Financial Controller
£70000 - £85000 (dependent on experience) + bonus
North London

THE COMPANY
This is an excellent opportunity to join a progressive, ambitious property investment and development group. They specialise in the investment in and development of properties, which generate high yield income for the business and eventually at the right time sold to pension funds for their long-term income. Currently it has assets of over £60m. It is an exciting time for the business. They are about to embark on a large expansion plan backed by institutional investment which would increase assets by up to 500%. The expansion necessitates the need to hire a full time, qualified Financial Controller whose role will expand in line with the company's growth. Initially the role will be a sole charge role based in their offices in North London. The role reports directly to the Chairman, a seasoned, respected and highly successful team operating within this particular property sector.

QUALIFICATION & EXPERIENCE REQUIRED

  • Qualified accountant (ACCA, ACA , CIMA, CPA)
  • Ability to clearly communicate and influence commercial / financial matters to the target audience in a clear and user-friendly manner with an in-depth understanding of their challenges.
  • Proven track record of preparing group consolidated management accounts and financial statements (including Income Statement / P&L, Balance Sheet and Cash Flow within a property industry environment
  • Demonstrable record of working with senior managers to manage cash flow on a weekly basis and producing cash flow forecasts and bank reconciliations
  • Experience of managing financial transactions, administration and bookkeeping using a Chart of Accounts (including posting journal entries), managing AR and AP ledgers on a weekly basis
  • Experience of preparing information for year-end statutory audit
  • Preparation of budgets and associated monitoring of performance via production of KPI's from MI Development of KPIs that track sales / financial / operational performance
  • Good working knowledge of Xero and excellent Excel skills

THE ROLE
The company currently have 7 separate SPVs, one of which has been set up specifically for the expansion plans. Your role is to have responsibility for looking after the company's accounts, advising the Chairman and company management regarding the financial implications of business decisions, in order to aid growth and profit. You must also have responsibility for maintaining accurate books for accounts payable and receivable, payroll, as well as financial entries and reconciliations. You will provide structured financial management information to allow the business to make strategic decisions and continued efficiency drives for sustainable growth and profitability. Responsibilities include the following:

  • Preparing financial statements for internal and external use and supporting auditing efforts
  • Preparing management accounts and reports on a monthly/quarterly basis for the various SPVs of the business (including income statements, balance sheets and cash flow statements) to identify results and trends
  • Managing cash flow on a monthly/quarterly by tracking transactions and regularly producing and reviewing 13-week cash flow forecasts
  • Managing financial transactions by project, department or company using general ledger codes using Xero as defined by the company's Chart of Accounts
  • Reconciling spending with budgets and forecasts as part of job costing
  • Preparation and filing of tax returns (e.g. VAT)
  • Undertaking financial administration and maintaining records to ensure that all financial transactions are properly recorded, filed, and reported on a weekly, monthly or quarterly basis as required (please see below):
    • Maintaining records of financial transactions by establishing accounts, posting transactions and reconciling entries (double-entry bookkeeping)
    • Developing systems to account for financial transactions by managing a Chart of Accounts
    • Defining policies and procedures
    • Maintaining the company's ledgers and preparing a trial balance
    • Making journal entries for all receipts, payments, and other financial transactions
    • Filing source documents for all journal entries recorded
    • Posting journal entries to ledger accounts
    • Preparing information for auditors
    • Performing bank reconciliations to the company's bank statements
  • Liason with Senior management team and Shareholders, Company investors and lenders, External consultants including property consultants, development consultants and project managers, Third party providers and suppliers for projects, HMRC , auditors and other statutory bodies