Job title: Finance Manager (Band 8)
We are looking for a qualified accountant to join us in the role of in-house Finance Manager to manage all of our financial processes, supported by an in-house Accounts Assistant who will be delivering all the basic bookkeeping and more junior financial processing tasks. MTS also has the support of an external accountancy firm for statutory filings and similar activities. A Procurement Manager, working in our operations department is also aligned to the Finance Manager and supports with procurement and purchasing.
As well as managing the business-as-usual finance processes, the successful candidate will work closely with the Senior Leadership Team and Board on more strategic work to improve on our ability to present accurate and meaningful management accounts as well as support strategic financial forecasting, budgeting and business development projects.
MTS is a dynamic and exciting place to work with plenty of opportunity to learn new skills and grow professionally. Although mostly a UK- and Ireland-based company, MTS is growing internationally and has emerging business in exciting territories across the globe.
Location:
- Working from MTS’s London head office, at 65 Westcroft Square, London, W6 0TA.
Key eligibility criteria:
- Must have eligibility to live and work in the UK
- Must comply with a UK government Enhanced DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check.
Type of contract:
- Full-time (5 days per week) fixed-term (12 months) contract – with possibility to extend or make permanent dependent on performance and business requirements.
- There could be scope for amending this to a 0.8WTE part-time (4 days per week) role, on negotiation further into the recruitment process.
Salary:
- Band 8 which has a salary range of between £40,000 - £48,000 (if full-time), dependent on skills and experience, payable monthly in arrears. Additional bonus available dependent on performance of the individual and the business.
- Private Health Plan
- Defined Pension Plan from NEST
Working pattern:
- 5 working days per week (or 4 working days per week), (09:00-17:00), Monday-Friday.
Recruitment process:
- Job advert closes at 11.59pm on Sunday 14 April 2024
- We reserve the right to close this job advert early if we can progress with high calibre candidates early and we encourage you to apply without delay.
- Please submit your CV and a short cover letter on the platform you are reading this advert on to apply. We look forward to receiving your application!
Job purpose:
- To work closely at a strategic level with MTS’s Senior Leadership Team as well as working operationally to manage the day-to-day financial management and oversee the Accounts Assistant and the bookkeeping of MTS and its associated companies.
- To be responsible for preparing, examining, and analysing financial records to ensure that MTS and all associated companies produce accurate financial and management reports, delivered in a timely manner and in-line with standard accountancy practice where these reports will be presented as required for the appropriate audience, with sufficient business commentary
- To own all MTS and associated company finance process documentation
- To carry out regular internal financial audit work and implement an on-going programme of improvement based on the areas of highest risk.
Main responsibilities:
1. Accounts Receivable
- Work with the Senior Management Team on issuing invoices to partners and customers for incoming payments and carry out regular credit control and payment-chasing for late payments.
- Monitor outstanding invoices and payment plans and ensure payment terms are met to avoid breach of contract
- Carry out effective credit control processes, chasing customers for any late payments and implementing payment recovery plans if necessary
- Ensure test taker payments from FirstData are reconciled against bank statements and categorized correctly using Quickbooks
- Keep effective records of all major contracts which have income streams and check invoices against parameters in the contracts
- Ensure correct categorization of all customer income and assigned to the correct budget line and venue
- Apply for and manage any government business support grants, in line with set processes and provide all evidence to support claims
2. Accounts Payable
- Manage all the accounts payable activities, running a regular and efficient expenditure payment process, in alignment with approval levels agreed with the CEO and the Director of Strategy, Resources & Development
- Manage all HMRC, tax, NI, and pension arrangements
- Check and approve all self-employed worker invoices and ensure staff agency timesheets have been verified by relevant colleagues before proceeding to payment.
- Manage staff and casual worker out-of-pocket expense claim process, checking all claims for accuracy and validity.
- Manage and review all MTS company and staff credit card agreements and processes.
- Own the MTS non-sterling (multi-currency) account for international payments.
3. Payroll management
- Develop and maintain a good working relationship with the HR Team to collaborate on the processing of all payrolls.
- Support the Accounts Assistant with the casual worker timesheet payclaim processing (200+ timesheet pay claims per month).
- Verify and validate the HR Team’s monthly derivation of the office staff payrolls and proceed to payment to agreed deadlines.
- Reconcile payroll records against the financial accounts
- Respond quickly and effectively to all payroll queries and make amendments for errors or omission in the payrolls, ensuring any learning is captured and acted on.
4. Asset management
- Keep up to date with all capitalisations and associated depreciation and amortisations, logging them correctly and accurately in the accountancy software.
