Senior Financial Accountant

**Senior Financial Accountant – Management Accounts** **TITLE OF POSITION:** Senior Financial Accountant – Management Accounts **REPORTING TO:** Finance Manager (Management and Statutory Accounts, Audit) **DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES** Reporting to the Finance Manager, the Senior Financial Accountant will be responsible for conducting a comprehensive range of accounting tasks to ensure accurate and timely financial reporting. The successful candidate will carry out a range of service partnering activities that support the integrity, accuracy, and timeliness of the organisation’s financial reporting. They will also be responsible for providing business partnering services to a number of assigned business units within the Administration budget. These tasks should be performed to the highest professional standards, ensuring compliance with relevant regulations and contributing to the continuous improvement of financial processes and systems. The Senior Financial Accountant shall undertake tasks, including those listed below, to the highest standards: **Month End and Year End Close** **•** Responsibility for close off of the month end in the financial system and updating GL posting dates by user. **•** Analyse company wide general ledger entries in Business Central to identify discrepancies, misallocations, trends, and carry out correcting adjustments as required. **•** Review GL entries and accruals, prepayments, deferred income and expenditure listings to ensure expenses and revenues are recognized in the correct periods. Post related journals as required. **•** Responsibility for running integration between BC and solver reporting and running the solver management accounts, investigating and resolving any unreconciled balances. **•** Prepare the Management accounts for the Board submission including updating graphs and preparing insightful commentary on all areas of the business. **•** Review management accounts commentary received from other areas in the business querying as required to gain an insightful understanding of performance against budget and the expected forecast for the fiscal year. **•** Perform monthly balance sheet reconciliations within agreed month end deadlines and ensuring all balances are accurate and supported by documentation. **•** Carry out overall review of entire GL balance sheet reconciliations versus the TB. **•** Follow up and querying with other finance teams on any differences identified and identifying any new or recently active balance sheet accounts that require reconciliations. **•** Prepare and posting year end adjustment journals required for the statutory financial statements. **•** Close off the year end in the financial system, ensuring all balances are correctly carried forward and reconciled. **Senior Management and Executive Reporting** **•** Prepare the overall administration budget reporting (known as pay non pay Admin report) updating graph’s (for Executive report), complete analysis and commentary and present out in senior management meeting on areas of responsibility. **•** Coordinate the preparation of the monthly Executive management report on the Administration budget and specifically completing assigned sections of the report as agreed. **Annual Preparation of Financial Statements and C\&AG Audits** **•** Coordinate the overall preparation of the statutory financial statements. Completion of assigned sections of Financial Statements within agreed timelines. **•** Review of Financial statements ensuring that all elements are cross checked, any omissions, discrepancies, errors are identified and formatting is consistently applied to the highest standards. **•** Prepare for Comptroller and Auditor General (C\&AG) interim and full\-year audits by compiling required documentation and supporting schedules. **•** Support internal audit requirements by providing timely and accurate information and implementing recommendations where applicable. **•** Run statutory reporting and verification processes to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements and deadlines. **Department Returns, PQs, FOIs and Process Improvement** **•** Responsibility for timely and accurate preparation and submission of all Government department returns and CSO returns as per agreed schedule. **•** Coordinate financial inputs and responses to relevant Parliamentary Questions (PQs), Freedom of Information (FOI) requests and other Ministerial or stakeholder queries. **•** Continuously seek opportunities to improve financial processes and systems through automation, standardization, and best practices. **•** Assist with other ad hoc assignments as agreed, to support the general work of the organization and contribute to team objectives. **Business Partnering for Business Units within the Administration Budget** The successful candidate will be responsible for providing business partnering services to several assigned business units within the Administration budget as follows: **•** Serve as a trusted finance advisor to senior budget holders and management teams influencing financial decision making and promoting strong financial stewardship. **•** Lead monthly financial performance reviews, presenting financial results, explaining key drivers, risks and opportunities, and agreeing actions with stakeholders. **•** Prepare and coordinate forecasting activities, providing scenario analysis and recommendations on the most appropriate planning assumptions. **•** Maintain ownership of actions arising from financial review meetings, ensuring effective followup, communication and delivery. **•** Oversee the accuracy and completeness of financial reporting, including the review of accruals, prepayments and other key accounting adjustments within assigned business units. **•** Educate and influence budget holders on the financial impact of accounting treatments, financial controls and budget management decisions. **•** Foster collaboration and knowledge sharing across the wider Finance teams. Identify and escalate financial, compliance, grant, tax and accounting issues as appropriate. **•** Lead the preparation, review and challenge of annual budgets and financial plans, ensuring resources are aligned to organisational priorities. **•** Review and challenge budget submissions, expenditure proposals and financial assumptions to improve financial performance and value for money. **ESSENTIAL CRITERIA** Each candidate must meet the following requirements at the time of the competition closing: **•** Hold a minimum of a NFQ degree level 7 qualification in a finance, IT or other related discipline. **•** Hold a recognised accounting qualification. **•** Have at least 5 years relevant experience working with the financial modules of Microsoft Business Central or similar finance technologies. **•** Strong MS Office and MS Excel skills. **•** Have proficient Management \& Delivery skills (Communication, Relationship Management, Proactivity, Decision\-Making). **•** Possess proficient Business skills relating to competencies like customer service and business partnering. **•** The ability to work on own initiative, as well as part of a team. **Note:** The functions and responsibilities initially assigned to the position are based on the current organisational requirements and may be changed from time to time. The person appointed requires the flexibility to fulfil other roles and responsibilities at a similar level within the Authority.