The Team

The Group Finance team supports and drives the financial success of Addleshaw Goddard. We strive to deliver a first class service to our stakeholders and to be a great team to work with and be part of. The Group Finance team comprises business professionals across a range of disciplines including Financial Control, Tax, Procurement, Business Partnering, Financial Planning & Analysis, Credit Control, Accounts Payable, Legal Billing and Legal Cashiering.

Purpose of the Role

Ownership of all financial management information relating to the business services area alongside the Head of Department. Establish relationships and be the number one point of contact for all financial needs including business partnering. Providing commercial financial management to the Head of Department, Chief Financial Officer, Head of Finance and other stakeholders in order to meet the Departments key objectives and plans

Duties

The Assistant Business Services Finance Accountant principally supports the Business Services Finance Accountant in producing accurate and timely management accounts, delivering financial management information to key stakeholders, and business partnering with operational colleagues where appropriate to drive commercial decision-making.

The role has autonomy and the jobholder is expected to demonstrate a good working knowledge of fundamental accounting concepts, including but not limited to accruals and prepayments, double entry bookkeeping, budgeting and forecasting, and balance sheet reconciliations. The Assistant Business Services Finance Accountant is also able to articulate financial information to both finance and non-finance colleagues in a confident and approachable manner.

The following list is not exhaustive but gives a flavour of the duties the Assistant Business Services Finance Accountant undertakes:

• Assist with, and own where appropriate, management accounting adjustments and controls (accruals, prepayments, general adjustments, reconciliations)
• Assist with, and own where appropriate, the production of accurately and timely management accounts (profit and loss, balance sheet) and resulting variance analysis
• Assist with, and own where appropriate, the delivery of financial management information to both finance and non-finance colleagues
• Assist with, and own where appropriate, commercial support to operational colleagues to ensure understanding of financial performance, and to help drive commercial decision making
• Assist with, and own where appropriate, the annual budgeting and quarterly forecasting processes for Business Services Functions, working with budget holders to understand operational and financial performance, including risks and opportunities
• Assist with, and own where appropriate, budgetary approval of purchase orders and the supporting of the Accounts Payable team with the processing of supplier invoices
• Assist with, and own where appropriate, firmwide cost allocations (mobile phone recharges, Document Production recharges, and other centrally distributed costs)

Knowledge, Skills and Experience Required

• Previous experience gained within a finance capacity, ideally within management accounting processes
• Studying towards a professional accountancy qualification (AAT, CIMA, ACCA, ACA)
• Ability to work under pressure and to tight deadlines, knowing how to manage and prioritise a demanding workload
• Ability to use own initiative and work autonomously, whilst at the same time knowing when to seek assistance
• Strong Excel skills, with good working knowledge of formulas and functions (VLOOKUP, SUMIFS, Pivot tables etc.)
• Excellent communication skills, with confidence to speak to both finance and non-finance colleagues
• Strong analytical skills, with the ability to articulate complex financial data in an easy-to-understand manner
• High level of attention to detail and accuracy, having the ability to deliver quality outputs without errors