Financial Controller

Role profile

Osborne Clarke is an international law firm with revenues exceeding €500m, organised as a Swiss Verein with offices primarily across Western Europe, with a modest presence in the US and Asia.

The Financial Controller Will

• work for our central international function and for the firm's international service company (OCIS), and
• own the cost control, approval and compliance agenda for OCIS, ensuring robust budgeting and forecasting, disciplined spend management for projects and BAU, and accurate, compliant intercompany recharges to verein members. This is a hands-on role to support the management team through the provision of high‑quality management reporting and analysis to aid decision‑making during a period of growth and expansion, while maintaining strong financial control and statutory/tax compliance.

Key Responsibilities
Leadership and team management

• Lead, coach and develop a small finance team covering OCIS reporting, cost budgeting and forecasting (including cashflow and borrowing projections), OCIS compliance (tax computations, statutory accounts and application of the transfer pricing framework) and intercompany accounting.
• Set clear objectives, deliver an effective month/quarter/year‑end close, and foster a culture of continuous improvement and strong financial control.

Financial planning, reporting and analysis

• Own the OCIS budgeting and quarterly reforecast process, including P&L, balance sheet and cashflow, and short-and medium‑term borrowing projections.
• Run the month end close process including:
• Preparing/posting accruals and prepayments; reviewing ledgers to confirm accurate cost allocation and to correct mispostings.
• Reconcile monthly recharge matters and intercompany manual accounts; request and track intercompany invoices.
• Calculate and post loan interest; reconcile related balances.
• Post OCIS service charge journals to national businesses on 3E and raise invoices for those not on 3E.
• Release expenditure against approved provisions in line with policy.
• Code and approve selected supplier invoices per DOA; request payment of ICB invoices and monitor settlements.
• Reconcile VAT monthly and run VAT clearing.
• Produce monthly cost‑side reporting for the OCIS management team, with insightful variance analysis, risks/opportunities, and actionable commentary.
• Prepare quarterly reporting packs for the International Board, including a quarterly reforecast (cost run‑rate, committed spend, intercompany debtors).

Cost management, approvals and controls

• Design and implement a clear approval framework and authorities for project and BAU spend aligned with budget ownership
• Establish robust controls and monthly reporting over committed and actual spend versus budget and forecast‑to‑completion for projects and BAU.
• Partner with project leads and functional owners to challenge assumptions, track benefits, and ensure spend is aligned to strategic priorities.

Intercompany recharges and transfer pricing

• Operate the monthly/quarterly recharge process to OC National Businesses (NBs)
• Liaise with national businesses to ensure accurate, timely salary recharge postings including the OC LLP UK salary recharge and reconciliation and variance resolution
• Oversee intercompany accounting, reconciliations and settlement cycles; monitor ageing and drive timely collections from NBs.
• Provide oversight, review and analysis of all costs recharged between verein members and service companies; ensure transparency, auditability and compliance with intercompany agreements and transfer pricing policies.
• Supervise (TBC) the business partner for IT and Change & Transformation including any future recharges related to the provision of services from the UK to other verein members.
• Calculate and validate the year‑end true‑up to reflect actual allocation drivers (headcount/usage/cash collected); ensure timely communication, agreement and settlement

Compliance and statutory reporting

• Own OCIS statutory accounts and tax computations, coordinating with external advisors as needed; deliver on time with minimal adjustments including:
• Performing tax computation analysis (allow/disallow review with rationale) and support tax computation preparation.
• Preparation of the year-end statutory accounts, coordinating auditors and producing high-quality working papers.
• Reconcile service charges to statutory accounts to ensure consistent recognition and disclosures.
• Prepare and submit quarterly VAT returns with full reconciliations and audit trail.
• Apply the transfer pricing framework consistently and maintain robust documentation and intercompany agreements.
• Ensure a strong control environment across OCIS, including reconciliations, journals, balance sheet integrity and documented processes.

Stakeholder management

• Develop a close working relationship with the OCUK financial accounting team.
• Build strong relationships with the broader OCIS and OCUK finance team, project sponsors, functional leaders (including IT, C&T and CMI) and finance teams across NBs.
• Communicate complex financial topics (e.g., transfer pricing, true‑ups, recharge methodologies) clearly and concisely to non-finance stakeholders, including (working alongside the ICEO) members of the firm's International Board.

Qualifications
Fully qualified accountant (ACA/ACCA/CIMA or equivalent).

Experience

• Significant post‑qualification experience in financial control within a services environment; professional services/partnership experience advantageous.
• Proven ownership of budgeting/forecasting, cashflow and borrowing projections, and monthly/quarterly reporting to senior leadership/boards.
• Hands‑on experience with intercompany accounting, transfer pricing and cross‑border recharges including year‑end true‑ups.
• Track record of designing and embedding approval frameworks, spend controls and project/BAU cost governance.
• Preparation of statutory accounts and tax computations
• Strong systems literacy (3E preferred; advanced Excel; BI tools)

Skills And Attributes

• Commercially astute, with strong analytical, modelling and problem‑solving skills.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication; able to challenge and influence senior non‑finance audiences.
• Highly organised with rigorous attention to detail; drives deadlines and maintains high control standards.
• Continuous improvement mindset; comfortable building processes in a growing international environment.

Salary And Benefits
We offer competitive salaries and generous benefits. We value the health and wellbeing of our people and our wide range of initiatives and benefits support this.

Our recruitment process
Please note that although we include closing dates for our roles as a guide, we review and progress applications on a rolling basis. At Osborne Clarke we do not make any recruitment decisions using automated decision-making.

We are committed to providing an environment where you can perform to the best of your abilities at every stage of your recruitment experience and beyond. If you require any adjustments to be made during the application stage, interview process, or when working with us, please let us know in confidence.

About Us
Osborne Clarke is an international legal practice with over 330 Partners and more than 1,260 talented lawyers in 26 locations*. Our sector-based approach enables us to help our clients tackle the issues they are facing today, and prepare for the ones that they will face tomorrow. Advising them both comprehensively and commercially. We love working closely with our clients on new deals, products and solutions which will transform their businesses, markets and even sectors. And our unique approachable culture is not an added extra, it's fundamental to our success.

At Osborne Clarke we value difference and encourage applicants from all backgrounds. We want everyone to feel that OC is a place where you can be yourself and belong, and our range of interest groups and diversity networks - not to mention our great teams - are a part of making that a reality.

• Services in India are provided by a relationship firm