Finance Assistant

**Finance Assistant -**

**Purpose of the Finance Assistant role**:
To act as a trusted partner and advisor to the commercial team, drive business performance by providing detailed and insightful analysis, commentary, advice, challenge, and decision support and to support the monthly production of management accounts and group reporting.

**Finance Assistant’s Key Responsibilities** - Develop an in depth understanding of the business supported together with its results and the key levers that influence P& L performance for that area/group. - Understand the drivers of historic, current, and forecast performance and provide monthly financial analysis, insight, and explanation of performance, highlighting emerging issues or trends and making recommendations on corrective actions. - Support and influence key operational and strategic decisions by providing insight and challenge. - Partner with commercial teams to drive actions to meet targets (pricing, ROI, sales, margin, variable costs, overheads, EBITDA, working capital, etc) - Advise on key business planning assumptions, trade-offs, and opportunities. - Review actual performance (pricing, sales, margin, variable costs, overheads, EBITDA, working capital, ROI etc) with a view to making recommendations and provoking interventions required to drive down costs, improve margins and convert P&L into cash. - Ensure business understands and delivers against KPIs. - Facilitate ad-hoc analysis and insights on specific issues at a strategic level. - Identify and provide financial implications for all projects / business initiatives, contributing to business cases and ensuring the most profitable allocation of resources through financial insights and constructive challenge. - Provide support and challenge to ensure the quality of data, working closely with other functions to improve accuracy and timeliness. - Recognise the importance of business and financial controls and work closely with the management team to instil accountability & culture. - Ownership of revenue reporting and all corresponding BS line Support in month end close to include preparation of required journals, prepayments, accruals, Prepare and submit weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual reporting as required. - Preparation of budget/forecast including specific reporting in line with local and group deadlines - Prepare and analyse balance sheet reconciliations each month to deadline in order that accurate reporting is provided internally and externally. - Provide accurate reporting to external auditors to deadlines to ensure accurate statutory accounts can be prepared. - Undertake project work as required. - Support in other areas of Finance as required.

**Essential competencies for the Finance Assistant**:

- Business and financial analysis experience - Excellent communication and written skills with the ability to engage people at all levels both internally and externally. - Ability to influence business and finance colleagues and think long term. - Ability to bring multiple stakeholders and conflicting viewpoints to an objective resolution. - Ability to constructively challenge assumptions and thinking. - Impactful report writing and presentation skills. - ACCA/CIMA/ACA Studier. - Intermediate/advanced Excel. - PowerPoint. Desirable competencies: - Sage 1000 - Experience manufacturing and construction industry.

**N.B. We operate a hybrid working pattern, i.e. you can opt to work from home for 1-2 days per week.