Accountant

1. The successful applicant post will be in the Service accountancy team that supports in providing a range of financial services for the Education and Lifelong Learning directorates.
2. The post will involve working closely with customers across Service Areas, within the Finance team as well as with external audit to meet objectives
3. We Are Looking for Candidates should hold a relevant financial qualification i.e CCAB, AAT or part qualified CCAB and have good knowledge of local government finance.

About The Service

This post is within the Accountancy section of Finance. The Accountancy section has qualified and experienced accountants providing professional financial advice and accountancy support to all directorates, schools and a range of outside bodies and joint committees for both revenue and capital accounting.

The successful applicant post will be in the Service accountancy team that supports in providing a range of financial services for the Education and Lifelong Learning directorates.

About the job

The candidate will be required to provide a quality budget monitoring service, that is effective and purposeful, whilst also providing financial advice that aids decision making. During the year the officer will maintain effective control of the areas of accounts that fall within their remit, enabling and ensuring effective and accurate closing of accounts at year end.

They will support on aspects of the Council's budget and MTFP process, co-ordinating budget work within service areas and undertake technical calculations and projections. THe candidate will also be required to ensure accurate and timely payments are made to schools, and the reconcilliation of various accounts.

The post will involve working closely with customers across Service Areas, within the Finance team as well as with external audit to meet objectives.

What We Are Looking For From You

• Candidates should hold a relevant financial qualification i.e CCAB, AAT or part qualified CCAB and have good knowledge of local government finance as well as a desire for continuous development.
• Good communication and computer skills, particularly in relation to corporate finance systems are essential as is the ability to learn quickly, able to respond

Job Purpose:    

To support the Council’s financial reporting, budgeting and accounting for Education directorate functions. The role will also support the preparation and allocation of grant funding as appropriate to related schemes.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Job Specific Requirements

• To assist in the preparation of revenue budget estimates, closure of accounts and compliance with relevant codes of practice for services within the Education Directorate.
• To assist in the monitoring and finance of expenditure and the resources that fund expenditure, including the preparation and agreement of grant claims and completion of statistical returns.
• To liaise with Directorates of the Council and within external entities to form effective working relationships in the giving of advice and information on technical accounting issues.
• To ensure accuracy and timely and prompt payments are made to schools with sufficient and correct working papers that enables a robust audit trail.
• To represent the Corporate Director Resources at monitoring meetings and on other project groups as directed and support the development of governance and reporting processes.
• To liaise with the External Auditor of the Council in respect of grants, notes to the accounts as well as providing solutions to complex issues.
• To be an effective and committed member of the Accountancy Section.

Corporate Requirements

• To participate actively in supporting the principles and practice of equality of opportunity as stated in the Council’s Equal Opportunities Policy.
• To take reasonable care for the health and safety of yourself and other persons who may be affected by your acts or omissions and to comply with all health and safety legislation as appropriate. 
• To, as a statutory duty, adhere to the Council’s Corporate Safeguarding Policy and associated policies and procedures and to report concerns regarding the safety and wellbeing of children or adults at risk. In order to support you in this, you are required to access safeguarding training at the level which is relevant to this post. 
• As a term of your employment you may be required to undertake such other duties and/or times of work as may reasonably be required of you, commensurate with your grade or general level of responsibility within the organisation.