Financial Accountant

Career Legal; Greater London; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

Career Legal is seeking a Financial Accountant to strengthen robust financial control across the European business, focusing on indirect tax compliance and broader finance functions. You will handle VAT across UK, Luxembourg and Belgium, help improve processes, and support budgeting, reporting and audits.

The role requires ACA/ACCA or equivalent, strong accounting knowledge, and advanced Excel skills, with collaboration across Finance teams and senior management.

Qualifications

• Degree educated, BA in Accounting or Finance preferred.
• ACA, ACCA or equivalent qualified, or nearing qualification.
• Experience in professional practice, accounting advisory, audit, or similar.
• Strong indirect tax and accounting knowledge.
• Exposure to management accounting, monthly reporting, budgeting, forecasting or variance analysis is advantageous.
• Advanced Excel and MS Office proficiency.
• Strong analytical and communication skills, with stakeholder ability.

Responsibilities

• VAT process and filing ownership across the European business.
• Review VAT processes including VAT return prep for UK, Luxembourg and Belgian entities.
• Identify root cause deficiencies and remediate with relevant teams.
• Develop controls and checklists for VAT return procedures.
• Deliver training to the Finance team and colleagues.
• Respond to ad hoc VAT queries from colleagues.
• Prepare for VAT audits and liaise with authorities/advisors.
• Assist in financial and management accounting: journals, reconciliations and analyses.
• Support budgeting and forecasting; liaise with budget holders.
• Assist external audits with supporting documentation.
• Support regulatory and external reporting requirements as needed.
• Contribute to process improvement initiatives.
• Provide updates to Senior Finance Manager and collaborate with the team.

Skills

Analytical skills

Problem solving

Communication

Advanced Excel

Stakeholder management

Education

BA in Accounting/Finance

ACA/ACCA or equivalent

Tools

Excel

Microsoft Office

Job description

Operating for over a decade, our client is a leading global player in commercial law. They have a range of high-profile clients including FTSE and AIM companies, and a dedicated team of over 900 lawyers across eleven offices. People are key to their success, which is why they seek to recruit and retain the most talented individuals in all regions of their global practice.

They are now looking for a Financial Accountant; This role plays a key role in delivering robust financial control across the European business, with primary responsibility for indirect tax compliance alongside a broader role across Financial and Management Accounting functional activities.

Responsibilities

• VAT process and filing ownership across the European business;
• Review of existing end-to-end VAT processes including VAT return preparation for our UK, Luxembourg and Belgian businesses;
• Identify root cause deficiencies and work with the appropriate functional team members to remediate issues at source. For example, Billing or Accounts Payable controls and processes;
• Develop controls and checklists to ensure robust VAT return procedures are in place and adhered to, with a clear escalation mechanism in place;
• Develop and roll out training to the Finance team and other colleagues as required;
• Respond to ad hoc queries from colleagues with respect to the appropriate VAT treatment to be applied;
• Prepare the business for future VAT audits and be on point to work with VAT authorities and advisors in the event of a VAT audit;
• Support the preparation of financial and management accounts, including journals, reconciliations, analysis and decision support, working in collaboration with the finance team members responsible for these areas;
• Assist the budgeting and forecasting process by preparing schedules, analysing trends and liaising with budget holders where required;
• Assist with external audit requests by preparing supporting documentation, responding to queries and coordinating with internal stakeholders;
• Support regulatory, statistical and other external reporting requirements as needed.
• Contribute toward process improvement initiatives;
• Provide regular updates to the Senior Finance Manager and work collaboratively with the Financial Accountant, Management Accountant and wider team on priorities, progress and key issues.

Candidate Profile

• Degree educated, with a BA in Accounting, Finance or similar preferred;
• ACA, ACCA or equivalent qualified, or nearing qualification;
• Relevant experience gained in professional practice, accounting advisory, audit, financial reporting or a similar technical accounting environment, with an interest in applying that expertise in an in-house role;
• Strong technical indirect tax and accounting knowledge and experience;
• Some exposure to management accounting, including monthly reporting, budgeting, forecasting or variance analysis, would be advantageous;
• Advanced Excel skills and strong proficiency in Microsoft Office;
• Strong analytical, problem-solving and communication skills, with the ability to work effectively with stakeholders at all levels;

Important Notice

It is Career Legal's policy, as a matter of courtesy, to respond to all applications within three working days. However, because of the volume of applications, we are sometimes unable to respond to individual candidates. If we have not contacted you within three working days your application has been unsuccessful, and your details have not been retained. Thank you.