Head of Accounting and Consolidation
Skills
About the Role
You will lead the accounting and consolidation function within the Europe finance team, overseeing group consolidation processes and ensuring accurate, timely financial reporting. You will manage and develop the consolidation and accounting team, working closely with local finance managers across Europe and cooperating with external auditors. You will support senior finance leadership with high-quality financial information and analysis, and have the opportunity to influence finance processes, reporting quality and ways of working across the region. You will also drive standardisation, efficiency and automation within the finance function, and use your technical accounting knowledge to improve the quality and reliability of financial reporting.
Requirements
- University degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics or a related field
- Minimum 8–10 years of relevant experience in accounting, audit, financial reporting or consolidation
- Previous experience in a Big Four firm or similar professional services environment is strongly preferred
- Proven experience with group consolidation processes and consolidated financial statements
- Experience working with external financial auditors
- Experience managing or supervising a finance, accounting or consolidation team
- Professional accounting qualification, such as ACCA, CIMA, CPA, CA or equivalent, is preferred
- Experience in a multinational, matrix or complex organisational environment
- Strong knowledge of consolidation principles and financial reporting standards
- Knowledge of UK GAAP is preferred; knowledge of IFRS or other local GAAP is an advantage
- Advanced Excel skills
- Proficiency in MS Office tools
- Experience with consolidation tools; experience with Wolters Kluwer Tagetik consolidation module is an advantage
- Experience with ERP systems and financial reporting tools is an advantage
- Strong leadership and people management skills
- Fluent written and spoken English; another European language is an advantage
Responsibilities
- Lead, manage and develop the accounting and consolidation team
- Oversee the group consolidation process and preparation of consolidated financial statements within agreed deadlines
- Supervise the submission of consolidation and reporting packages from group entities
- Ensure the accuracy, completeness and consistency of financial data across reporting entities
- Review and control reporting delivered by various offices and entities
- Manage intercompany reconciliations and consolidation adjustments, as required
- Support the preparation of statutory and management reporting
- Ensure compliance with the accounting standards adopted by the group, currently UK GAAP
- Maintain and update consolidation guidelines, reporting instructions and accounting policies
- Monitor changes in relevant accounting standards and assess their impact on reporting processes
- Act as a key contact for external auditors and support the audit process
- Ensure timely resolution of audit queries and findings
- Support internal controls and governance across accounting and consolidation processes
- Cooperate closely with local finance managers across Europe
- Provide guidance and support to finance teams on reporting tools, consolidation requirements, guidelines and annual reporting changes
- Communicate effectively with senior finance leadership, auditors and other stakeholders
- Coordinate with regional and global finance teams in a matrix environment
- Identify and implement improvements in consolidation, accounting and reporting processes
- Drive standardisation, efficiency and automation within the finance function
- Support the optimisation of financial systems and reporting tools
- Use technical accounting knowledge to improve the quality and reliability of financial reporting
- Contribute to team knowledge-sharing and development
Benefits
- Collaborative and global working environment
- Opportunity to work with modern finance systems and reporting tools