Unbiased
Group Financial Controller
London
Posted about 19 hours ago
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Group Financial Controller
Reporting directly to the Finance Director, the Group Financial Controller is a critical leadership position at the heart of our finance function. You will own the end-to-end financial control environment across our UK and US entities, from the month-end close and group consolidation through to statutory accounts, tax compliance, treasury management and system optimisation. You will also act as a key commercial partner to the FP&A Manager and senior leadership team, providing insight-driven reporting and proactive challenge on variances, risk and process improvement.
This is a hands-on role that combines technical accounting depth with a continuous improvement mindset.
The right candidate will bring:
- A strong command of UK GAAP / IFRS, with experience in a multi-entity, multi-currency environment
- Comfort operating in a marketplace, SaaS or fintech context where complex fund flows, merchant payouts and consumer refunds are the norm
- A desire to build and optimise: from internal controls to systems infrastructure to support a ~£30m revenue business scaling to the next level
Key Responsibilities
Financial Control & Reporting
- Month-End Close
- Own the full month-end close process for both UK and US entities, delivering a hard close within 4-5 working days
- Prepare a detailed monthly commentary pack with key observations, MoM variance analysis and comparisons against budget for the Finance Director, C-Suite and Board
- Accounts Payable (AP)
- Oversight of all AP matters, managing payment authorisations and overseeing the full PO-to-expense workflow and liaise across departments to ensure recoverability
- Manage a weekly PO-to-expense report showing outstanding commitments, accruals, remaining PO headroom and variances against budget lines
- Accounts Receivable (AR)
- Oversee the AR ledger for both entities; produce bi-weekly US revenue calculations and ensure bad debt provisions are adequate and regularly reviewed
- Act as the primary decision-maker on AR matters, managing debtor balances, debtor days and recovery of significant outstanding balances, escalating where appropriate
- Payroll Accounting
- Manage payroll reconciliations and reporting, pensions and benefits journals; prepare full payroll reconciliations from HR system compensation through to net pay in bank for both UK and US
- Allocate payroll costs to the correct expense lines and departments, and report actuals against budget by staff member and category
- Group Consolidation
- Prepare monthly consolidated group accounts, managing all intercompany eliminations, cross-charges and foreign currency (GBP/USD) translations
- Maintain consolidated balance sheet reconciliations, ensuring every line item is verified monthly and movements are clearly explained
- Marketplace & Funds Flow Accounting
- Oversee the complex B2B2C fund flow lifecycle: ensuring merchant payouts, customer refunds and subscription fees reconcile perfectly with the internal ledger and Looker
- Investigate and challenge discrepancies, manage the refund process and proactively suggest process improvements to reduce error and financial risk
- Statutory Accounts & External Audit
- Lead year-end statutory accounts preparation for the Group; reconcile the full ETB from Xero and management accounts TB through to statutory format
- Manage the relationship with external auditors, acting as primary contact and ensuring all deliverables are met on time
- Budgeting and Forecasting
- Strong ability to turn Month-end financials into actuals vs budget across function departments and layer these actuals into rolling forecasts
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Tax & Compliance
- Prepare, reconcile and file the Group VAT return with HMRC
- Prepare, reconcile and file the tax return across multiple US states
- Oversee annual Corporation Tax calculations and disclosures; manage R&D tax credit claims in coordination with specialist advisors
- Track US Sales Tax nexus obligations and coordinate with US-based tax advisors on Federal and State filings
- Maintain and update the Transfer Pricing agreement between the UK and US entities; ensure journals are posted correctly and internal staff allocation aligns with expectations
Process, Systems & Internal Controls
- Design and implement robust financial controls to minimise errors in a high-volume marketplace environment — including review and amendment of the refund authorisation policy
- Act as finance systems super-user (currently Xero); review the GL structure and chart of accounts to ensure alignment with the P&L and budgeting requirements
- Assess the capability of existing finance systems given company growth projections, recommend system changes/improvements and own the migration projects to ensure a 3-5+ year vision for the companies growth
- Identify and automate manual workflows to improve efficiency and scalability ahead of continued revenue growth
Banking, Treasury & FX
- Manage multi-currency bank accounts (GBP and USD), overseeing group cash management and the deployment of surplus funds into appropriate savings or short-term investment vehicles, review of existing banking and treasury relationships and recommend changes as required to support growth plans
- Manage FX risk through RBS or equivalent broker relationships; recommend and execute hedging strategies where appropriate
