Full job descriptionFinancial Controller
Beaconsfield | Full-time
Are you a commercially minded, technically strong qualified accountant looking for genuine ownership of a finance function?
We are recruiting a hands-on Financial Controller to join a growing business near High Wycombe. Reporting directly to the Managing Director, this is the number-one finance role in the business: a senior, highly autonomous position with full responsibility for the integrity, delivery and development of the finance function.
The opportunity
This is not a role where you simply review a team’s output. You will take personal ownership of the numbers, lead a robust and proactive month-end process, and ensure the business has accurate, insightful financial information to support confident decision-making.
As the most senior finance professional in the organisation, you will operate without a Finance Director above you. You will have genuine technical accountability, a direct voice with the Managing Director, and the opportunity to shape processes, improve systems and support the business as it continues to grow.
Key responsibilities
As Financial Controller, you will:
*Lead the monthly management accounts process, ensuring timely and accurate delivery.
*Prepare and review reconciliations, prepayments, accruals, fixed assets and depreciation.
*Produce consolidated and branch-level P&Ls, including analysis against budget and prior year.
*Review gross-profit performance and investigate significant variances.
*Manage the monthly payroll journal and oversee payroll-related information.
*Ensure VAT records are accurate, reconciled and submitted correctly.
*Take ownership of year-end audit preparation, audit files and liaison with auditors and tax advisers.
*Lead the annual budgeting process, working with colleagues to collate assumptions and produce budget P&Ls.
*Manage statutory compliance, including relevant HMRC and Companies House filings.
*Prepare and maintain a rolling cashflow forecast, highlighting risks and managing banking relationships.
*Work with ERP and reporting-system providers to enhance reporting, ledger configuration and finance processes.
*Coordinate finance and administration colleagues on escalated matters, systems queries and process improvements.
About you
You will be a fully qualified accountant — ACA, ACCA or CIMA — with the confidence, judgement and resilience to succeed as the number-one finance person within a growing business.
You will also bring:
*Strong experience of producing management accounts and running disciplined month-end processes.
*Excellent reconciliation skills and a determination to investigate and resolve variances thoroughly.
*The ability to analyse transaction-level data and manage complex financial information accurately.
*A hands-on approach: you are happy producing the detail as well as interpreting it.
*The confidence to raise issues clearly and constructively with the Managing Director, auditors and external advisers.
*Previous experience as a senior standalone finance professional, or clear readiness to take on this level of responsibility.
Location and flexibility
The position is based at the company’s Head Office in Beaconsfield. Regular on-site presence is important due to the senior, hands-on nature of the role; however, a modest, structured hybrid arrangement — such as one fixed work-from-home day per week — can be discussed once you are established in the position.
If you are a proactive, commercially aware finance professional seeking a number-one Financial Controller role with real accountability, influence and long-term scope, we would welcome your application.