Management Accountant inHatfield inHatfield PUBLISHED WED 11 DEC 2024

An opportunity has arisen to join the Management Accounts team within HPFT's successful Finance Department at what is a time of significant challenge financially for the NHS, nationally and locally.

The Department is accredited at Level 1 with the national Future Focused Finance scheme, and registered for CPD with the professional accountancy bodies.

We continue to develop our team and the service we offer to best meet the needs of the organisation. The team is busy and task-focused, but is friendly and supportive; benefits include flexible working hours. Team members are encouraged to get to know the services they work with, and candidates should therefore have an interest in HPFT services.

The post requires someone who is highly numerate and IT-literate, with good knowledge of Microsoft Excel, and confident in learning and utilising various systems. The ideal candidate will be highly adaptable and pro-active; have excellent communication skills, spoken and written; and be able to explain financial issues and to influence others. There is a strong focus on both customer service and on data quality.

The post holder will be responsible for all management accounting tasks across a range of services, including covering for other members of the team. The role includes monthly accruals/pre-payments; approval of posts on TRAC; budget setting; budget monitoring; carrying out costings; and supporting business cases. In addition they will provide advice and training on financial issues and finance systems to budget holders and managers.

It is necessary to support managers and attend meetings across the Trust's sites, so it is essential that candidates can drive and have their own transport, unless they have a disability.

About us

The post holder provides the management accounting function for the SBU (Strategic Business unit) or area, including completion of accruals and variance analysis, coding of invoices, approval of recruitment to posts, and budget setting. The post holder is first point of contact for all finance queries from budget holders, and also acts proactively to raise and resolve issues, particularly for areas that are overspending, have increasing expenditure, or other financial issues. The post holder will need to develop and utilise knowledge of Standing Financial Instructions, Standing Orders, current legislation, and HPFT policies and procedures.

1. Financial Reporting (including Month End, Year End and other reporting)

1. The Management Accountant is responsible for the completion of Month End accruals for their area including:
   1. Ensuring all accruals are completed accurately and on time
   2. Highlighting any areas of concern to the Finance Business Partner or equivalent
   3. Completion of Variance Analysis for the month including narrative commentary (i.e. words as well as numbers)
   4. Noting of any items which affect forecasting
   5. Keeping accurate records of any Prior Year accruals utilised and the balance remaining
2. Supervision of any accruals calculated by Assistants or Officers
3. Uploading of journals onto the system or ensuring that this is actioned
4. Complete yearend accruals for the area, ensuring appropriate evidence is available
5. Other adhoc reports as requested by budget holders or as required to deal proactively with issues arising
6. Completion of report sections as requested by Finance Business Partner or equivalent
7. The Management Accountant is responsible for the detail of the budgets set for their area to include:
   1. Completion of pay calculation sheets
   2. Calculation of any non-pay budgets
   3. Highlighting any issues to the Finance Business Partner or equivalent
   4. Ensuring that all current spend is budgeted for the following year or if that is not possible flagging this as an issue
   5. Ensuring all budget is uploaded to the ledger for the new financial year
8. Basic forecasting and highlighting any items which will have an effect on the future financial position
9. Making proactive suggestions for budgets that may need amending
10. Calculation and uploading of budget journals in relation to approved changes to budget
11. Responsible for completion of all coding on the invoice authorisation system for own area (may on occasion be delegated to Assistants / Officers), accurately and on time, ensuring all error messages are removed in advance of forwarding to the budget holder, and that VAT coding is correct (keeping up to date on changes in VAT rules)
12. Checking of backing information relating to invoices, and raising / resolving queries where appropriate
13. Raising of invoices for income within own area, including Block Contracts, Cost and Volume, Non-Contract Income, and any other regular or adhoc invoices in a timely manner; paying particular attention to the cash flow impact of large invoices, and also NHS rules on when invoices must be raised by
14. Responsible for completion of TRAC authorisation (within 2 working days if routine), and raising / resolving queries with budget holders or senior finance staff as applicable
15. Ensuring the ESR Payroll system is accurate for the budget (establishment) side, including attendance at Establishment Control meetings, liaison with budget holders, HR Business Partners, and the Workforce Intelligence Team; that other issues are being dealt with by HR
16. Contribute ideas, and provide information and input to, the Trusts Delivering Value Programme (or other equivalent savings programme); keep track of related budget changes for own area
17. In order to carry out their duties effectively, the post holder will meet with budget holders on a regular basis; this should be proactively arranged (i.e. not just at SBU meetings). Some can be undertaken by phone or web, but actual visits are also necessary. It is expected that during non-month end days Management Accountants will be out for around 50% of the time. Where applicable this does include visits to sites at a longer distance such as Essex and Norfolk, at least several times a year.
18. Routine costings as requested by budget holders or senior finance staff; completion of calculations for bids
19. Work as a team with the other Management Accountants ensuring that cross-cover can always be provided.