- Prepare covenant reporting and ensure the Group maintains compliance with any banking or financing obligations
Team Management & Cross-Functional Leadership
- Directly manage and mentor the Financial Controller, Finance Assistant & Credit Controller, overseeing AP/AR and general ledger entries, and continuously upskilling the team to take on greater responsibility
- Partner with the FP&A Manager to provide clear variance commentary (budget vs. actuals) that supports business decision-making
- Manage the Credit Controller and debt/dunning team to monitor bad debt provisions and problem-solve recoverability on larger outstanding balances
- Liaise confidently with external advisors (auditors, tax consultants, legal) and present financial information clearly to senior stakeholders and the Board
Success after 6 months looks like:
- Month-end close is consistently hitting 5-day mark (including consolidation, inter-co eliminations, cross-charges etc) with zero restatements and complementary MI for SLT and Board
- A formal recommendation of the finance systems stack (Xero, RBS, CS Admin, Looker etc) has been delivered, with business case – implementation is either finish or materially underway
- At least 2-3 manual workflows have been automated and/or significantly streamlined
- The chart of accounts & GL have been fully restructured to reflect the P&L and budget requirements
- Year-end statutory accounts and audit have been filed on time with no material adjustments
About You
Essential Qualifications & Experience
- Fully qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA or CIMA)
- Minimum 5 years post-qualification experience, ideally with at least 2–3 years in a Financial Controller or Senior Finance Manager role
- Demonstrable experience managing multi-entity, multi-currency consolidations (UK & US preferred)
- Hands-on experience in a marketplace, fintech, SaaS or other technology-enabled business with complex revenue and funds-flow accounting
- Strong technical knowledge of UK GAAP / FRS 102 and a working understanding of US GAAP
- Experience managing AP, AR, payroll accounting and month-end close to a hard-close timetable
- Proven track record owning statutory accounts preparation and audit management
- Working knowledge of UK VAT, Corporation Tax and at least a foundational understanding of US Sales Tax / Federal filing obligations
- Previous experience in systems change recommendation, implementation and delivery
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Essential: Skills & Competencies
- Exceptional attention to detail and a first-time-right approach to financial reporting
- Strong systems instinct: comfortable reviewing GL structures, interrogating data and driving system improvement projects
- Commercially minded with the ability to translate numbers into clear narrative for non-finance stakeholders
- Confident communicator and collaborative team player with the gravitas to influence at FD, SLT and Board level
- Highly organised with the ability to manage multiple concurrent workstreams and meet strict deadlines
- A continuous improvement mindset, always asking how processes can be made faster, more accurate and more scalable
- Prior ownership over a finance system implementation or migration project
Desirable
- Experience with Xero (advanced user or super-user level); familiarity with other finance solutions, NetSuite, Sage, or equivalent mid-market ERP
- Knowledge of Transfer Pricing mechanics in an SME context
- Experience working in a regulated financial services environment (FCA-authorised firm or equivalent)
- Understanding of US GAAP
Our Shared Values
At Unbiased we have set of values that underpin the work that we do, we hope you’ll share these too!
- Be relentless about progress - working at pace to solve problems, navigate around blockers and prioritising company OKR’s.
- Own it and get it done – taking ownership of your projects, involving the right people at the right time and making meaningful contributions.
- Share and seek input – proactive in seeking and acting upon feedback. Being open, sharing knowledge and proactively communicating.
- Enjoy the journey – Ensuring cross-team collaboration and proactively celebrating achievements of your peers
How we’ll take care of you
Investment in your Development: Alongside in-house training, you’ll be allocated a generous yearly allowance to invest in your career development.
Investment in your Wellbeing: Your wellbeing is a top priority for us, and you’ll be able to benefit an annual wellbeing allowance. On top of this, we have arranged for Private Medical Insurance for extra peace of mind for you and your family
Social Events: We’re a social bunch so you can expect plenty of activities based in and around our vibrant office in the heart of Farringdon.
The Usual Benefits
- Holiday: you’ll be allocated plenty of holiday to ensure that you have enough time to recharge, work-life balance is super important to us here (you’ll also have your birthday off as paid annual leave)
- Flexible working: we’ll work with
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Skills
Financial control
Group consolidation
Statutory accounts
Tax compliance
Treasury management
UK GAAP
IFRS
US GAAP
Month-end close
Financial reporting
Budgeting
Forecasting
Team management
Process improvement
Systems implementation
Stakeholder management
Location