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Senior Financial Accountant and Financial Accountant

Employer
Essex County Council
Location
Chelmsford, Essex
Salary
Competitive
Closing date
13 Sep 2019

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Essex County Council is one the largest and most complex local authorities in the UK, with a turnover of £2bn. We are a Council with high ambitions, and we pride ourselves of being innovative, dynamic and entrepreneurial.

Our finance function is at the heart of our organisation, helping the Council to achieve its ambitions against a challenging financial backdrop through the provision of financial advice and information that supports decision making, enables the Council to balance its budget and ensure that external financial reporting is delivered to the highest standards and in line with statutory deadlines.

The complex and ambitious nature of the Council means that we need a highly skilled and diverse Finance function to support it. We are very focussed on our people and their professional development; we are a continuing professional development accredited employer for CIPFA, ACCA, CIMA and AAT and we operate an annual technical and professional training programme too, to ensure our people possess skills that remain fit for purpose.

Our finance function includes a team of expert financial accountants, whose responsibilities include delivery of the Council’s statutory financial reporting requirements, management of the Council’s investment and borrowing activities and advising on and promoting compliance with relevant accounting standards, codes of practice and government regulations (including those related to UK taxes and duties). We have two opportunities available within our Financial Accounting team; one for a senior financial accountant and the other for a financial accountant.

 

Senior Financial Accountant

You will report to the Chief Accountant and will be responsible for the provision of expert technical advice and practical interpretation consistent with relevant accounting standards, CIPFA Codes of Practice and government regulations (including those related to UK taxes and duties) to promote best professional practice and an effective internal controls framework.

In addition, you will lead aspects of the Council’s financial accounting (closure of accounts) programme and related activity, coordinating input by a team of finance professionals to ensure that relevant standards and regulations are fully complied with.

You will also support the establishment and maintenance of a framework of accounting policies and internal financial controls and provide practical advice and interpretation consistent with these policies and controls to ensure the highest standards of financial governance in all of the Council’s decision making and operations.

You will be expected to operate at a strategic level, building strong relationships with internal and external partners and being a key and active member of senior manager forums.

Knowledge, skills and experience

You will possess a full CCAB qualification, with a minimum 2 years post qualification experience.

You will have knowledge and understanding of government regulations (including those related to taxes and duties), accounting standards and codes of practice and practical experience of applying these in a large organisation - preferably public sector.

You will have experience of engaging with and providing high quality technical accounting and taxation advice and support to finance professionals, and non-finance managers.

You will have experience of evaluating and advising on the accounting, taxation and financing implications of innovative alternatives to the delivery of large-scale services.

You will inspire and motivate staff and colleagues, setting targets and goals for the delivery of services, and will have highly developed inter personal and communication skills.

You will possess a strong delivery/performance focus.

 

Financial Accountant

You will be responsible for promoting adherence with government regulations, accounting standards, CIPFA Codes of Practice and government regulations (including those related to UK taxes and duties) through the provision of high-quality advice to finance professionals.

You will also specialise in, and support, the delivery of aspects of the Council’s financial accounting programme and related activity, treasury management or regulatory requirements in relation to taxation, to ensure that the required standards and deadlines are met.

In addition, you will provide practical advice and guidance consistent with the Council’s accounting policies, internal financial controls and relevant legislation, regulations and Codes to ensure the highest standards of financial governance in all the Council’s decision making and operations.

You will support the provision of high-quality strategic advice on financial strategies, projects and other initiatives.

You will be expected to build strong relationships with finance colleagues and internal and external partners and will be a key and active member of manager forums.

Knowledge, skills and experience

You will possess a full CCAB qualification (potentially recently qualified).

You should have knowledge and an understanding of government regulations (including those related to taxes and duties), accounting standards and codes of practice and have some experience of applying these in practice.

You will have experience of working within, and influencing, multi-disciplinary teams to achieve service outcomes.

You will have highly developed interpersonal and communication skills and possess an ability to build effective working relationships and establish credibility with colleagues, including the commissioning of work and quality assurance of outputs.

You will possess a strong delivery/performance focus.

As part of employment with Essex County Council (ECC) should your role require a DBS check you will be required to register with the DBS update service. The DBS update service ensures all registered DBS certificates are kept up to date and allows authorised parties to view the status of your certificate. This is an annual subscription and you will be responsible for ensuring this is maintained. For further information on the DBS update service please visit: https://www.gov.uk/dbs-update-service

Essex County Council is proud to offer an excellent benefits package to all its employees. More information can be found on https://www.workingforessex.com/benefits

Essex County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults, and expects all employees and volunteers to share this commitment.

We seek the best talent from the widest pool of people as diversity is key to our success.

If you have any queries regarding this role, or require anything further, please contact the Essex Recruitment Team on 033 005 83330* 

*Calls to this number are charged in the same way as calls to numbers starting 01 or 02, please check with your service provider

 

 

 

 

 

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