Trainee Financial Accountant

Smart Pension; Greater London; On-site; GBP 25,000 - 35,000; Full time

Job summary

Join a forward-thinking financial technology firm as a Trainee Financial Accountant, where you'll support the Finance team and gain invaluable experience in accounting practices. This entry-level role offers a unique opportunity to learn about generally accepted accounting principles while actively contributing to financial tasks and team discussions. With a commitment to professional development, you'll receive support for your studies and have the chance to suggest improvements in financial documentation and processes. A vibrant workplace culture, coupled with a focus on innovation, makes this an exciting opportunity for those eager to kickstart their career in finance.

Benefits

25 days holiday per year

£500 annual training budget

Extensive private healthcare

Enhanced sick leave

Enhanced maternity and paternity leave

Death in service insurance

Fully-paid five-week sabbatical

In-office wellbeing services

Free lunch and social drinks

50% discount at Arena Flowers

Qualifications

• Strong attention to detail and a self-motivated attitude are essential.
• A-levels or equivalent qualifications are required for this role.

Responsibilities

• Support the Finance team with daily accounting tasks.
• Prepare monthly and annual reconciliations and management accounts.

Skills

Attention to detail

Communication skills

Self-motivation

Problem-solving

Adaptability

Education

A-levels or equivalent at A*-C

2:1 degree in any discipline

GCSE in Maths and English

Tools

NetSuite

Job description

At Smart, our mission is to transform retirement, savings and financial wellbeing, across all generations, around the world.

THE ROLE

The Trainee Financial Accountant will provide support to the Finance team by managing daily accounting tasks. As an introductory role, you will be developed to become competent in supporting the delivery of the month and yearly financial close process (‘FCP’) for the UK Finance Team.

Over time, through your role and your supported study, you will gain an understanding and appreciation for generally accepted accounting principles, in particular IFRS, and be able to work comfortably with numbers. To get going you will need a keen eye for detail, and a determined mindset to get things right, and an appetite to learn; you should not be afraid to question or challenge when things do not make sense.

As you learn the role, we hope you will be active in making suggestions for improving the documentation and efficiency for the financial tasks that you are responsible for. You will be relied on to offer insights for the day-to-day use of our ERP, NetSuite, and where we may be missing opportunities for optimisation.

You will be a present member of the team and actively contribute to team discussions, from weekly catch-ups to organised collaboration sessions.

You will uphold and champion the Finance team’s policies and control environment to support Smart’s global scaling.

Within this role we will give you responsibility for various areas of our financial statements and reporting companies. As you progress through your studies you can expect more complexity in the areas that you have ownership of. At all stages you will be fully supported by your managers and peers.

Examples of tasks you may expect:

• Processing accounting transactions, ensuring that all postings have adequate support. Examples of areas you may be responsible for include accruals and prepayments.
• Prepare and maintain accurate monthly and annual reconciliations and management account packs.
• Prepare ad-hoc reporting as required by internal or external stakeholders. This could include producing working papers for our annual external audit, and expansion of management accounts for internal reporting metrics.
• As well as day-to-day accounting and reporting, we also have the opportunity for you to be involved in project work that will support the business in developing its financial practices.

WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR

The skills, experience, and aptitudes we are looking for are listed below but please don’t be discouraged from applying if you don’t meet every single one of these criteria – having a ‘can do’ attitude is sometimes more important than being able to tick every box:

• Intellectually curious and keen to take on new challenges.
• Self-motivated with the ability to take initiative.
• Strong attention to detail.
• Confident to ask questions when unsure, and suggest changes to documentation and processes.
• Resilient and adaptable.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, comfortable with building relationships across other teams within the business.
• Three A-levels or equivalent at A*- C, or a 2:1 degree in any discipline.
• 9-5 in Maths and English at GCSE/Scottish Standards or equivalent.
• Ability and commitment to balance study and professional work.
• Qualifications and experience in accountancy and business studies are advantageous but not essential.

WHO WE ARE

We work in partnerships with governments and financial institutions in the UK and internationally. Our cloud-native digital platform is revolutionising how people around the world think about, and save for, their retirement.

At heart, we’re a financial technology business. What we do is all about innovation, and using the power of digital change to put the customer first. Our Engineers will tell you that working at Smart gives you the opportunity to play your part in developing world-class technological solutions, working with – and learning from – like-minded people.

You’ll also find that, across our business, our colleagues love Smart’s culture, and how what we do means better financial outcomes for savers. That feels worthwhile, and it means that what we do, collectively, goes way beyond the nine to five of a typical working day.

Don’t just take our word for it – you can see what our colleagues say about working at Smart on LinkedIn Life and Glassdoor.

BENEFITS

At Smart, one of the eight principles we work to is “We want happy and good people in our team”. We created a list of benefits that helps us achieve this goal:

• 25 days’ holiday per year, increasing with length of service.
• £500 annual training budget to spend on your professional development.
• Extensive private healthcare, including dental, eyecare and EAP.
• Enhanced sick leave (three months’ pay per year).
• Enhanced maternity and paternity (maternity – 6 months fully paid/paternity – 3 weeks fully paid).
• Death in service insurance cover.
• Fully-paid five-week sabbatical after five years of employment.
• In office wellbeing, such as manicures, massages and barbers. We also serve free lunch, breakfasts and social drinks weekly.
• Smart employees also enjoy a 50% discount on orders from our sister company Arena Flowers, Britain's most ethical florist. They offer unique hand-tied bouquets, luxury flowers, letterbox flowers, plants and gifts to spend on friends and loved ones or even for yourself.

Visit our careers page at www.smart.co/careers to find our Recruitment Data Policy.

We think Smart is an awesome place to work. If it sounds like somewhere you’d like to work, too, and if you’re ready to play your part in our continued success in the future, then naturally we’d love to meet you.

Seniority level

Entry level

Employment type

Full-time

Job function

Finance