Financial Controller

DMH Stallard LLP; Gatwick; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

25 days holiday

Private Healthcare

Pension Scheme

Life Assurance

Employee Assistance Programme

Cycle to work scheme

Sodexo Discounts

Job summary

DMH Stallard LLP seeks an experienced Financial Controller to lead the Accounts department, overseeing management accounting, reporting and budgeting. You will partner with business leaders, drive improvements in controls and support growth across the firm.

You will manage a team of seven and collaborate with the Finance Director to ensure accurate statutory accounts, cashflow and VAT compliance, while maintaining our strong culture and governance.

Qualifications

• Experience providing commercial accounting support, profitability analysis, forecasting and budgeting in a professional services business.
• Business partnering with non-finance staff to explain financial implications.
• Ability to build relationships with internal and external stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Lead the management accounting function and deliver high-quality financial reporting and analysis.
• Coach and develop the management accounting team.
• Support growth and acquisitions including due diligence and post‑completion integration.

Skills

Commercial accounting

Business partnering

Forecasting & budgeting

Advanced Excel

Financial reporting

Team leadership

Problem solving

Education

Senior accountancy qualification (ACA/ACCA/CIMA)

Tools

Aderant

SQL reports

Job description

The firm

DMH Stallard provides a comprehensive range of commercial, dispute resolution and litigation, employment, cyber security and cyber-crime, corporate, intellectual property, real estate and technology, media and telecoms advice to both businesses and individuals. Our clients, our people and our professional networks are the keys to our success. With offices in London and across the region, including Brighton, Gatwick, Guildford, Horsham, and Hassocks - we’re proud to have grown to around 400 people.

The firm

DMH Stallard provides a comprehensive range of commercial, dispute resolution and litigation, employment, cyber security and cyber-crime, corporate, intellectual property, real estate and technology, media and telecoms advice to both businesses and individuals. Our clients, our people and our professional networks are the keys to our success. With offices in London and across the region, including Brighton, Gatwick, Guildford, Horsham, and Hassocks - we’re proud to have grown to around 400 people.

Culture really matters to us. In our most recent staff survey, 99.6% of our people said DMH is a great place to work, with 90% feeling they have a strong work-life balance, and 93.9% expressing confidence in the leadership team.

We’re committed to building a genuinely inclusive and supportive workplace. Our Women in Law group meets quarterly, and we’re actively working toward gender balance at all levels. We already exceed the industry average, with 40% of our partners being women compared to the sector average at 29%.

We actively invest in learning and development at all career stages. Our mentoring programme is available to all partners, and we are preparing to launch an internal mentoring programme to support progression right up to partnership. We also recognise that work-life balance is essential to long-term success and wellbeing, and we promote hybrid working arrangements to help our people perform at their best inside and outside of work.

We’re also especially proud to achieve gold accreditation from Investors in People, which reflects our strong commitment to people development and leadership.

The department

The Accounts department is responsible for overall financial management, delivering critical operational support and assisting in strategic development of the business. We currently have 28 people across several core functions – Management Accounts, Client Accounting, Credit Control, Cashiering and Systems. Our key focus is maintaining and improving profitability underpinned by strong cash flow management.

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced hands-on Financial Controller to join our ever-growing, ambitious law firm. You’ll play a key role in leading our management accounting team of 7 people, ensuring the accuracy and integrity of all financial reporting, driving improvements in our controls, processes, and systems, and contributing to the continued growth of the firm.

It goes without saying that you’ll be a strong technical accountant, but it’s also really important to us that you’re the kind of person who leads with integrity, builds others up, and helps maintain our culture of speaking up about problems or mistakes, and working collaboratively to resolve issues.

Role And Responsibilities

• Leading the management accounting function – delivering high quality financial and management reporting, analysis, and insight on a timely basis to help the business understand performance and make more informed decisions.
• Managing, coaching and developing the management accounting team.
• Supporting the firm’s ongoing growth and acquisitions strategy, including due diligence and post‑completion integration of acquired law firms.
• Managing the annual budgeting process, forecasts as required, and improving the wider budgeting and forecasting process.
• Managing the production of key monthly performance reports to the business, assisting with business partnering with fee earning departments and individual fee earners, and ensuring appropriate revenue recognition.
• Managing the production of monthly management accounts – including reporting to fee earning teams, budget holders, business partnering with support managers, and ensuring integrity of the balance sheet.
• Assist in improving financial awareness and understanding across the business
• Building and maintaining key relationships with internal and external stakeholders such as the Managing Partner, management team, support department heads, banks, auditors, tax accountants, advisers, and suppliers.
• Managing the general ledger, month end and year end processes, the annual audit, and preparation of the annual statutory accounts,. Ensure appropriate accounting policies are applied in accordance with FRS102.
• Overseeing firmwide bonus schemes.
• Managing partner drawings, tax reserves, tax payments, capital contributions, and assisting in profit sharing assessments.
• Overseeing and reviewing monthly staff payroll including payroll related tax reporting and payments (PAYE/NIC/PSA).
• Managing the preparation of tax computations (partnership and limited company) and ensuring VAT returns are prepared and filed.
• Overseeing banking matters, including bank reconciliations, cashflow forecasting, treasury management and financing (including partnership capital loans)
• Overseeing the purchase ledger function
• Ensuring appropriate and effective policies, procedures, and controls are in place and developed as the business grows in size and complexity
• Driving improvements of processes, procedures, and controls as required.

Other information

We are looking for an experienced Financial Controller to join our ambitious law firm. The role will provide commercial analysis, insight, support and advice to the business to improve commercial awareness and financial understanding across the firm, help achieve revenue growth and profitability targets, and improve business performance. The role will work closely with the Finance Director and the wider Accounts department, as well as business partnering with group / department heads and fee earners as required.

Essential

• Experience providing commercial accounting support, business, profitability analysis, forecasting and budgeting in a professional services business
• Business partnering with non-finance staff, helping them understand and assess financial / commercial implications
• Ability to build good working relationships with all contacts both inside and outside the firm
• Excellent IT skills, including advanced Excel skills, experience of report design / writing, and using finance and accounting systems
• Senior accountancy qualification (eg ACA, ACCA or CIMA)
• Experience of annual audit process and FRS102 accounting with a focus on revenue recognition
• Knowledge of LLP’s/partnership accounting, partnership taxation and VAT
• High level of accuracy , numeracy, and attention to detail
• Well organised and able to work under pressure to strict deadlines
• Experience of managing and developing a finance team
• Strong sense of teamwork and hands on attitude
• Focus on continuous improvement and a pro- active approach to problem solving

Desirable

• Experience of working in a law firm
• Experience of working with Aderant
• Ability to design and run SQL reports
• Knowledge of Solicitors Accounts Rules
• Audit background

Benefits

• 25 days holiday (of which 3.5 are taken during the Christmas period), plus Birthday holiday, plus Bank Holidays.
• Buying Holiday Scheme
• Enhanced Maternity/Paternity Pay
• Life Assurance
• Private Healthcare
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Sodexo Discounts
• Pension Scheme
• Interest free season ticket loans
• Cycle to work scheme
• Discounts on Legal work