Financial Accountant

We are the leading provider of fresh prepared food in the UK, and our presence in the US and China positions the Group well in these high-growth markets. We leverage our consumer insight and scale to provide innovative food that offers quality, choice, convenience, and freshness. Around 18,500 colleagues operate from 44 sites across our three markets supplying a portfolio of over 2,900 products across meals, pizza & bread, salads and desserts to leading grocery retailers in the UK and US, and international food brands in China. We thrive on challenge and change. We rise to challenges together. Financial Accountant Location: Cumberland Business Area: Bakkavor Meals - London Contract Type: Permanent Why join us? We’re proud to offer you a career with options to explore and pursue. Where you’ll be supported to work hard, push further and show resilience. As a valued Financial Accountant, we’ll support your ambition, reward your resilience, and encourage you to rise to challenges and create a career you can be proud of too. What we do We’re the market leader in the UK fresh prepared food industry - supplying meals, salads, desserts, pizza and bread to leading grocery retailers including Tesco, M&S, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose. The Role In this busy and exciting role, you will become a key member of the Meals Finance team, responsible for ensuring the business has adequate financial, balance sheet and risk controls in place. Ensuring the accuracy of financial reporting (P&L, all Balance Sheet areas, EBITDA reconciliations and supplementary reporting) will be key Accountabilities VAT Preparation of monthly VAT return submission into Cognos. Review and analysis for its accuracy. Cashflow & Working Capital Monthly cashflow forecasts reflecting site WC improvement plans, analysis of weekly variances to forecast, review & analysis of inventory, debtor and creditor days, provision of commentary on WC variances to Group Finance Month-end Submissions Preparation of monthly financial statements from a finalised TB, submission into Cognos, preparation of supplementary reporting, provision of commentary on variances to prior month, prior year and in year Balance Sheet Control Review and approval of monthly balance sheet reconciliations and BV standard audit packs, escalation and investigation where necessary to resolve queries Fixed Assets Maintenance of BV fixed asset management software, obtaining approval for planned capital projects using BV approval system, ensuring accurate accounting on project type, asset lives, write-up process and depreciation; reviewing planned spend on live projects About you Ideally, will have previous experience within a similar role (manufacturing sector and / or dealing with supermarkets as customers), a professional accountancy qualification and a strong financial accounting background. The ability to communicate effectively and influence at all levels of the organisation - will be key. What you’ll receive As an equal opportunity employer, we’re committed to providing a safe and rewarding environment for you to thrive in. This is why we work hard to deliver benefits, rewards and wellbeing offerings that are important to you. Proud to be Bakkavor We’re proud to be the market leader in the UK fresh prepared food industry. We’re proud to supply meals, salads, desserts, pizza and bread to leading grocery retailers including Tesco, M&S, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose. We’re driven by the hard work and passion of our people and are delighted to offer a wide range of careers across our business – come and join our dedicated Bakkavor team