Closedown Accountant

Key responsibilities

* Deliver allocated elements of the year-end closedown timetable.

* Prepare accounting entries, reconciliations and supporting working papers.

* Produce or review relevant notes and disclosures for the Statement of Accounts.

* Complete control-account and balance-sheet reconciliations.

* Investigate and resolve historic balances, miscoding and unreconciled items.

* Review accruals, provisions, reserves and other year-end adjustments.

* Support capital, grant, Collection Fund, pensions or group-accounting work streams where relevant.

* Ensure working papers provide a clear audit trail and meet external-audit requirements.

* Liaise with service accountants and budget holders to obtain outstanding information.

* Respond to external-audit queries and provide supporting evidence.

* Track outstanding actions, risks and dependencies against the closedown timetable.

* Apply the CIPFA Code and relevant local-authority accounting requirements.

* Recommend improvements to closedown processes, controls and documentation.

Essential experience

* Recent hands-on closedown experience within a local authority.

* Experience preparing Statement of Accounts working papers and disclosures.

* Strong understanding of the CIPFA Code and local-government accounting.

* Experience completing complex balance-sheet and control-account reconciliations.

* A successful record of responding to external-audit queries.

* Strong Excel, ledger-analysis and problem-solving skills.

* Ability to work accurately under demanding statutory deadlines.

Desirable experience

* CCAB or CIMA qualification, or substantial specialist closedown experience.

* Experience supporting delayed or challenging local-authority audits.

* Knowledge of capital accounting, Collection Fund, pensions, leases or group accounts.

* Experience with the authority’s finance system and closedown software.

* Availability to increase commitment around key reporting deadlines if required