Financial Controller

Eden Scott; Penicuik; On-site; GBP 55,000 - 65,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Pension

Private healthcare

30 days' holiday

Job summary

Penicuik Estate is looking for a Financial Controller to oversee financial operations at their Midlothian estate. This role involves ensuring compliance with VAT, preparing management accounts, and supporting financial decisions for the estate, which combines agriculture and hospitality.

Strong hospitality accounting experience is crucial as you lead the establishment of the in-house finance team. The ideal candidate is a qualified accountant with expertise in financial reporting and cash flow

Qualifications

• Qualified accountant or qualified by experience with strong financial reporting background.
• Experience in hospitality or events business is critical.
• Proven track record in preparing monthly management accounts.

Responsibilities

• Own the month-end close process and manage financial reporting.
• Ensure compliance with VAT and tax legislation.
• Prepare monthly performance packs for decision support.

Skills

Hospitality accounting

Financial reporting

Management accounts

VAT compliance

Cash flow forecasting

Xero usage

Education

ACA, ACCA, CIMA or ICAS qualified

Tools

Xero

Fathom

ApprovalMax

Dext

Pleo

PriceLabs

MEWS BI

Job description

Financial Controller – Penicuik Estate

Salary: £55,000-£65,000 DOE, reviewed annually. Benefits: Pension, private healthcare, 30 days' holiday including public holidays. Employment: Permanent, full-time. Location: Office based at Penicuik Estate, Midlothian.

Role Purpose & Additional Information

Penicuik Estate is a 7,000-acre estate in Midlothian, cared for by the same family since 1654, where farming, forestry, renewable energy, conservation and a growing luxury hospitality business sit side by side. The finance function has been supported by a Finance Director, who is moving to a part-time Strategic Financial Adviser role, and by the estate's external accountants. The business is now building an in-house finance team led by this role.

The Financial Controller is the senior finance role in the business, reporting to the Owner / Managing Director. A Strategic Financial Adviser (SFA) supports the Owner / Managing Director on financial strategy and the capital programme. The Financial Controller role owns the production and control of all the estate's financial information: management accounts, VAT, forecasting, analysis, the finance systems, and the move to a fully in-house function. The role also contributes to the estate's financial strategy, working with the SFA and the Owner / Managing Director on planning and investment decisions.

Hospitality is the largest and most financially complex part of the business, so hospitality accounting experience matters here: guest ledgers, booking-driven revenue, event cost structures and PMS reconciliation.

Key Responsibilities

• Management Accounts and Month-End Close: Own the month-end close from start to finish. Commercial reporting to the Owner / Managing Director and providing insight and analysis.
• Financial Compliance: Ensuring the company is compliant with all aspects of VAT and tax legislation, ensuring application of partial-exemption where appropriate. Support the external accountants with statutory accounts.
• FP&A and Decision Support: Prepare monthly performance packs and ad-hoc analysis for the Owner / Managing Director, translating numbers into insight that helps decisions get made.
• Financial Operations: Oversee AP and AR as these functions come in-house from the external accountants, building the processes cleanly from the ground up, with day-to-day processing handled by the Finance & HR Assistant.
• Finance Technology & Systems: Own the finance tech stack, Xero, Fathom, ApprovalMax, Dext, Pleo, PriceLabs, the estate's banking platform and MEWS BI.
• Building the Function: This is a founding role, leading a Finance & HR Assistant. You will build the in-house finance function including documenting processes, establishing ways of working, and creating a function that is organised, resilient and genuinely useful to the business.

Essential

• A qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA, CIMA or ICAS), or qualified by experience with a strong track record at this level, covering management accounts, VAT and financial reporting.
• Experience in a hospitality, hotel, venue or events business; this is genuinely important.
• Proven experience preparing monthly management accounts and balance sheet reconciliations to a high standard, with the confidence to own the month-end close independently.
• Strong working knowledge of VAT, including mixed-supply and partial-exemption rules, and the ability to prepare and submit returns accurately.
• Strong cash flow forecasting and management, building and maintaining rolling cash and P&L forecasts and giving the business clear sight of its cash position, essential given the estate's investment programme.
• Commercially minded: comfortable with FP&A, budgeting and scenario modelling, and turning analysis into recommendations that help the business grow.
• Confident user of Xero or an equivalent platform, and happy to be office based at Penicuik Estate, Midlothian.

The Person

Penicuik Estate is warm, welcoming and down to earth, and the right person brings that same quality to the finance function.