Group Accountant

Reporting directly to the Finance Manager, the key responsibilities of the Group Accountant will be the consolidation of key financial reports, including management accounts, budgets and forecasts. The successful candidate will co-ordinate the year end process including our annual external audit as well as managing the business enabling fixed assets and Member Contribution revenue.

Reporting to the Financial Controller for Construction and Group, the Group Accountant will be responsible for the consolidation of all key financial reports, such as the monthly management accounts and budgets and forecasts. They will be responsible for ensuring that the consolidated monthly management pack has appropriate and sufficient analytical commentary on variances to budget and that accounting treatment is in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and internal accounting policies.

The Group Accountant will also be responsible for the financial management of the Observatory (OBS) ledger which contains the business enabling fixed assets, all Member Contribution revenue and accounts receivable as well as our investment accounts.

The post-holder will be the main co-ordinator of the year end process, ensuring that accurate consolidated financial information and reconciliations are prepared and they will co-ordinate external audit requests for information.

The Group Accountant will be responsible for the documentation of accounting processes and provide input to accounting and finance policies for the SKAO. They will also help to re-design any weak processes to ensure that the IGO operates in line with best practice and/or regulatory or legal frameworks, and that processes are followed consistently across the global finance teams. The Group Accountant will create and improve training and guidance on finance processes to the wider business.

The role would suit a candidate with experience of working in a small-medium group finance function, who has a willingness and enthusiasm to continuously improve finance processes, is keen to understand and tackle technical accounting questions, and is able to organise decentralised finance teams to report consistently and on time.

The post holder will:

• Be responsible for the preparation and reporting of monthly group management accounts, enhance the monthly reporting to SKAO senior management and prepare related governance papers with supporting commentary for SKAO's governance bodies
• Manage the non-telescope fixed asset register and perform all related month end routines (capitalisation, depreciation, disposal)
• Responsible for the end-to-end process of revenue recognition of SKAO Member contributions, including maintaining the schedules of indexation of Member contributions, updating and distributing Member Contribution Statements, managing the accounts' receivable function and performing all related month end postings
• Prepare the group consolidated financial statements, and assist the Financial Controller to ensure that presentation and disclosure is in line with IFRS and SKAO accounting policies
• Co-ordinate and be the main point of contact for the annual external audit and any internal audits of the finance processes in the UK, Australia or South Africa, including scheduling the audit and directing requests for information to the relevant team members, and assist the Financial Controller with preparing audit file notes
• Consolidate the group budgets and forecasts and prepare variance analysis of budget submissions compared to budget baseline figures
• Document finance processes, along with key risks and controls, creating Internal Control Statements (ICS);
  Perform annual walkthrough tests of finance processes and update ICS as required
• Work alongside the ERP System Manager and Finance Manager to continuously improve the ERP system finance processes and controls
• Support the Financial Controller and Head of Finance by monitoring changes in IFRS accounting standards and planning for any necessary accounting changes
• Prepare the tax and customs claims for non-host Member countries and manage these claims through to conclusion;
• Train finance and non-finance staff as…