improve and standardise processes., As our Financial Accountant, your key responsibilities will include:

• Act as the primary finance lead for smaller UK entities, overseeing financial control, period-end activities, and balance sheet management, while working closely with GBS to drive effective and efficient service delivery.
• Preparing and completing monthly balance sheet reconciliations, investigating and resolving any discrepancies.
• Supporting month-end, quarter-end and year-end close activities.
• Preparing and posting accurate journals in line with Group accounting policies.
• Investigating and resolving balance sheet and P&L discrepancies.
• Supporting statutory and SOX audit requirements, including preparing relevant information and schedules.
• Assisting with the preparation of statutory accounts and supporting documentation.
• Supporting tax compliance and reporting activities.
• Execute and strengthen SOX controls, ensuring accurate documentation and completed in line with reporting requirements.
• Maintaining financial master data and supporting ERP control activities where required.
• Producing financial analysis and reporting to support effective business decision-making.
• Working with GBS and Group Finance teams to investigate and resolve accounting issues.
• Identifying financial risks or control weaknesses and escalating these where appropriate.
• Contributing ideas and recommendations to improve processes, strengthen controls and increase efficiency.
• Supporting ad hoc finance projects and wider business initiatives as required.

You will work with stakeholders across different UK entities and areas of the business, giving you the opportunity to broaden your knowledge, develop your technical accounting skills and build your commercial understanding. Importantly, this is a role where you will be trusted to take ownership of your responsibilities and work independently. You will have the opportunity to use your initiative, solve problems and contribute ideas that improve processes and strengthen financial controls. If you are proactive, analytical, comfortable taking accountability for your own work and confident working independently, we would love to hear from you.

We are looking for a proactive and detail focused Financial Accountant to join our Finance team.

We are looking for someone who combines strong finance knowledge with a proactive, confident and independent approach to their work.

You will ideally have:

• Part-qualified ACCA, CIMA or ACA status.
• A degree, preferably in Accounting, Finance or a related discipline.
• A minimum of two years' experience within a finance or accounting environment.
• Previous experience of month-end close activities.
• Experience preparing balance sheet reconciliations.
• Strong Microsoft Excel skills, including Pivot Tables, VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP and data analysis.
• Experience using ERP systems.
• Excellent attention to detail with a strong focus on accuracy.
• The ability to analyse financial information, investigate discrepancies and resolve problems.
• Strong organisational skills, with the ability to manage competing priorities and meet deadlines.
• The confidence to work independently, use your own initiative and make decisions within the scope of your role.
• A self-motivated approach with the ability to take ownership of tasks and see them through to completion without needing close supervision.
• Strong communication skills and the confidence to build relationships with both finance and non-finance stakeholders.

It would also be advantageous if you have:

• Experience using SAP ECC6 or SAP S/4HANA.
• Previous experience within a manufacturing or finance environment.
• Experience supporting external audits.
• Knowledge of VAT and corporate tax compliance.