Summary: The Interim Year End Accountant role is a four-month fixed-term contract within a leading higher education organization based in Surrey, requiring an ACA or ACCA qualified accountant. The position involves managing the annual financial statement audit, preparing financial reports, and ensuring compliance with IFRS and regulatory requirements. The successful candidate will collaborate with both finance and non-finance teams to deliver high-quality outputs and support the Finance Function's improvement review. This role demands strong technical accounting knowledge and extensive audit experience, particularly in the higher education sector.

Key Responsibilities:

• Responsibility for successful delivery of Group's annual financial statement audit
• Preparation of the Group Consolidation File
• Liaise and deliver all audit deliverables requested by the audit teams
• Responding to all additional audit requests and queries
• Managing & Co-ordinating responses from Finance and non-Finance team members
• Co-ordination and review of all Corporation Tax Computations
• Preparation/review of the Group and Subsidiary financial statements
• Minimising the number of audit journals and management letter points
• Attending and leading audit update and close meetings
• Manage the production of subsidiary Statutory Accounts for all legal entities
• Preparation and successful audit of the Annual Reports and Accounts in compliance with IFRS and regulatory requirements
• Timely preparation of top-quality annual report and accounts for subsidiary companies
• Coordinate the completion of OfS return working with FP&A, Management accounting, registry and strategy teams
• Review of month-end revenue recognition and Balance sheet reconciliation
• Regular review and update of accounting policies to ensure IFRS compliance
• Develop/update discounted cash flow model for impairment review
• Take the lead on work for key judgements and estimates and preparing related Audit Committee papers
• Liaise with EY for Group tax provision and related disclosure requirements
• Deputise for Financial Controller as needed on leading the audit
• Deputise for Financial Controller as the main contact point for corporate tax with external advisors
• Prepare/amend technical accounting papers including IFRS standards as required

Key Skills:

• Qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA)
• Extensive audit experience in medium-sized PLCs with a top audit firm
• Experience in managing annual accounts preparation for a medium-sized company
• Expertise in IFRS accounting standards and strong technical accounting knowledge
• Experience in managing a team
• Ability to present and communicate to an Audit Committee
• Proven track record in delivering to targets and deadlines
• Financial modelling capabilities
• Ability to explain complex financial concepts to non-finance managers
• Strong understanding of strategic business goals
• Experience presenting accounting papers to Finance Teams, Auditors, and Boards at PLC level

Salary (Rate): £65,000

City: Woking

Country: United Kingdom

Working Arrangements: remote

IR35 Status: outside IR35

Seniority Level: Mid-Level

Industry: Other