Job summary

Term:
Permanent

Department:

Finance

Location:
Belfast or London

The Firm

Fieldfisher is an ambitious and growing European law firm providing commercial solutions across a range of industry sectors. Servicing an impressive client base that includes big name brands and international businesses, the firm has over 200 partners, 600 other lawyers and nearly 500 support staff across offices in the UK and Internationally.  The firm's revenue for 2019/20 was over £230 million.

The Team

Due to a key departure within the team and the increased demand on the Finance team after a period of significant growth for the firm, there is an immediate requirement for a strong and experienced qualified Accountant to join and lead the Management and Financial Reporting team. The main responsibilities will be the production of monthly management accounts, the development of reporting to meet increasing demand for relevant business information and the management of the year-end processes including preparation of the firm's statutory accounts and supporting schedules ready for the annual audit.

Responsibilities

The role will include, but is not limited to, the following:

* Manage the preparation of the monthly management accounts for the Fieldfisher group including P&L’s, cash-flow forecasts and balance sheets, liaising with UK and International colleagues as necessary.

* Review Management Accounts and key variance reports and be able to present the information to budget holders, Partners and business streams.

* Be credible and build good working relationships with Business Managers and Lead Partners.

* Manage the preparation of the firm's annual consolidated financial statements and the audit process

* Ensure all control accounts are reconciled regularly.

* Ensure all Intercompany accounts are reconciled and agreed regularly

* Assist with the development of management reporting including KPIs and "actionable insights" using dashboards for "near real-time reporting".

* Assist with Budget and Forecast preparation.

* Handle and resolve complex management accounts queries.

* Support the firm’s working capital team to supply client specific analysis on a timely basis.

* Other ad-hoc accounting work.

* Manage and develop a small reporting team

Key Skills & Experience

* Must have worked as a Senior Management Accountant or managed an Accounting team

* Experience of preparing Consolidated Management Accounts and monthly financial reporting.

* Must be a qualified accountant, ACA, ACCA or CIMA.

* Prior experience working in a Law Firm would be preferable but is not a pre-requisite

* Competent at using the Microsoft Office suite (particularly Excel including use of macros) and experience with reporting tools such as PowerBI, Cognos, Tableau or similar products.

* Experience of seeking and implementing ways to improve on current practice.

* An ability to develop and enhance management reporting to meet business needs

* Must have drive and dynamism to take on and proactively challenge processes

* Must be conscientious, accurate and have a methodical approach to work.

* Excellent communication skills, both written and oral, (e.g. articulate when communicating to partners and key staff, and able to present financial results to non-accountants)

* Strong relationship building skills with ability to deal with partners, fee earners and other staff at all levels.

* A team player with a flexible and pro-active approach to work with the ability to work autonomously.

Other Attributes

* Attention to detail.

* Excellent planning and organising skills – able to handle multiple tasks.

* Numerate.

* Shows commitment to the role and team and is hard working and able to work to tight deadlines when required

* Displays a willingness to learn and actively seeks new work and challenges.

* Takes personal responsibility for maintaining personal development.

* Professional and credible in attitude and appearance.

* Prepared to work overtime during peak periods

Fieldfisher aims to ensure equality of opportunity and we are actively working towards improving the diversity of our staff. All applications will only be considered on merit and the applicant's suitability to meet the requirements of the role