Financial Reporting Assistant Manager - Guildford

Ideas | People | Trust

We’re BDO. An accountancy and business advisory firm, providing the advice and solutions businesses need to navigate today’s changing world.

Our clients are Britain’s economic engine – ambitious, entrepreneurially-spirited and high‑growth businesses that fuel the economy - and the owners and management teams that lead them.

We’ll broaden your horizons

The Business Services and Outsourcing team are essential to meeting our clients' evolving requirements. As well as delivering long-term, sustainable value to businesses by providing a range of solutions such as accounting, payroll and compliance services, they also play a key role in tying together many of our services across BDO both domestically and internationally. By building deep and meaningful relationships with a range of clients from ambitious entrepreneurial SMEs to large multi-national groups, our BS&O team don’t just advise on their specific business challenges, they open doors for other teams to provide our firm’s wider service offering. To succeed in this agile environment, you’ll need to demonstrate excellent problem-solving skills and initiative. In return, you’ll have the opportunity for progression, and the chance to develop in one of the industry’s most exciting and varied roles.

We’ll help you succeed

As an Assistant Manager you will be responsible for a portfolio of clients and be required to work closely with and support more senior members of the team in the timely delivery of services.

Services you can expect to fall within your portfolio are the review of year-end statutory accounts compliance and liaising with the necessary audit teams (both BDO and non-BDO) as well as any ad-hoc advisory services requested.

You will determine resource requirements to service your portfolio, monitor progress against budget and time-frames, review work of more junior members of staff and resolve issues prior to Manager or Partner review.

You will work independently and be accountable for the delivery of the project to the Manager or Partner for review, being the first point of contact for our clients and auditors throughout the project.

In addition to accounting capabilities, you will have a rounded business knowledge, able to analyse client data, make recommendations and talk credibly to clients on the issues they face.

In this role you will have a key role in the development of our team, promoting BDO values and providing performance feedback. As an Assistant Manager you will have direct reports whom you will support with performance, development and wellbeing.

Technical responsibilities:

• Review of financial reporting requirements for clients to a high level of quality and delivered in line with agreed timetables
• Assist in research of complex technical areas and offer solutions
• Assist in preparing and reviewing consolidation models including disclosures
• Understanding of corporation tax compliance requirements, and information required to generate tax disclosures in financial statements
• Demonstrating effective risk management, raising issues alongside proposed solutions with managers when required
• Ensure we comply with BDO’s client take-on procedures
• Act as a point of contact for more junior members of the team for technical advice

Commercial responsibilities:

• Managing a portfolio of clients
• Maintain and build relationships with clients and ensure that all communications are conducted in a professional manner
• Understanding the client’s target aspirations, goals and needs whilst suggesting proposed solutions to them
• Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the commercial environment and its impact on the client’s business, whilst demonstrating a clear understanding of the context of their work
• Understands the finance and accounting functions generally performed by a business (eg sales, purchasing, A/R etc) and common best practices/processes for how they operate
• Build trust and connect with the client by listening and showing empathy
• Actively network professionally outside of BDO and seize opportunities for new professional contacts when presented
• Identify business opportunities and looks at ways to improve the profitability of engagements
• Accurately scope a new project and construct a fee estimate/budget for review
• Monitors delivery against a project plan and intervenes as necessary to ensure engagements stay within budgets. Escalate as appropriate where required
• Review the work of juniors and provide timely constructive feedback to enable the development and improvement of other’s technical ability

Personal Responsibilities:

• Robust under pressure, demonstrating strong organisational skills
• Demonstrates excellent analytical and research skills
• Good team member who can encourage and support others at all levels
• Providing effective coaching, feedback and management of junior team members
• Effective People Management for those with direct reports.
• Results orientated
• Self-motivated and able to use own initiative
• Excellent time management skills
• Excellent client interacting and relationship building skills
• Displays sound judgement on when to escalate or bring in other expertise to support clients
• Embraces change with an adaptable and flexible working attitude
• Able to think outside the box and bring prior experience to pragmatically provide solutions for clients.

Experience and professional Qualifications:

• Qualified Accountant ACA, CA or equivalent
• Excellent working knowledge of FRS102 and IFRS
• Experience in a trainee or senior role, including delivering statutory accounts preparation or accounting services to ambitious entreprenuerial businesses.
• Evidence of ability to research technical accounting matters.
• Working knowledge of financial products, firm services, issues regarding advice and regulation and compliance, including anti-money laundering.
• Working knowledge of Microsoft packages including Word, Excel and Powerpoint
• Competent in the use of Caseware and other relevant accounts production software

We’re in it together

Mutual support and respect is one of BDO’s core values and we’re proud of our distinctive, people-centred culture. From informal success conversations to formal mentoring and coaching, we’ll support you at every stage in your career, whatever your personal and professional needs.

We can provide the best support for our clients and people when we’re working side by side. Our agile working framework helps us stay connected, bringing teams together where and when it counts so they can share ideas and help one another. At BDO, you’ll always have access to the people and resources you need to do your best work.

We know that collaboration is the key to creating value for our clients and satisfying experiences at work, so we’ve invested in state-of-the-art collaboration spaces in our offices. BDO’s people represent a wealth of knowledge and expertise, and we’ll encourage you to build your network, work alongside others, and share your skills and experiences. With a range of multidisciplinary events and dedicated resources, you’ll never stop learning at BDO.

We’re looking forward to the future

At BDO, we help entrepreneurial businesses to succeed, fuelling the UK economy.

Our success is powered by our people, which is why we’re always finding new ways to invest in them. Across 17 UK locations, we are 6,500 unique minds coming together to help our clients reach their ambitions.

We’ve got a clear purpose, and we’re confident in our future, because we’re adapting and evolving to build on our strengths, ensuring we continue to find the right combination of global reach, integrity and expertise. We shape the future together with openness and clarity, because we believe in empowering people to think creatively about how we can do things better.