- Work with various colleagues (including the Facilities Manager and Head of Exams Technology & Networks / Exams Technology Manager) to support the management of the fixed asset inventory, and reconcile this against the financial accounts for the purpose of recording the assets in the Balance Sheet, ensuring correct depreciation is applied and write-offs are made, and any sell-offs of assets are accounted for in the accounts.
5. Liabilities management
- Manage all business loans, bank overdrafts, intercompany loans, etc
- Work to reduce default fees, late payment fees and other expenses relating to liability management
6. Procurement and purchasing
- Support the procurement and purchasing processes, working to ensure suppliers give value for money and negotiating good deals for MTS, working closely with the Procurement Manager.
7. Financial records and management reporting
- Be responsible for preparing and analysing financial records to ensure that MTS’s (and its associated company ABC Exams’) company's financial reports are accurate, timely and in-line with standard accountancy practice
- Produce accurate and meaningful P&Ls, Balance Sheets and Cash Flow Statements, and use a consolidation software tool to combine MTS and ABC Exams accounts into a single view for MTS’s monthly Board members
- Own and develop the financial forecasting and budgeting process, using this to make insightful narrative commentary on monthly progress against forecasts & budgets.
- Translate financial information into actionable management recommendations, linking financial information with non-financial information drawn from key colleagues
- Help implement improved ownership of the company financials through budget-setting and working with budget-holders to help them to manage the business effectively
- Proactively work with MTS’s external financial accountants, professional and legal advisors and Companies House for formal external financial reporting requirements, VAT returns and other complex tasks.
- Review and record all contracts and customer and supplier SLAs, leases on buildings, etc, and manage down any risks or additional costs, working in collaboration with other colleagues as required.
8. Internal audits
- Carry out internal financial audit work and implement an on-going programme of improvement based on the areas of highest risk
- Implement a regular programme of auditing of casual worker timesheets to ensure workers submit accurate, valid and evidenced pay claims
- Ensure appropriate financial spending controls are placed on the MTS Amazon Business account, and to monitor and audit the spend as required
9. Policies and Procedures development
- Conduct and implement regular reviews of all Accounting policies, programmes and practices to keep Senior Management and staff informed of new developments
- Deliver process improvements to the expenditure process and bank payments process
- Ensure efficient management of the finance@ and timesheets@ email inboxes and all other finance-related correspondence (letters, etc).
- Write and keep up to date all MTS’s finance process documentation, in readiness for audits.
10. Training and development
- Attend appropriate training including webinars, training courses, personnel training, etc,
11. Compliance management
- Ensure management of all correspondence into and out of the relevant MTS email inboxes, with strict adherence to confidentiality
- Uphold the highest possible standards of confidentiality in relation to the data and information held, and ensure that confidential documents, information and data are not disclosed to anyone other than their intended recipient/reader
- Comply fully with MTS’s GDPR and data protection policies and standards and Safeguarding (Children and Vulnerable People) policy, setting a strong example to others in this area
12. Strategic projects
- Work with Senior Leadership Team to present monthly Management Accounts to the Board and supply narratives to the reports that support strategic decision-making
- Carry out strategic forecasts, create cost-income models, and any other strategic and business development financial forecasting requirements.
- Work on cost saving strategies with Senior Leadership Team
- Assist the Senior Leadership Team in driving strategic Financial change management projects and programmes, design business plan and feasibility studies on specific projects.
Reports to:
- Director of Strategy, Resources & Development
Direct reports:
- Accounts Assistant
Qualifications required:
- Fully-qualified Financial Accountant (ACCA, ACA, CIMA, CIPFA). It is a MUST
- Degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration or other field
Experience:
- A minimum of 3 years’ of experience in similar role
Knowledge and technical competencies:
- Proficiency in financial accountancy software (ideally Quickbooks and Xero)
- Advanced Excel skills and willingness to share skills with close colleagues
- Confident in bringing in new, professional financial processes internally, and challenging existing assumptions and ways of working
- Experience in leading financial analysis projects
- Experience in presenting financial management reports to senior leadership teams.
- Native or fluent English speaker
Behavioural competencies:
- Excellent attention to detail
- Absolute commitment to confidentiality and duty of care
- Excellent organisational and time management skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities and meet deadlines
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to use data to drive improvements
- Good team player and interpersonal skills
MTS’s Values:
MTS is a dynamic and ambitious exams services company. All MTS people are expected to follow MTS's Values:
1. We are dynamic, flexible and rise to the challenge
2. We act quickly and resolve problems with ease
3. We set high standards and adhere strictly to compliance conditions
4. We treat everyone with dignity and respect, valuing our diverse workforce
5. We greet our customers with a friendly attitude, helping them to view us in a positive light so that they feel happy engaging with us
6. We always act with integrity and in MTS’s best interests