Job Description

Senior Accounts Associate Sideshow Central Finance
The Senior Accounts Associate role is a key position within the Central Finance Team the ideal candidate will bring a proactive approach to managing the accounts payable process, maintaining supplier relationships, ensuring compliance with financial policies, and driving process improvements. This is an excellent opportunity for a meticulous individual with strong problem-solving and communication skills to make an impact within a growing team.
The next 12 months is going to require a high volume and complex demand on the Central Finance Team driven by a legal entity rationalisation, the move to This is Gain Ltd and a new financial management system.
Invoice & Supplier Management

• Accounts Payable Mailbox Management: Ensure inbound accounts payable mailboxes are up to date and effectively managed, ensuring timely processing of invoices and related communications.
• Supplier Relationship Management: Proactively manage and coordinate supplier payments to optimise working capital and maintain strong relationships with suppliers. Address invoicing and payment queries through effective communication.
• Invoice Documentation and Reconciliation: Ensure that the correct documentation is attached to invoices and reconcile purchase orders to invoices. Perform monthly supplier statement reconciliations, ensuring accurate records.
• Invoice Posting & Credit Note Coordination: Coordinate the posting of invoices and credit notes in the system, ensuring all transactions are accurately coded and recorded.
• Payment Process Coordination: Oversee the supplier payments process, ensuring payments are properly approved by a Delegated Authority nominee, and ensuring timely and accurate payments.
• Financial Compliance: Ensure that all accounts payable activities adhere to internal financial policies, procedures, and standard service level agreements (SLAs).
• Outstanding Item Resolution: Investigate and resolve outstanding creditor items, ensuring that discrepancies are addressed promptly.
• Expense Processing & Spend Management: Coordinate the processing and validation of employee expenses in Spendesk. Administer and optimise the spend management program in Spendesk.
• Process Improvement & Automation: Identify and implement process improvements within the accounts payable function, driving change and leveraging automation tools to streamline operations.

Financial Compliance

• Audit Preparation: Liaise with auditors, preparing audit schedules and reconciliations to support the audit process.

Month End

• Month-End Activities: Participate in month-end activities, including ledger reconciliation and closing to ensure accurate financial reporting. Producing slides that form part of the board pack. Ensuring all month end deliverables are met.
• KPI Reporting & Analysis: Prepare and analyse monthly KPI reports, providing insights into performance and feeding data into the balance sheet review pack.
• Month End Debrief: Meet with Central Finance colleagues to understand what went well, what needs improving and where we can support each other to improve the month end process.

Treasury

• Treasury Management: Overseeing daily cash flows and ensuring there's enough cash to operate the business. Risk management: Identifying and managing potential financial risks, such as low cash points in the year and reducing foreign exchange risk.
• Cashflow Reporting & Forecasting: Manage cash flow reporting and forecasting across all practices, ensuring accurate and up-to-date cash management.

Skills & Qualifications:

• Qualifications: Relevant academic and professional qualifications related to ERP, IT, or Process Improvement (e.g., A minimum of Part Qualified degree, certifications, training).
• Strong Communicator: Ability to effectively communicate with suppliers, internal teams, and stakeholders to address payment and invoicing queries, and ensure smooth processes.
• Accounts Payable Expertise: In-depth knowledge of accounts payable processes, including supplier payments, invoicing, reconciliations, and compliance with financial policies.
• Excel & Financial Systems Proficiency: Strong proficiency in Excel for reporting, analysis, and data management. Familiarity with financial systems such as Spendesk and ERP software.
• Process Improvement Mindset: Proven experience identifying inefficiencies and implementing process improvements within the accounts payable or finance function.
• Time & Priority Management: Strong organisational skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities, meet deadlines, and ensure the smooth flow of accounts payable operations.
• Financial Compliance & Reporting: Understanding of financial regulations, policies, and procedures, audit preparation, and reconciliations.
• Project Management: Experience in leading and contributing to continuous improvement projects, process optimisation, and finance system transformation.
• Analytical Thinker: Be able to summarise and deconstruct large volumes of data into a value added detailed breakdown or summary. E.g. Aged Payables, supplier turnover reporting, IT Spend, detailed expense reporting on client entertaining.
• VAT: Reasonable understanding of UK & International VAT.

Behaviours:
Build Effective Relationships: Possesses the ability to build effective relationships with direct reports, key stakeholders and trusted partners internally and externally.
Emotional Intelligence: Emotional intelligence (EI) is important for understanding and managing your emotions and the emotions of others. EI help you to respond empathetically to the Accounts Payable team's needs.
Attention to Detail: High level of attention to detail to ensure accuracy in invoice processing, reconciliations, and financial reporting.

• Problem-Solving & Analytical: Ability to investigate and resolve discrepancies, outstanding items, and complex issues related to accounts payable.

Decision-Making and Accountability: Demonstrates sound judgment when making decisions related to payment approvals, dispute resolution, or team management. Takes responsibility for decisions and actions, holding both themselves and the team accountable.
Conflict Resolution: Must be able to resolve conflicts quickly and find common ground to maintain a positive and productive workplace.
Coaching and Development: Continual coaching and development skills enable you to support and enhance your team members' growth, leading to improved performance and job satisfaction.
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Skills Required