Senior Financial Accountant

JR United Kingdom; Bedford; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading company in the retail sector is looking for a Senior Financial Accountant to join their Finance team in Bedford. This pivotal role involves end-to-end delivery of management and financial accounts, managing two direct reports, and providing insightful financial support through budgeting and reporting. The ideal candidate should be a fully qualified accountant with strong Excel skills and experience in a retail finance environment.

Qualifications

• Experience in retail finance, ideally direct-to-consumer.
• Proven experience in a retail or consumer-focused finance role.
• Self-starter with a strong sense of ownership.

Responsibilities

• Produce monthly management accounts and financial account reconciliations.
• Manage the month-end close process and create financial reports.
• Support budgeting and forecasting cycles.

Skills

Excel skills

Analytical thinking

Attention to detail

Problem-solving

Communication skills

Education

Fully qualified accountant (ACCA, ACA or CIMA)

Job description

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As the Senior Financial Accountant, you’ll report directly to the Head of Finance and play a pivotal role in the end-to-end delivery of management and financial accounts. You’ll support the timely production of accurate, relevant financial information for both internal decision-making and external statutory reporting.

Sitting at the heart of the Finance team, this role requires strong business partnering capabilities to act as a critical link across both the purchase and sales ledger functions. You’ll help shape an effective, insight-driven financial support service—delivering high-quality financial outputs through budgeting, forecasting and periodic management accounts to stakeholders across the business.

You’ll also be responsible for managing and developing two direct reports: the Assistant Management Accountant and the Senior AP Controller.

We’re looking for someone with solid experience in retail finance, ideally from a direct-to-consumer environment or within a large, dynamic business.

Key Responsibilities:

• Produce monthly management accounts, including financial account reconciliations
• Post key journals, such as those relating to commercial partnerships, marketing accruals, import pricing variances and inventory adjustments
• Manage the month-end close process
• Create divisional and company-wide financial reports, including income statements and overhead reporting
• Prepare and submit VAT returns, EC Sales and Intrastat to HMRC
• Maintain accurate prepayments and accruals schedules
• Assist in budgeting and forecasting cycles, including uploading plans into the ERP system
• Produce detailed income statements for retail operations
• Support internal departments with tailored financial reports and analysis
• Manage intercompany invoicing and reconciliation with international entities
• Continuously improve financial control processes and reporting systems
• Coordinate statutory audit and corporation tax filings with external auditors
• Collaborate proactively with internal stakeholders across departments
• Support wider business initiatives and ad-hoc finance projects as required

What We're Looking For:

• Fully qualified accountant (ACCA, ACA or CIMA)
• Strong Excel skills including Pivot Tables, VLOOKUP, SUMIF(S), INDEX MATCH and SUMPRODUCT
• High attention to detail with a process-improvement mindset
• Organised, adaptable and capable of managing competing priorities
• Analytical thinker with sound problem-solving skills
• Self-starter with a strong sense of ownership
• Team-focused and supportive, driven to help wider objectives as well as your own
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, able to liaise confidently at all levels
• Proven experience in a retail or consumer-focused finance role
• Comfortable influencing senior stakeholders with data-led insights

For more information, please contact Fraser Graham today.