Head of Accounts

• Work with the CFO as necessary to prepare accurate and timely monthly management accounts for the CFO and partners, including profit and loss, balance sheet, cash flow, work-in-progress (WIP), lock-up, debtor and disbursement analysis, to an agreed reporting timetable.
• Work with the CFO as necessary to prepare annual budgets and rolling forecasts under the direction of the CFO, monitoring performance against budget and reporting variances with commentary.
• Work with the CFO as necessary to provide fee earner and departmental performance reporting, including billing, realisation, recovery rates, utilisation and matter profitability.
• Manage cash flow, including banking relationships, deposit arrangements for client money, and short- and medium-term funding requirements.
• Oversee year-end procedures and the preparation of statutory accounts, liaising with the firm's external accountants and auditors.
• Support the fractional CFO with accounting for directors.
• Support the fractional CFO with financial analysis, modelling and ad-hoc reporting for strategic projects (e.g. pricing reviews, investment decisions, recruitment business cases), and implement agreed changes to financial processes and policies.
• Act as the CFO's eyes and ears within the firm between the CFO's working days, flagging emerging financial issues, risks or opportunities promptly and preparing concise briefings for the CFO.

Accounting Operations

• Lead and and supervise the day-to-day work of a small accounts team, including legal cashiering, purchase ledger, billing, disbursements, credit control and payroll, undertaking these tasks personally where required and providing cover during holidays and absence.
• Ensure the accurate and timely processing of client-to-office transfers, bills of costs, write-offs and matter balances.
• Oversee credit control and lock-up management, working with fee earners to reduce debtor days and unbilled WIP.
• Manage the outsourced payroll, including PAYE, National Insurance, pension auto-enrolment obligations and benefits administration.
• Ensure timely and accurate VAT returns (including the correct treatment of disbursements and counsel's fees) and compliance with Making Tax Digital requirements.
• Manage all HMRC compliance and correspondence, including corporation tax in conjunction with external advisers.
• Maintain and develop the firm's practice management and accounts software (currently Insight Legal, although soon to change to a new CMS/PMS), including user controls, workflows and reporting.
• Oversee financial policies, procedures and processes specific to the firm's practice areas, including conveyancing completions, SDLT and Land Registry payments, probate estate accounting support and mortgage redemption funds, ensuring same-day transfers are handled accurately and securely.

Internal Controls, Risk and Audit

• Design, document, maintain and test robust financial controls, including segregation of duties, dual authorisation of payments and fraud prevention measures (with particular attention to cyber-crime and payment redirection fraud risks affecting law firms).
• Maintain the finance sections of the firm's office manual and ensure procedures remain compliant with the SRA Standards and Regulations and CQS requirements where applicable.
• Support internal file and ledger audits, and contribute financial input to the firm's risk register and business continuity planning.
• Supporting to COO to ensure appropriate professional indemnity, office and cyber insurance information is provided to brokers and renewals are managed on time (in conjunction with the COLP/COFA and partners).

Leadership and Team Management

• Recruit, train, appraise, supervise and develop members of the accounts team, ensuring adequate cover and succession planning.
• Foster a culture of accuracy, service and compliance within the finance function, acting as a trusted adviser to partners and fee earners.
• Deliver training to fee earners and support staff on the SRA Accounts Rules, billing procedures and financial hygiene.
• Lead or contribute to finance-related projects, including system implementations, process improvement and integration work.

Person Specification

Essential

• Substantial experience (typically 5+ years) in a senior legal finance or legal cashiering role within a law firm regulated by the SRA, with day-to-day responsibility for client money, with experience in a small or mid-size regional firm, where the role combines hands-on cashiering with management reporting, is particularly relevant.
• Detailed, current working knowledge of the SRA Accounts Rules and their practical application.
• Experience of preparing management accounts, budgets and forecasts, and presenting financial information to partners or boards.
• Experience of managing or supervising a legal cashiering/accounts team.
• Strong working knowledge of VAT as it applies to legal services, including disbursement treatment.
• Proficiency with legal practice management/accounts systems and advanced Excel skills.
• Excellent attention to detail, integrity and discretion in handling confidential information.
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to explain financial matters clearly to non-financial colleagues.
• Ability to work with a high degree of autonomy and sound judgement, given the fractional nature of the CFO role, and comfortable owning the day-to-day function, prioritising independently and escalating appropriately.

Desirable

• Professional accounting qualification (ACA, ACCA, CIMA) or the Institute of Legal Finance & Management (ILFM) Diploma; qualified by experience candidates with strong legal sector backgrounds will be considered.
• Experience supporting or acting as a deputy COFA/COFA
• Experience of the annual SRA Accountant's Report process from the firm side.
• Experience of LLP or partnership accounting and partner tax reserves.
• Experience of system migrations or finance process improvement projects.
• Familiarity with Lexcel, CQS or other quality standards.

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