Interim Head of Commercial Accounting

Capita

Purpose of the role:

13 MONTHS FTC MATERNITY COVER

The Head of Commercial Accounting supports the Group Chief Accountant in the central Group Finance team. On a day-to-day basis this role interacts with a variety of individuals across the business. The role includes advising on accounting for complex revenue contracts and other areas of significant accounting judgement within the group, supporting finance projects, and assisting with ad-hoc finance analysis. The role works closely with senior management across the organisation on advising to ensure material transactions are accounted for both commercially and in compliance with the Group’s accounting policies.

There will be occasional travel to one of our offices (dependant on candidate location) as and when required.

Job Description

What you’ll be doing:

1. Ensuring the Group accounting policies as set out in the Group Accounting Policy Manual are up to date, working with the wider finance function to make updates as needed.
2. Take a lead role on the adoption of new accounting standards and amendments to existing accounting standards. In particular, the Group’s adoption of IFRS 18.
3. Work closely with the other teams within Group Finance – in particular External Reporting, Management Reporting and FP&A, providing them with support on technical matters.
4. Maintain a strong relationship with the Capita divisions and support them in respect of structuring and accounting for large scale contracts (under IFRS 15), and other commercial accounting queries.
5. Run the contract lifetime review process in advance of the half year and year end reporting – including scoping, issuing instructions, diarising meetings, providing templates, reviewing submitted packs and running Q&A sessions.
6. Advise on the accounting for contracts prior to contract signature.
7. Provide support as required on ad hoc finance projects (e.g., Finance Continuous Improvement, legal entity rationalisation, disposals, acquisitions etc).
8. Responsibility for liaising with Group and Divisional legal teams, providing technical guidance on provisioning.
9. Assist in drafting management’s papers for the Audit & Risk Committee pertaining to financial reporting.
10. Maintain a close working relationship with the external auditors and write and review accounting papers as required.
11. Review the interim and annual financial statements of the Group, assist in drafting key disclosures, and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements.
12. Support the relationship with Investor Relations and preparation of financial information for external presentations, including Q&A prep for the CFO.
13. Support the Finance Director – Integrations Separations in respect of business disposals, including Assets Held for Sale assessments, disposal accounting, and preparation of any supporting financial information.

What we’re looking for:

1. Qualified Chartered Accountant with 3+ years post qualified experience (current and prior employees in this role have usually joined from Big 4 firms where they were experienced assistant managers or managers).
2. Experience of premium listed company financial reporting requirements.
3. Experience of revenue recognition (IFRS 15).
4. Up to date with IFRS – in particular an in-depth understanding of IFRS 15 and how it applies to Capita.
5. Proficient report writing skills – in particular for the Audit & Risk Committee – required to be concise but sufficiently comprehensive and cover technical topics in an understandable way.
6. Able to develop and maintain strong working relationships with a wide group of stakeholders and customers across the group.
7. Have a good understanding of how the external audit runs to aid the leading of the day-to-day relationship with KPMG.

About Capita Finance:

Our Finance Function is one of Capita’s central corporate functions and is supporting the financial needs of the business. Our teams are creating smarter, faster financial processes across a complex organisation to ensure consistency with training, technology and knowledge sharing. We’re providing clear insight to teams across the business and empowering them to make effective, meaningful decisions. Join us and discover better as you build a stronger financial future for Capita.

What’s in it for you:

1. Company matched pension, life assurance, a cycle2work scheme, and plenty more.
2. Voluntary benefits designed to suit your lifestyle – from discounts on retail and socialising, to health & wellbeing, travel and technology.
3. The opportunity to take a paid day out of the office, volunteering for our charity partners or a cause of your choice.
4. Access to our Employee Network Groups, which represent every strand of diversity and allow colleagues to connect and learn from each other on an open, inclusive platform.

What we hope you’ll do next:

Choose ‘Apply now’ to fill out our short application, so that we can find out more about you.

We’re an equal opportunity and Disability Confident employer, which means we recruit and develop people based on their merit and passion. We’re committed to providing an inclusive, barrier-free recruitment process and working environment for everyone. If you need the job description or application form in an alternative format (such as large print or audio), or if you’d like to discuss other changes or support you might need going forward, please email at and we’ll get back to you.