Package Description

Required for: As soon as possible

Location: Dean’s Yard, Westminster School

Contract: Full-time, permanent

Hours of work: 09:00 - 17:00, Monday to Friday with an hour unpaid lunchbreak. The role is required to be onsite, though hybrid working can be considered following the successful completion of the probationary period, but with the expectation that the majority of the time will be on site during term time.

Salary: £80,000 - £83,000, dependent on experience

Benefits Of Working At Westminster Include

• Generous School pension scheme
• Free access to the School’s leisure facilities, including a fitness gym (restricted hours)
• Cycle to Work Scheme and season ticket loans following completion of our standard probation period
• Private medical insurance (opt in)
• Discretionary Christmas shutdown period
• Professional development opportunities

Free school meals are also available when on-site during working hours for the role.

For this role, there is no fixed closing date. Applications will be considered on receipt, and interviews may occur at any stage.

About the Role

The Senior Financial Controller will be responsible for leading the finance team and managing the day-to-day financial operations for the School and associated charities and companies. This includes month end and year end processes and management of the sales, purchase and general ledgers, bank accounts, expenses system and fixed asset register. They will also be responsible for maintaining a strong control environment, ensuring the accuracy of the Trial Balance and providing a responsive and customer facing transaction processing service.

Key Responsibilities

For This Role Will Include

• Owning the month end and year-end financial accounting processes to deliver accurate and timely trial balance to support the production of monthly Management Accounts.
• Support the year end process to deliver a clean audit and accurate and timely Annual Accounts.
• Responsible for the accuracy and timeliness of the Purchase requisition to Invoice Payment process, fee and extras billings including for fundraising and commercial activity, and collection of income.

They will be responsible for leadership and development of the team to effectively embed the recently implemented iFinance system. They will drive continuous improvement in financial processes, ways of working and engagement with all internal and external stakeholders and customers.

A breakdown of responsibilities includes, but is not limited to:

Accountable For

• Leading the transactional accounting team to provide a responsive, efficient and customer facing transaction processing service. Develop and maintain relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
• Ensuring the accuracy of the Trial Balance through both ad hoc and regular forensic review of key figures and processes.
• Ensuring all balance sheet reconciliations and control accounts are completed and reconciled monthly in accordance with a month end close timetable.
• Ensuring bank accounts are reconciled monthly.
• Processing and post journals to ensure that income and expenditure is accurately and appropriately recorded.
• Working with the Payroll, Pensions and Benefits team to ensure that salaries journals are posted accurately each month.
• Owning the Chart of Accounts and ensure that it is fit for purpose.
• Ensuring compliance with Charity and other accounting regulations, including correct allocations between reserves and an accurate Fixed Asset Register.
• Supporting decision making on capital expenditure as required.
• Working with the Financial Planning & Analysis Manager to ensure that the budget is loaded into the iFinance system before the start of the financial year.
• Management of the accuracy and timeliness of the Purchase Requisition to Invoice Payment process.
• Management of the accuracy and timeliness of the billing process and collections including iSAMs ledger management (as well and iFinance).
• Responsibility for fixed asset and depreciation accounting (as well as the Fixed Asset Register).
• Managing and instigating the BACS receipts and payments processing on PTX.
• Managing and overseeing the staff expenses processing.
• Managing the credit card and debit card accounting and processes.
• Production and review of aged debtor and aged creditor reports on a monthly basis.
• Working with the Development team to ensure accurate and timely reporting and management of Gift Aid, and compliance with HMRC requirements.
• Owning the year end process to deliver a clean audit and accurate and timely Annual Accounts, including input on the final design and wording and provision of information for the Audit, Risk & Compliance Committee. Manage any audits required for any other regulatory reasons.
• Ensuring timely and accurate returns and compliance with all HMRC requirements, including VAT, Gift Aid and other taxation. Support the Head of Payroll, Pensions & Benefits as required to ensure HMRC compliance with all employment tax issues. Lead on providing other tax advice as required by the charity.
• Ensuring a professional and responsive relationship between the transactional accounting team and Internal and external Auditors and timely and accurate responses to Internal and External Audit information requests and recommendations. Ensure timely delivery of agreed internal and External Audit actions and process changes.
• Ensuring iFinance and other financial systems are able to deliver accurate numbers and strong controls through the work of the team.
• Working with the Finance Bursar to develop and maintain the department’s risk register, ensuring appropriate risk mitigations are in place and reviewed regularly.
• Working with the Finance Bursar to ensure business continuity plans are in place and reviewed regularly.
• Working with the Finance Bursar to develop, embed and maintain appropriate financial policies and procedures. Ensure regular review of key processes.
• Ensuring the School’s finance policies and procedures for recording financial transactions operate in accordance with statutory guidelines, Companies House and Charity Commission financial regulations and guidelines set out in the school’s policy and procedures.
• Consistently looking for improvements that can be made to financial systems and processes to ensure that the school benefits from the use of new technology, products and services.
• Adopting a coaching leadership style to lead the finance team to achievement of its objectives.
• Any other duties as required.