The posting
Management Accountant
🌟 Position: Management Accountant (Qualified / Nearly Qualified)
📍 Location: Hybrid – London office and home working
💼 Type: Full-time
📅 Start Date: Immediate
💰 Salary: £45k to £60k
About Cooper Moss Rutland
Cooper Moss Rutland (CMR) is an independent, award-winning project controls consultancy supporting some of the UK's most complex construction and infrastructure programmes.
We provide specialist expertise across project controls, planning, cost, risk, change, reporting and data, working across rail, highways, aviation, defence, nuclear, energy and water.
We are a growing business with an ambitious outlook. Our culture is collaborative, entrepreneurial and focused on delivering high-quality work for our clients, while creating an environment where our people can develop and make a genuine impact.
The Role
We are looking for a Management Accountant to take ownership of the core financial processes that underpin our growing business.
This is a hands-on role covering the mechanics of our finance function: month-end close, accruals, reconciliations, VAT, the timesheet-to-invoice process and the production of accurate, timely management accounts.
You would be joining a function that has grown quickly and has room to improve. We want someone who will run the core processes reliably and then make them better, rather than accepting them as they are. You would be the in-house finance lead, working with our external accountants and, where needed, senior finance support.
This would suit someone who is qualified or nearly qualified, has strong technical accounting fundamentals and enjoys being close to the detail while also understanding the wider commercial picture.
Key Responsibilities
Month-End & Management Accounts
- Own and manage the month-end close process from start to finish.
- Prepare accurate and timely monthly management accounts.
- Prepare and post month-end journals, including accruals, prepayments and other adjustments.
- Reconcile balance sheet accounts and investigate and resolve discrepancies.
- Provide clear financial information and commentary to the leadership team.
- Prepare monthly cash flow forecasts and support the annual budgeting cycle.
Revenue, Billing & WIP
- Own the timesheet-to-invoice process, from approved timesheets through to invoices issued.
- Raise client invoices in line with each client's billing arrangements, which vary considerably by client and by platform.
- Maintain revenue accruals and monitor unbilled work, keeping WIP and the cash conversion cycle under control.
- Run credit control and follow up overdue balances.
- Monitor timesheet submissions and chase employees for missing or incomplete timesheets ahead of each month-end.
Accounts Payable, Payments & Cash
- Manage the accounts payable process, ensuring supplier invoices are accurately recorded and appropriately authorised.
- Maintain accurate supplier records and resolve supplier queries and invoice discrepancies.
- Process employee expenses and company credit card transactions, checking them against policy and chasing missing receipts.
- Prepare and process supplier payment runs.
- Support cash flow management and ensure key payment obligations are met on time.
VAT & Compliance
- Prepare and submit VAT returns accurately and on time.
- Ensure VAT treatment is applied correctly across transactions.
- Support the year-end accounts process and CMR's external accountants.
- Work with the external accountants (and any fractional senior finance support) on year-end, tax and technical accounting matters, escalating judgement calls rather than deciding them alone.
Financial Control & Reporting
- Perform regular bank, control account and balance sheet reconciliations.
- Identify errors, inconsistencies and control issues and take ownership of resolving them.
- Support the development and maintenance of appropriate financial controls and processes.
What We're Looking For
Essential
- Qualified or nearly qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent).
- Strong understanding of accounting fundamentals and double-entry bookkeeping.
- Practical experience of month-end accounting and preparation of management accounts.
- Experience with accruals, prepayments, journals and balance sheet reconciliations.
- Experience preparing or supporting VAT returns.
- Strong Excel skills and experience with Xero or a similar accounting system.
- A proactive approach, with the confidence to investigate issues rather than simply flagging them.
- At least two years' experience working in industry rather than solely in practice.
- Experience of timesheet-based, multi-client billing and credit control.
- Experience working as the sole or lead finance person, or the confidence to do so.
Desirable
- Experience within professional services, consultancy, construction or another project-based business.
- Experience supporting budgeting, forecasting and cash flow reporting.
- Previous experience working in a growing SME environment.
The Person
We're looking for someone who is hands-on, organised and commercially aware.
You'll be comfortable getting into the detail, but you won't lose sight of the bigger picture. You will take pride in getting the numbers right, meeting deadlines and maintaining a finance function that the wider business can rely on.
You'll be comfortable in a growing business where not everything is perfectly established, and willing to say when something isn't working rather than quietly working around it.
Most importantly, you'll be someone people can trust with the numbers.
What You'll Get at CMR
- The opportunity to play a key role in the finance function of a growing consultancy.
- Exposure to the wider commercial and operational side of the business.
- Support for your continued professional development and qualification.
- A flexible/hybrid working environment.
About You
If you're a qualified or nearly qualified accountant looking for a role where you can take genuine ownership, work closely with senior stakeholders and play an important part in a growing business, we'd love to hear from you.
Come and help us build the finance function that supports the next stage of Cooper Moss Rutland's growth.
