Accountant

The role will work within Sutton College, which is part of the Local Authority

1. To lead on and prepare the annual budgets for the College in line with the guidelines and timetables established, ensuring that the financial health of the College is sustained

1. Train and work with budget managers on monthly budget monitoring, costing and to challenge, identify and confirm areas of potential pressures and saving.

1. To ensure financial procedures and systems are compliant with audit guidelines and procedures.

1. To liaise with relevant internal and external stakeholders to facilitate the smooth operation of the College’s finances creating timely accurate and user-friendly reports to inform decision making.

1. To work collaboratively with LBS Corporate Finance and bi borough shared Finance Service.

1. To create and prepare reports for Head of Service to present to the Governing Body.

1. Using business analysis techniques, lead the annual business planning and budget setting processes. Prepare all budgets, financial plans, year-end accounts and ensure their submission to the Board and the local authority in accordance with agreed timescales.

1. Lead the Service’s finance function, ensuring that efficient and effective financial systems and processes are in place to meet all legal and statutory accounting and reporting requirements.

1. To be responsible for the annual budget load to the council’s system, subsequent amendments and tracking on in year movements.

1. To monitor the grant and non-grant income on a monthly basis and use the income for projecting the year-end position, highlighting any variance at the earliest possible opportunity.

1. Anticipate and identify financial issues affecting the business, help managers to ensure net expenditure is within budget, escalate any business issues not resolved by Service Managers

1. Lead on regular monthly budget meetings with business area to challenge, scrutinise, to offer critical evaluation of the budget, spend and forecast.

1. To prepare and present monthly monitoring reports and statements for the Service, concerning the financial position including budgets and projections to year end and to raise concerns, investigate and report discrepancies and to take corrective action.

1. Work closely with the Management information team to ensure that the data held on various systems are reconciled and reported accordingly.

1. To close the accounts for the College at the end of the financial year in line with established guidelines and timetables.

1. To ensure that income and expenditure is allocated to the correct cost centres and account codes and to process correcting journal entries as directed ensuring that an audit trail is maintained.