The posting
Contract to start ASAP
Duration: 24 weeks with a possible extension.
Group Accountant
Finance, Revenues & Benefits
Caerphilly County Borough Council Hours: Full-time, 37 hours per week Contract: Temporary, 24 weeks — 19 October 2026 to 4 April 2027 Pay Rate: £32.17 per hour — Umbrella Positions Available: 1 Location: Ty Penallta, Penallta House, Tredomen Business Park, Hengoed, CF82 7PG Working Arrangement: 2 days per week in the office; arrangements for the remaining days to be confirmed.
Support Effective Financial Management and Informed Decision-Making
We're recruiting an experienced and proactive Group Accountant (Grade 11) to support Caerphilly County Borough Council within its Finance, Revenues & Benefits service.
This role combines financial planning, budget management, reporting, and professional advice. You'll help service managers understand their financial position, identify emerging pressures, and make informed decisions about the use of resources.
You'll work closely with finance colleagues, budget holders, and senior managers, providing clear analysis and practical guidance to support effective financial management across your allocated service areas.
About the Role
As a Group Accountant, you'll coordinate financial support for designated services, helping ensure budgets, forecasts, and financial reports are accurate, timely, and supported by reliable information.
You'll bring a structured approach to financial analysis, challenge assumptions constructively, and help managers understand the implications of service proposals and spending decisions. The role requires strong technical accounting skills, sound judgement, and the ability to explain complex financial information clearly.
What you'll be doing:
- Coordinating budget preparation and financial planning, working with service managers to assess requirements, review assumptions, and develop realistic financial plans.
- Monitoring budgets and preparing forecasts, analysing income and expenditure, explaining variances, and highlighting emerging financial pressures.
- Providing professional financial advice to budget holders and senior managers, helping them understand their financial responsibilities and the implications of proposed decisions.
- Preparing financial reports and supporting analysis, presenting clear information on performance, risks, and areas requiring action.
- Supporting the evaluation of service proposals and business cases, assessing costs, potential savings, affordability, and financial risks.
- Contributing to month-end and year-end accounting, reviewing reconciliations, preparing adjustments, and producing supporting schedules within agreed deadlines.
- Maintaining effective financial controls and supporting audit requirements, ensuring transactions, balances, and decisions are supported by appropriate documentation.
- Providing technical guidance to finance colleagues, supporting consistent accounting practices, knowledge sharing, and the quality of financial outputs.
- Identifying opportunities to improve financial processes and reporting, helping resolve recurring issues and strengthen the information available to service managers.
Requirements
We're looking for an analytical, organised, and confident finance professional with experience providing accounting support and financial advice in a complex organisation.
You'll be comfortable working with senior stakeholders, reviewing detailed financial information, and managing competing deadlines. A collaborative approach and the ability to balance technical accuracy with practical service needs will be important.
You'll ideally have:
- Experience in management accounting, financial management, or a comparable accounting role, with responsibility for supporting service budgets.
- Experience preparing budgets, forecasts, and financial reports, including identifying and explaining significant variances.
- Strong technical accounting knowledge, with experience of reconciliations, financial controls, and year-end processes.
- Experience advising budget holders and service managers, translating financial information into clear recommendations and practical actions.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to investigate discrepancies, challenge assumptions, and assess financial risks.
- Good financial systems and spreadsheet skills, including analysing complex datasets and producing accurate reports.
- Strong communication and organisational skills, with the ability to coordinate work, meet deadlines, and provide guidance to colleagues.
- A relevant professional accountancy qualification or equivalent demonstrable experience, subject to the Council's qualification requirements.
Experience working within a local authority or another public-sector finance environment would be beneficial.
Applicants should have the right to work in the UK, be available for the stated assignment period, and be able to attend the Hengoed office two days per week. Relevant references and any required pre-employment checks will need to be completed.
Why Apply
This is an opportunity to apply your accounting expertise within a Council finance service, supporting the management of public resources and helping services understand their financial position.
The role offers varied work across financial planning, budget monitoring, reporting, and business partnering. You'll have the opportunity to work with different service teams, contribute to financial decision-making, and help improve the quality of financial management and reporting.
Additional Information
Customer: Caerphilly County Borough Council Job Title: Group Accountant Role Code: 3007CE Grade: 11 Service Area: Finance, Revenues & Benefits Employment Type: Temporary Positions Available: 1 Job Location: Ty Penallta, Penallta House, Tredomen Business Park, Hengoed, CF82 7PG Hours: 37 hours per week Target Start Date: 19 October 2026 Target End Date: 4 April 2027 Contract Duration: 24 weeks Pay Rate: £32.17 per hour — Umbrella Working Pattern: 2 days per week in the office; arrangements for the remaining working days to be confirmed.
Job Types: Full-time, temporary Pay: £32.17 per hour — Umbrella
Application Questions
- Please describe your accounting experience, including your responsibilities for budget preparation, forecasting, financial reporting, and advising service managers.
- Can you provide an example of identifying a financial pressure or significant budget variance and helping a service develop an appropriate response?
- Please outline your relevant qualifications or equivalent experience and confirm your ability to attend the office in Hengoed two days per week.
- Are you available to start on 19 October 2026 and remain available throughout the assignment, ending 4 April 2027?
Experience
Management accounting, financial management, or a comparable accounting role: Desirable. Budget monitoring, forecasting, and financial advice: Desirable. Local authority or public-sector finance: Desirable.
Qualifications
Relevant professional accountancy qualification or equivalent demonstrable experience: Desirable. Any mandatory qualification requirements are to be confirmed against the Council's specification.
Work Authorisation
United Kingdom: Required.
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OR117781-10-26
