Job Description

This role will be to assist the project accounting team and help FIRST build consistent and robust processes around revenue recognition and project accounting. The Project Accountant monitors the progress of projects, investigates variances and maintains all aspects of financial control around project accounting.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Own the financials for all major client projects effectively as 'mini' P&Ls.
• Significant liaison with ADs, PMs and the Commercial team.
• Significant visibility to the SLT.
• Management of revenue/GP/cost actuals for the client projects
• Management (with the commercial team) of forecasts for client projects
• Monthly finance reviews with commercial, PMs, ADs etc. to ensure the project is tracking to forecast/original budget
• Challenge the project teams on GP changes, whether due to timing or increases/decreases in services delivered
• Provide financial insight/information to the commercial to feed into pricing models
• Perform full reconciliation for both internal customers and the client at stages throughout the project, and at the end
• Ensure correct billing and treatment of costs (including correct tax treatment)
• Liaise between credit control and PMs, Client relationship managers on cash collection

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Financial qualification – ACCA/CIMA equivalent or nearing final qualification
• Advanced financial modelling experience.
• Advanced Excel skills – an understanding of SQL will be an added bonus.
• A financial and commercial awareness coupled with the capability to manipulate large data sets to create meaningful management information and analysis to support the business.
• Excellent problem solving and analytical skills.
• Outstanding attention to detail with a proactive and curious mind-set.
• High self-motivation and drive to succeed.
• Good communication skills, together with ability to work in a team and on individual projects.
• A broad understanding of other operational and business systems and their interconnectivity.
• IT literate with good Excel skills
• Sound double entry accounting knowledge
• Sound Excel and computing skills
• Proactive and driven to succeed
• Excellent communication
• Good attention to detail and accuracy