Senior Financial Accountant

Sovereign Housing Association Limited; Basingstoke; Hybrid; GBP 45,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

Sovereign Housing Association is seeking a Senior Financial Accountant to support the Financial Services team from its Basingstoke office. This hybrid role involves complex financial accounting responsibilities, stakeholder management, and project leadership while offering appealing benefits such as a flexible benefits pot, generous holiday, and a matched pension scheme.

Benefits

£450 yearly flexible benefit pot

25 Days Holiday + Bank Holidays

Chance to buy or sell holiday

Matched pension scheme up to 12%

Private medical insurance options

Gym Membership discounts

Qualifications

• Fully qualified Accountant with ACA, ACCA, or CIMA certification.
• Demonstrable experience in financial accounting role.
• Strong knowledge of financial processes and controls.

Responsibilities

• Support Head of Financial Accounting with specialised accountancy service.
• Ensure accuracy of the General Ledger and inter-company accounts.
• Prepare and produce annual statutory accounts for subsidiary companies.

Skills

Financial accounting principles

Analytical skills

Stakeholder management

Problem solving

Attention to detail

Report writing

Numeracy

Computer literacy

Education

ACA, ACCA, CIMA qualification

Tools

Agresso

SUN Accounting

Job description

Are you an experienced Financial Accountant looking for a new role?

We have a fantastic opportunity to join our Financial Services team as a Senior Financial Accountant. Based from our head office in Basingstoke, you'll combine office and home working in line with our hybrid approach. There will be occasional travel to our Wembley office to collaborate with the wider team.

It's a really exciting time to join us as Sovereign have joined forces with Network Homes to form SNG (Sovereign Network Group). Together we provide over 84,000 homes and invest in communities across London and the South of England – our purpose being to provide quality affordable homes and places that people love for generations.

The role

You'll support the Head of Financial Accounting to ensure the team provides a highly specialised accountancy support service to SNG, covering the full range of complex financial accounting responsibilities. You'll develop close links to senior Management and the relevant directorates, becoming a trusted partner. Responsibilities include:

• Full responsibility for the accuracy of the General Ledger, ensuring effective reconciliations and procedures are in place.
• Responsibility for ensuring robust inter-company accounting procedures are in place and adhered to across SNG and that all inter-company accounts are reconciled with other subsidiary companies
• Working closely with the Financial Accounting Manager on the production of the monthly management information for all of SNG's entities to ensure timely and accurate submission to the Executive Board
• Preparing and producing annual statutory accounts for subsidiary companies, liaising with external auditors to ensure accurate and timely completion
• Working closely with the Head of Financial Accounting and Financial Accounting Manager on the production of year-end statutory accounts together with consolidated statutory group accounts for SNG
• Taking the lead in driving projects and initiatives through to completion with support from the rest of the team

What we need from you

You'll be a fully qualified Accountant (ACA, ACCA, CIMA), with demonstrable experience in a similar financial accounting role. You'll need to have strong technical and practical knowledge of the principles of financial accounting and financial statements e.g., FRS102, with strong reporting and accounting experience. You'll also need:

• A strong, clear working knowledge of financial processes and controls surrounding financial accounting and management account preparation
• A professional and logical approach to problem solving with strong analytical skills
• Strong initiative, curiosity and drive with the ability to work to tight deadlines and maintain high attention to detail
• A strong, clear working knowledge of management information report writing and design, including detailed variance analysis
• Proven track record of senior stakeholder management, with the ability to build trusted relationships with stakeholders and demonstrate strong influencing skills
• To be highly numerate and computer literate with strong Microsoft skills covering Word and Excel
• Knowledge of SORP for Housing Associations would be beneficial but is not essential
• Good knowledge of working with ERP systems and ability to assimilate new software quickly; knowledge of Agresso or SUN Accounting systems would be advantageous

Your Benefits

We have some great benefits at SNG, including:

• £450 yearly flexible benefit pot to use against benefits of your choice
• 25 Days Holiday + Bank Holidays (with an extra day every year up to 30 days)
• Chance to buy or sell holiday as part of our flexible benefits package
• Generous matched pension scheme up to 12% and Life cover at 4x salary
• Options for private medical insurance, dental insurance and critical illness cover
• Wellbeing discounts, including Gym Memberships and access to a 24/7 virtual GP service

At Sovereign Network Group, we are passionate about inclusion for all and creating a workplace where everyone can thrive. We are committed to our Equality Diversity and Inclusion strategy and believe that you can truly be yourself at SNG. Take a look at our careers site to learn more about us and our values.

If you would like the opportunity to make a real impact within our changing and growing organisation, we would love to hear from you!