Finance Manager Full time (40h)
£50,000- 60,000 GBP p.a. 3 days office min.
Role purpose
The Finance Manager will take ownership of the company’s day-to-day finance function and provide reliable financial information to the Managing Director / CEO. The role combines hands-on accounting, cash-flow management, management reporting, compliance coordination and commercial finance support.
The person should be able to run the monthly finance cycle, manage external accountants and support the preparation of payroll/VAT processes with the perspective to in-house VAT in the medium term, improve controls, and give management a clear view of profitability, cash, working capital and financing needs.
The role should cover PAYE/payroll administration, VAT, corporation tax coordination together with the tax advisor, statutory account preparation, Companies House filings, management accounts, financial controls and in the future coordinating external audit procedures.
Job description
Key responsibilities
1. Financial accounting and bookkeeping oversight
The Finance Manager is responsible for ensuring that the accounting records are complete, accurate and up to date.
Typical tasks:
- Own the monthly close process.
- Maintain or supervise the bookkeeping process.
- Review sales invoices, purchase invoices, bank postings and journals.
- Reconcile bank accounts, credit cards, supplier accounts and customer accounts.
- Maintain the fixed asset register.
- Ensure accruals, prepayments and deferred income are posted correctly.
- Ensure accounting records are suitable for external accountants, lenders and management.
2. Management reporting
The role should produce a concise monthly management pack.
Monthly outputs should include:
- Profit and loss statement.
- Balance sheet.
- Cash-flow statement or cash movement analysis.
- Aged debtors and aged creditors.
- Gross margin analysis.
- Budget versus actuals.
- Forecast versus actuals.
- Working capital analysis.
- Commentary on key variances.
- Recommended actions to management.
The goal is to move the company away from “accounting after the fact” and towards forward-looking financial control.
3. Cash-flow and working capital management
This is one of the most important areas
Responsibilities:
- Prepare and maintain a rolling 13-week cash-flow forecast.
- Prepare a 12-month cash-flow forecast.
- Monitor daily and weekly cash position.
- Identify funding gaps early.
- Manage supplier payment runs.
- Oversee credit control and customer collections.
- Track overdue receivables.
- Monitor stock, WIP or project balances if relevant.
- Recommend payment terms, deposit structures and credit limits.
- Support negotiations with banks, invoice finance providers or asset finance providers.
4. Budgeting, forecasting and business planning
The Finance Manager should lead the annual budget process which will be presented at every years CBC Steering Committee Meeting in the first week of December for the following year’s budget and maintain forecasts during the year.
Responsibilities:
- Prepare annual budget with management.
- Build revenue, margin, payroll and overhead assumptions.
- Update forecasts monthly or quarterly.
- Model hiring plans, capex, price changes and financing needs.
- Prepare scenario analysis, for example base case, downside case and growth case.
- Support strategic planning with financial modelling.
- Prepare 3 years projection of fully integrated CF, BS and PL
5. Payroll, PAYE and pensions coordination
The person should either run payroll directly or manage the outsourced payroll provider.
Responsibilities:
- Coordinate monthly payroll.
- Ensure correct payroll inputs: salaries, bonuses, overtime, sick pay, holiday pay, leavers and joiners.
- Check PAYE, National Insurance and pension deductions.
- Coordinate Real Time Information submissions if payroll is in-house.
- Manage workplace pension contributions and pension provider submissions.
- Reconcile payroll journals to accounting records.
- Ensure payroll payments and HMRC payments are made on time.
UK employers normally need to operate PAYE as HMRC’s system to collect Income Tax and National Insurance from employment.
6. VAT and tax compliance coordination
The following responsibilities are to be done in coordination with the VAT tax advisor:
Responsibilities:
- Prepare or review VAT returns.
- Ensure VAT coding is correct.
- Manage Making Tax Digital-compliant VAT submissions.
- Reconcile VAT control accounts.
- Coordinate with external tax advisers.
- Support corporation tax computations and payment planning.
- Maintain records for HMRC enquiries.
- Track deadlines for VAT, PAYE, corporation tax and statutory filings.
7. Statutory accounts, Companies House and external accountants
The Finance Manager should manage the external accountant relationship and make year-end efficient.
Responsibilities:
- Prepare year-end schedules
- Coordinate statutory accounts preparation according to UK GAAP.
- Support corporation tax return preparation.
- Ensure accounts are filed on time.
- Ensure confirmation statement information is complete and up to date.
- Maintain company records.
- Support directors with statutory finance responsibilities.
- Supervise financial statement audit process and be the face to the audit team
- Prepare semi-annual IFRS reporting for CBC reporting purposes
8. Financial controls and risk management
The person should create a finance function that is not dependent on one person’s memory.
Responsibilities:
- Implement approval limits.
- Maintain purchase order or spend approval processes.
- Control supplier onboarding and bank-detail changes.
- Segregate duties where possible.
- Review access rights to banking and accounting systems.
- Maintain documented finance procedures.
- Ensure regular reconciliations are completed.
- Reduce fraud risk.
- Review insurance, leases, loans and major contracts from a finance perspective.
9. Financing, banking and funding
The person should support the company’s financing needs.
Responsibilities:
- Manage day-to-day bank relationship.
- Monitor facility headroom.
- Prepare information for lenders.
- Support invoice finance, overdraft, term loan or asset finance processes.
- Track covenants, repayment schedules and interest costs.
- Prepare board-level funding analysis.
- Assess customer payment risk and supplier credit exposure.
10. Commercial finance support
The role should help management understand profitability.
Responsibilities:
- Analyse gross margin by product, customer, contract or project.
- Review pricing and discounting.
- Support tender pricing or quote calculations.
- Analyse customer profitability.
- Identify cost-saving opportunities.
- Support make-or-buy, capex and hiring decisions.
- Prepare financial analysis for management decisions.
11. Systems and process improvement
The Finance Manager should improve the company’s finance systems.
Responsibilities:
- Own the accounting system, for example Xero
- Improve invoice approval workflows.
- Automate bank feeds and reconciliations.
- Improve reporting dashboards.
- Clean up chart of accounts and cost centres.
- Maintain good data quality.
- Ensure accounting software supports VAT digital record-keeping.
12. Working Knowledge of ERP System essential.
Pay: £50,000.00-£60,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Free parking
- On-site parking
Work Location: In person
