Assistant Accountant (Financial Accounts)

Role Title: Assistant Accountant (Financial Accounts)

Type: Fixed-Term Contract until December 2027

Salary: Up to £38,486 per annum

Hybrid: 1 day per week in the office

Location: Birmingham

This is an excellent opportunity for a finance professional with a strong financial accounting background to join a well-established Finance function. The successful candidate will support a broad range of financial control and accounting activities, with particular emphasis on month-end processes, reconciliations, balance sheet accounting, financial reporting and audit.

The role would suit someone who enjoys working across a varied finance function and has a genuine interest in working within the public sector. While forecasting experience is useful, the team are particularly keen to speak with candidates who have strong hands-on experience across financial accounting, balance sheet reconciliations and financial control.

The responsibilities of the Assistant Accountant will be:

• Supporting month-end accounting processes, including journals, prepayments and period close activities.
• Completing a range of balance sheet, control account, accounts payable and accounts receivable reconciliations.
• Supporting the maintenance of fixed asset and lease records, ensuring balances are accurate and up to date.
• Assisting with VAT, tax, statutory and other financial returns.
• Supporting the preparation of financial statements and information required for audit.
• Working with internal and external auditors to provide supporting information and resolve queries.
• Supporting accounts payable, accounts receivable and employee expense processes.
• Assisting with the maintenance of the finance system and identifying opportunities to improve financial controls and processes.
• Supporting wider government accounting requirements and providing assistance to the wider Finance team as required.

The ideal candidate for the Assistant Accountant role will have:

• Previous experience working within a Public Sector organisation.
• Extensive experience working within a financial accounting environment, ideally with strong exposure to month-end and reconciliations.
• A good understanding of balance sheet accounting and experience reconciling accounts using an ERP or finance system.
• Strong Excel skills, including VLOOKUPs and PivotTables, with a high level of numerical accuracy and attention to detail.
• AAT qualification or equivalent finance/accounting qualification or degree.
• Experience using finance or ERP systems, with Oracle experience being advantageous.
• Experience supporting financial statements, audit activity and financial controls.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to explain financial information clearly to non-finance stakeholders.