ELM Group
Service Charge Accountant Team Lead
(Maternity Cover 12 months)
Frimley, Surrey
Monday to Friday, Office Based (35 hours per week)
Are you looking for a role where you can lead and develop a small team while driving high standards across a busy finance function? Do you want to join a not-for-profit, ethical organisation that puts its people first?
About the role
ELM Group are a leading residential estate management company, with a management portfolio of over 150 exclusive and beautifully landscaped developments across the UK. You will be joining at an exciting time for ELM Group; we are looking for an experienced and highly organised Service Charge Accountant Team Lead to join our Finance Team on a maternity cover basis. This is an excellent opportunity to step into a well-established role and make an immediate impact, supporting the delivery of accurate and timely service charge accounts across a varied portfolio of estates, while managing and supporting a small team.
You will play a central role in coordinating workloads, supporting colleagues and ensuring processes run smoothly during a busy and important period for the team. Alongside managing your own portfolio, you will act as a key point of contact for queries and help ensure deadlines are consistently achieved.
The role offers strong exposure across the organisation, working closely with Estate Managers, auditors and internal teams, while maintaining high standards of financial accuracy and compliance to ensure all statutory and leasehold requirements are met. This role is ideally suited to someone who is organised, detail-focused and confident managing competing priorities in a fast-paced environment.
About you
As a key member of the Finance Team, you will be a confident and experienced accountant with proven service charge accounting expertise and a strong background working within a busy finance team. You will be ACCA/CIMA qualified or qualified by experience, with a minimum of five years’ experience in an accounting role and the ability to manage a high-volume, deadline-driven workload. With strong organisational and time management skills, you will be comfortable planning and prioritising tasks effectively, while maintaining excellent attention to detail. You will also have previous experience supporting or supervising others, with the confidence to communicate clearly and build relationships with stakeholders at all levels. A proactive, methodical approach and strong problem-solving skills are essential, along with the ability to work both independently and as part of a collaborative team. Experience of residential leasehold property, client accounting and estate management portfolios would be advantageous. This role would suit someone with financial controller or finance manager experience.
Key Responsibilities
- Manage the day-to-day activity of a small accounting team
- Plan workloads, timelines and trackers to ensure all key deadlines are met
- Provide support, coaching and guidance to team members
- Act as the escalation point for service charge accounting queries
- Take full ownership of a portfolio of estate accounts throughout the year
- Prepare and review year-end accounts from trial balance through to final published accounts
- Oversee the submission and payment of the Trust Tax returns with HMRC
- Raise management fee and landlord recharges
- Ensure compliance with lease terms and relevant legislation, including the Landlord & Tenant Act
- Deliver accurate and timely accounts to residents and stakeholders
- Liaise with external auditors and manage audit timelines
- Respond to audit queries thoroughly and within deadlines
- Oversee surplus/deficit calculations and billing in line with lease requirements
- Build effective relationships with Estate Managers, clients and auditors
- Provide clear, timely financial information to both finance and non-finance stakeholders
- Attend meetings and present financial reports where required
- Oversee bank reconciliations and resolve discrepancies
- Ensure accurate reporting and ongoing reconciliation of estate accounts
- Maintain strong financial controls and adherence to procedures
Hours: 9:00am-5:00pm, Monday to Friday 35 hours per week
Salary: £50-52K dependent on experience
This role is temporary to cover maternity, and is expected to last 12 months
Benefits
We believe our staff are at the forefront of our commitment to provide an excellent service to our leaseholders, we offer competitive salaries and comprehensive induction training to help you settle confidently into your role.
We also offer:
- Contributory Pension scheme (which includes life cover) with the option of contributing via Salary Exchange
- 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays, with service related increments
- A day off for your Birthday
- Employee assistance programme, which includes access for employees’ families
- Retail Discounts
- NHS cashback Scheme (after 6 months service)
- Rewards scheme for bright ideas, long service, making a difference and WOW awards
- Free Bespoke Mortgage Advice through our provider
Please visit our website to read the job description. There may be additional tasks that are specific to this role, if you are shortlisted, we will advise you of these at interview.
If you are interested in applying for this position, please apply through indeed or send us your CV and/or an application form (downloadable from our website)
Pay: £50,000.00-£52,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Additional leave
- Company pension
- Free parking
- Health & wellbeing programme
- On-site parking
- Sick pay
Application question(s):
- Are you within a 30-45 minute commute of GU16 7ER?
Experience:
- Accounting: 5 years (required)
- Client reporting: 1 year (preferred)
- Team management: 2 years (required)
- Residential Leasehold Service Charge Accounts: 1 year (preferred)
Licence/Certification:
- CIMA (preferred)
- ACCA qualification? (preferred)
Work Location: In person
