Legal Entity Controller - Global Financial Services PLC - £80,000 - £90,000 + Bonus + Benefits - City/London

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Job description

Profile Criteria:

1. Fully-Qualified (ACA/ACCA/CIMA) candidate with solid post- qualification experience (ideally 5 - 10 years PQE) and experience

2. Experience from a PLC and multi-entity and multi-currency environment

3. Well-rounded finance skill-set covering management accounting, financial controls and/or legal entity controls/reporting experience

4. Bonus or compensation accounting experience would be ideal (but is not essential)

5. Oracle or Hyperion would be useful (but is not essential)

6. Good communication and influencing skills with stakeholder management experience

Role Purpose:

This role has responsibility for the accurate and timely ledger close for our EMEA Regulated and Trading Legal Entities. This role will have a primary focus on Legal Entity Control with significant emphasis on Balance Sheet substantiation, front office costs, preparation of tax analysis and adherence to the risk and controls framework.

Main Duties & Responsibilities

• Ensure the EMEA regulated entities are closed in line with the company's accounting close deadline. Accounts should be prepared in accordance with IFRS, internal guidelines and accounting policies.
• Take ownership of assigned Legal entities and business divisions.
• Responsible for the month end timetable, challenge and drive efficiencies within month end deliverables to improve the close process.
• Ensure proper controls are in place with respect to recognition of revenue and costs.
• Preparing and maintaining monthly journal entries in the general ledger including FX, intercompany, prepaid and accrued expenses.
• Review of monthly journal trends through KPIs and exception reporting to drive efficiency on month end close and maintain adequate control for audit controls reliance
• Preparation and review of Balance Sheet reconciliations. Responsible for the monthly substantiation of the GL and the reconciliation of all balances back to the relevant sub-ledgers or source systems.
• Analysis and understanding of front office costs by business and entity. Ability to assist senior stakeholders and our Management Information Division in cost control.
• Preparation of annual Budgets and Forecasts for P&L and BS, ensuring full understanding of key cost drivers.
• Proactively drive improvements to existing processes working collaboratively with Front Office team leads.
• Build a rapport with counterparts in other regions to agree and settle intercompany balances and foster the sharing of best practice. Identify and implement strong controls to ensure Intercompany balances can be reconciled efficiently.
• Ensure an effective risk and control framework is embedded to support our processes.
• Year-end reporting including the preparation of year end files for relevant entities, Business/Analytical reviews and assisting with Audit queries.
• Responsible for the provision of Financial data for tax reporting and filings. Work closely with Group Tax and outsourced providers on our Regional tax filings
• Build and maintain professional relationships with the EMEA Finance Team and other key stakeholders. There should be clear communication and adoption of Group Accounting Policies and ensure the Expenditure Control Framework is adhered to at all times.
• From time to time you will be asked to undertake any other reasonable duties as required within this role.
• Complete any mandatory training by the required deadlines

Qualifications and Requirements:

• Qualified Accountant (ACA, ACCA, CIMA) with several years' PQE (5-10 years PQE).

• Experience working in the financial services sector an advantage

• Skilled in applications such as Oracle, Excel, SmartView/ASO, Discoverer

• Experience interacting with stakeholders across different departments

• In-depth knowledge of what a good control environment looks like

• Attention to detail is essential