Accounts Assistant

**We’re First Central Insurance & Technology Group (First Central for short), an award-winning innovative insurance and technology organisation, delivering market-leading motor insurance, underwriting, distribution, finance, technology and legal services.**
We are looking for an Accounts Assistant to join the Finance team, supporting the processing, payment and book-keeping for the groups payable and receivable ledgers for the group and its subsidiaries. You'll perform key transactional reconciliation activity across business and finance systems to ensure timely and accurate information is maintained in the financial ledgers.

**Responsibilities**:

- Maintain the accounts payable and receivable ledgers in a timely fashion. Ensuring accurate recording and processing of transactions
- Support a monthly statement process for key accounts on the payable and receivable ledgers
- Handle supplier queries and disputes with appropriate business engagement in a timely and professional manner
- Perform key reconciliations daily and weekly across the bank accounts and systems across the business
- Attend meetings across the organisation to ensure operational functions are aware of reconciliation issues and promote timing resolution and safeguarding against future issues
- Ensure proportionate reporting and oversight is supported for accounts payable and receivable activities that are operated both within and outside of finance
- Provide analysis of reconciling items showing monthly ageing and supporting business ownership for resolution
- Identify and recommend process and system changes for first line control failures leading to unreconciling items being created
- Prepare schedules for the team in preparation of the Group’s audit, supporting the year-end audit process runs smoothly
- Adherence to the Group accounting policies and procedures
- Support activities in other finance teams as required
- Ensure second line financial reconciliation activities are both efficient and effective with FCG
- Conduct colleague management duties including: Delivering coaching and feedback to direct reports to achieve KPI’s and SLA’s, and conducting regular performance reviews, including probationary reviews and annual appraisals as necessary. Deal with all colleague issues including monitoring absence and conducting disciplinaries. Assist the recruitment process where necessary.
- Ensure compliance with company and other relevant standards / regulations at all times. Maintain department risk registers (as applicable), providing evidence and commentary for controls, updates for Mitigation Actions and maintaining control matrices and attestations. Also, to ensure that your team are aware of their responsibility to identify and report risk.

**Job Specific Competencies**:
**Experience, Skills & Knowledge**
- AAT qualified or equivalent, or significant relevant equivalent experience
- Experience in running purchase or sales ledger within a shared services function
- Experience in organisations of high growth and change
- Significant experience in an accounting department including but not limited to double entry
- Significant experience in bank and system reconciliations
- A good level of oral and written communication skills, communicating effectively with managers, colleagues and external supplier
- Strong ability and preference in reconciliations of complex data and ability to summaries and present key findings
- Strong analytical skills and ability to drive process improvement, based upon analysis of data
- Work effectively under pressure and think clearly and logically in challenging situations
- Preferable industry knowledge of the financial services / regulated industry in the UK
- Awareness of internal and external fraud that is prevalent in finance departments and the financial services sector

**Behaviours**
- Results driven with a constant eye on the detail but understand the audience
- Empathetic approach to leadership with an ability to get the best out of a wide range of stakeholders.
- A driven attitude to deliver controlled change and rapidly overcome obstacles.
- An agile approach to project management and able to rapidly react to changes in business priorities to take advantage of emerging business and customer opportunities.

**What can we do for you?
**We believe we can offer you a great working environment as we’re so passionate about our people. Here are just some of the benefits and perks that we offer
- Fantastic training and development opportunities
- Employee benefit packages to suit your lifestyle
- Flexible working
- YOUday - we give you an extra day off to celebrate a special day
- The opportunity to take a paid day off each year to do charity work
- A health cash plan
- Help with travel expenses
- The opportunity to buy additional holiday
- Company pension scheme
- Group life assurance
- Enhanced maternity and paternity pay
- Professional subscription fees paid

Employee wellbeing is high on the