Financial Controller

Location: Greater London

London (Hybrid) | Full-Time | Reports to CFO

LOCATION: London / Hybrid CONTRACT: Full-Time, Permanent TEAM: Finance REPORTS TO: CFO ABOUT

THE ROLE Carpe Diem Tours is a fast-growing travel company operating across seven cities in the UK and Europe, with two legal entities and a multi-currency business. We're now looking for an experienced Financial Controller to take full ownership of finance operations: reviewing how things currently run, bringing rigour and precision to the numbers, and building the processes this stage of the business needs.

This is a hands-on role at the centre of the business. You will manage a small team of finance assistants, oversee our statutory and management accounts, lead payroll and compliance, and work closely with the CFO to ensure the business always has a clear, accurate picture of its financial position. WHO YOU ARE You are naturally analytical and methodical, someone who is driven by accuracy and takes genuine satisfaction in getting the detail right.

When something does not add up, you do not move on until you understand why, and you document your thinking clearly so others can follow it too. You are also decisive and outcome-focused. You take genuine ownership of problems rather than waiting to be told what to fix, and you hold yourself and your team to a consistently high standard.

When a process is slow or manual, you look for a smarter way to do it, and you are comfortable using new tools and technology to get there, not just doing things the way they have always been done. WHAT YOU WILL OWN

Statutory Accounts and Xero Ownership

• Take full ownership of our statutory accounts in Xero, ensuring all transactions are accurately recorded, fully reconciled against bank statements, and supported by complete documentation.
• Build structured financial documentation practices across the business, covering all transaction types including guide invoices, partner invoices, revenue reconciliations, dividend records, and any other documentation the company is required to hold.
• Prepare end of year accounts to a submission ready standard.

Management Accounts and Reporting

• Oversee our management accounts, ensuring they're accurate and consistent, and lead ongoing work to bring statutory accounts, management accounts, and cash flow reporting into full alignment.
• Lead the month-end close process end to end, including accurate categorisation and timely posting of all company expenditure.
• Produce monthly profit and loss, cash flow, and balance sheet reports for the CFO.

Budgeting and Financial Planning

• Work closely with the CFO to produce the annual company budget, building a detailed and realistic plan across all cost centres and revenue streams.
• Build department-level budget reporting, flagging variances to the CFO with analysis to support reforecasting or corrective action.

Cash Flow and FX Management

• Build structured cash flow forecasting for forward visibility across all accounts.
• Take full ownership of all UK bank accounts, monitoring cash at account level.
• Develop a proactive FX strategy for converting EUR and USD into GBP, moving from reactive to structured timing and batching.
• Manage currency conversion and inter-account transfers, including payroll funding and intercompany transfers to Italy.

Payroll

• Process and manage payroll in full for all staff, directors, guides, and suppliers, ensuring accuracy and timeliness every cycle.
• Manage workplace pension auto-enrolment and ensure contributions are calculated correctly against contractual terms.
• Calculate and process sales commission based on the company scheme.

Tax and Compliance

• Take full ownership of UK VAT compliance, including bringing the quarterly return in-house and correct TOMS application.
• Prepare the corporation tax return to a submission-ready standard for our external accountant to file.
• Liaise regularly in English with our Italian accountant to keep the business compliant across both jurisdictions.

Payments and Receivables

• Own the full payments cycle, including supplier, partner, and guide payments, and monthly partner payment summaries.
• Chase outstanding receivables to ensure all expected income is received.
• Oversee expense…