Senior Accountant with line management and training responsibility.
Ripley and Shepperton, Surrey. Permanent, full time. Salary £48,000 per annum. Free parking at both offices. A full driving licence and use of your own vehicle are essential.
Recruitment for this role is being handled by Beagle HR Ltd on behalf of our client, an established independent accountancy practice in Surrey.
About the firm
Our client is an independent practice with two offices in Surrey, in Ripley and Shepperton, and a team of around twenty, working with owner managed businesses across a broad range of sectors. They run on a modern cloud accounting stack and are part way through a programme of change, with a clear plan and clear accountability behind it. Whoever takes this role will have real influence over how the practice develops from here.
The role
This is a senior accountant post. You will own a portfolio of clients from start to finish, and you will line manage and train a small team of two to four trainees and part qualified staff.
Preparing and reviewing statutory accounts, corporation tax, VAT and management information for owner managed businesses.
Taking full responsibility for your clients, their deadlines, their questions and their experience of the firm.
Being the person your clients ring first, and being comfortable with that.
Line managing a small team, including one to ones, workload planning and honest feedback.
Working across both offices, in Ripley and Shepperton, as the work requires.
Helping standardise how the firm works, from working papers through to workflow.
Training and developing the team
This part matters as much as the technical work. The firm has trainees and part qualified staff at different stages, and it needs a senior who will teach rather than simply correct.
Reviewing work in a way that explains why, not just what needs changing.
Sitting down with a trainee and walking them through a set of accounts.
Being the person people come to when they are stuck, and being approachable about it.
Supporting those studying towards their qualification.
Setting a consistent standard for how work is prepared, and holding people to it.
Noticing who is ready for more responsibility, and saying so.
Being clear about what the firm is looking for
This is not a role for someone who wants to be left alone with a set of accounts. Technical ability is a given at this level and will be taken as read.
What the firm is genuinely short of is a senior who will pick up the phone to a client, explain something clearly to a person who is not an accountant, tell a colleague their work is not good enough and then show them how to do it properly, and take an idea and make it happen without being chased.
If your ideal week is uninterrupted account production with no interruptions from clients or colleagues, this will not be the right firm for you. If you want a portfolio of your own, a team to bring on, and real influence over how a growing practice operates, we would like to hear from you.
What you will need
ACCA qualified. Applications are welcome from people who qualified through the Level 7 apprenticeship route.
Experience in UK practice, ideally with owner managed businesses.
Experience of reviewing other people's work and of training or mentoring less experienced staff, whether formally or informally.
Comfortable dealing with clients directly rather than through someone else.
Confident with cloud accounting software. Xero experience is an advantage rather than a requirement.
A full driving licence and use of your own vehicle. The role is based across both offices and there is no practical public transport link between them, so this is a condition of the role.
What is on offer
Salary of £48,000 per annum.
Free parking at both offices.
Support for further study, including CTA, for the right person.
A genuine route into the leadership of a firm that is growing.
Variety, no two clients the same, and none of the politics of a large firm.
How to apply
Send your CV along with a short note about a time you brought on a more junior colleague, or handled a difficult client conversation. We do read them.
Pay: £48,000.00 per year
Benefits:
Work Location: In person
