Management Accountant

Career Legal; Greater London; On-site; GBP 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

Career Legal is seeking a Management Accountant based in London to own general ledger and month-end close activities for the London office while supporting broader European operations. The role blends core financial control with management reporting, tax coordination, and client account compliance across multiple jurisdictions.

The candidate will be hands-on, detail-oriented, and able to engage with finance and non-finance stakeholders.

Qualifications

• Qualified accountant with ACA/ACCA/CIMA or equivalent.
• Strong general ledger and month-end close experience in professional services (law firm a plus).
• Solid management accounting skills: variance analysis, reporting and translating numbers into narrative.
• Excellent reconciliation discipline and attention to detail with a control-minded approach.

Responsibilities

• Own/prepare month-end close for the London office in line with firm policies and standards.
• Maintain the general ledger, including journals, postings, intercompany postings and reclassifications.
• Perform balance sheet reconciliations and timely resolution of reconciling items across bank, payroll, VAT etc.
• Prepare and review P&L and balance sheet analyses, investigate variances and trends.

Skills

Management accounting

Variance analysis

Financial reporting

Reconciliations

Excel advanced

ERP systems

Communication

Multi-jurisdiction coordination

Education

ACA/ACCA/CIMA or equivalent

Tools

Excel

ERP systems

Job description

Our client advises the world's leading corporations, investment funds and financial institutions on their most critical legal needs and business opportunities. The Firm's approximately 500 lawyers are based in North America and Europe.

TheyarenowlookingtorecruitaManagementAccountant.BasedinLondontheManagementAccountantwilltakeownershipofgeneralledgerandmonth-endcloseactivitiesfortheLondonofficewhilesupportingbroaderEuropeanoperations.Therolecombinescorefinancialcontrolresponsibilitieswithmanagementreporting,taxcoordination,andclientaccountcompliance,requiringahands-on,detail-orientedindividualwhocanoperateacrossmultiplejurisdictionsandengageeffectivelywithbothfinanceandnon-financestakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Own/preparemonth-endcloseactivitiesfortheLondonofficeinaccordancewithfirmpoliciesandapplicableaccountingstandards.
• Maintainthegeneralledger,includingjournalpreparation/posting,intercompanypostings,andreclassifications.
• Performbalancesheetreconciliationsandensuretimelyresolutionofreconcilingitems(bank,payroll,fixedassets,intercompany,VATaccounts,etc.).
• PrepareandreviewP&Landbalancesheetanalysis,investigatingvariancesandtrends.
• Supportcashmanagementactivities,includingbankreconciliationsandpaymentrunsupportasneeded.
• Management accounting and reporting
• Supportbudgetingandforecastingcycles
• Providecostcentrereportingtobudgetownersandassistwithqueryresolution.
• Tax coordination and basic accounting coverage - Frankfurt and Brussels
• Coordinatelocaltaxcomplianceprocesseswithexternaladvisers/payrollproviders(e.g.,VATfilings,wagetax-relatedreporting,otherlocallyrequiredfilings),ensuringdeadlinesaremetanddocumentationiscomplete.
• SupportbasicaccountingactivitiesforFrankfurtandBrussels(e.g.,routinejournals,reconciliations,invoicecodingsupport,localvendorqueries).
• Assistwithpreparation/coordinationofinformationforlocalstatutoryaccountsandaudits,actingastheFinancepointofcontactforexternalaccountants.
• EnsureproperintercompanyaccountingandcostallocationsbetweenLondon/Frankfurt/Brusselsasrequiredbyfirmpolicy.
• SupportcompliancewiththeSRAAccountsRulesandinternalfirmpoliciesrelatingtoclientmoney,ensuringappropriatesegregation,authorisation,andaudittrail.Assistwithclientaccountreconciliations(e.g.,clientledgertobank,andbanktocashbook)andensurereconciliationsarecompletedaccuratelyandonschedule,withtimelyescalationofexceptions.
• Helpmonitorandactionresidualclientbalances,includingreporting,investigation,andcoordinationwithrelevantteamstoresolve/returnbalancesinlinewithpolicy.
• Supportclient-to-officetransfersandothermovements(e.g.,disbursements,billsandreceipts)toensuretheyareproperlysupported,correctlycoded,andprocessedinaccordancewiththeRulesandfirmprocedures.
• Assistwithrespondingtoaudit/compliancequeriesrelatingtoclientaccounting,includingpreparingsupportingdocumentationforinternalreviewsandexternalinspections.
• Maintain clear documentation of processes and controls for client accounting activities, and contribute to continuous improvement of controls and reconciliation procedures.

TheCandidate

• Qualifiedaccountant(ACA/ACCA/CIMAorequivalent).
• Provenexperienceingeneralledgeraccountingandmonth-endclose,ideallyinaprofessionalservicesenvironment(lawfirmexperienceisaplus).
• Solidmanagementaccountingskills:varianceanalysis,reporting,andtheabilitytotranslatenumbersintoclearnarrative.
• Strongreconciliationdisciplineandattentiontodetail,withacontrol-mindedapproach.
• AdvancedExcelskills(pivots,lookups,basicmodelling);comfortableworkingwithfinancesystems/ERPs.
• Strongorganisationalskillswiththeabilitytomanagemultipledeadlinesacrossjurisdictions.
• Clearcommunicator,abletoworkconfidentlywithnon-financestakeholders.
• Candemonstrateaproactive,hands-onapproach,tobeinvolvedinbothaccountingandsupportingtransactionalactivities