SGH Finance Manager - Financial Accounts

SGH Finance Manager - Financial Accounts

The closing date is 17 June 2026

Job Summary – Finance Manager, Financial Accounts (Band
7)

St George’s Hospital, Tooting | Finance Directorate

This role leads the Financial Accounting function, ensuring accurate financial reporting and compliance with NHS standards and statutory requirements. The Finance Manager oversees month‑end and year‑end processes, prepares annual account disclosures (including VAT returns, remuneration disclosures, and WGA schedules), and manages control account reconciliations. The postholder acts as lead technical accounting specialist, providing expert guidance on complex transactions, and manages junior finance staff to ensure timely, high‑quality reporting.

Ideal candidates will hold a degree and be CCAB part‑qualified (or fully qualified), with a minimum of five years’ NHS financial accounting experience at a senior level, strong knowledge of IFRS/IAS standards, and proven team management skills.

• To develop and maintain an expert understanding of the Trust’s processes and procedures and the accounting system relating to financial reporting and control, including an operational understanding of other Finance functions, e.g. Income, Accounts Receivable, Payroll, Procurement, etc.
• To have a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of national accounting standards applicable to the Trust and an awareness of the NHS Finance framework, e.g. NHS manual for Accounts, Treasury guidelines.
• To prepare the year‑end accounts timetable in consultation with other sections of the Finance department (Management Accounts, Accounts Payable, Income and the Systems team), the Procurement department, and Trust budget holders to ensure that all relevant internal and external deadlines are achieved.
• To review and co‑ordinate the stock count of the Trust’s stocks of drugs, engineering and building materials, high‑value radiology and dental stock at year‑end.
• To liaise with Trust senior managers, including Directors, regarding the disclosure of their remuneration and benefits in the Annual accounts as required by the Greenbury report.
• To prepare a comprehensive working papers file fully cross‑referenced to supporting documentation for the Trust’s external auditors and to investigate, explain and resolve potentially highly complex and technical accounting and financial queries raised by the external auditors.
• To review the year‑end process after completion to identify areas for improvement and implement the required changes in working practices to improve the process for the following year.
• Responsible for carrying out the Agreement of balance exercise.
• Responsible for preparing the monthly VAT returns, proposing adjustments or corrections on input VAT, and coordinating the COS review with the Trust’s VAT consultant.
• Coordinate the payables and expenditure side of the NHS balance agreement exercise, liaising with other NHS bodies and Finance staff as required. Reconcile and agree creditors balances with statements issued by other NHS bodies and prepare relevant draft WGA schedules as part of the FTC returns.
• Investigate and respond to any queries raised by the External Audit during the year‑end accounts process. Support the implementation of internal audit recommendations within the department.
• Responsible for preparing a monthly creditor analysis report to be incorporated into the FIC Board report.
• Cash flow: To manage the cash management function of the Trust, reviewing the cash flow forecast and the investment of short‑term cash surpluses with the National Loans Fund daily and ensuring that the assumptions underpinning the forecasts are appropriate.
• To perform the treasury management role in the absence of the relevant finance officer.
• Monthly Work: To ensure that all Financial Accounts control accounts are reconciled on a timely basis and that all errors are corrected promptly.
• To prepare the monthly financial return of the Trust’s performance against its targets for income and expenditure, capital, cash flow, cost reduction programme and Better Payment Practice Code to NHS Improvement.
• To calculate the performance figures for the Better…