Management Accountant / Business Partner

Are you passionate about sport? Our client is a fast-growth, early-stage sports focused media agency based in Central London that’s highly entrepreneurial and low on bureaucracy. They operate in the fields of Sports Talent Management, Sport Media/b2b Events & esports amongst others and clients include leading brands, sports clubs, professional athletes and sports federations. The business is undergoing a significant growth phase and will shortly be seeking a strategic transaction to further capitalise on the current market opportunities in the areas that they operate in.

Role Summary

The Management Accountant will act as a finance Business Partner & be an integral part of a finance team that sits within a small Central team responsible for Finance, Operations, Commercials, HR, legal and IT and compliance. Your roles and duties are detailed below but in summary it’s to help keep the financials of the companies in robust health. Your views and input into the other areas of the Central team will also be important to the ongoing success of the company and is potentially an area to broaden your skill base.

Daily tasks will involve working with and supporting the Financial Controller to ensure:

• Efficient month-end and management accounting processes, upholding strong internal controls and contributing to the continuous improvement of the finance function.
• Timely and accurate preparation of monthly management accounts and reports, including variance analysis and drafting commentary, to provide insights into business performance.
• Support with in-depth financial analysis, by department and product, to support decision-making, identify areas for improvement and drive profitability.
• Input into the year-end statutory accounts processes and audit preparation/delivery with our external accountants and auditors.
• Preparation of annual budgets and systems upload, reforecasting and extraction.
• Group and Charity VAT return preparation and filling.
• Administration of the workplace pension scheme, monthly contribution uploads and journals.
• All other tax and compliance matters.
• Intercompany loan management and monthly cross charges.
• Oversight and some preparation of banking and balance sheet reconciliations.
• Oversee the preparation of detailed weekly cashflows, forecasts and weekly payment runs by the Finance Assistant.
• Invoice raising and receivable collections.
• Booking FX transactions.

Business partnering and building relationships with senior business owners, MD’s and projects

• You will be responsible for partnering with the senior team for two of the commercial companies in the group; monitoring key financial metrics and KPIs, providing regular updates, actionable recommendations and commercial insights.
• Continued review and improvement of our business processes and systems
• Central operating costs (non-people), ownership and reporting.
• Analysis of timesheet information provided by Project Management, to determine employee utilisation and profitability.
• Assist with ad hoc projects and initiatives as needed, demonstrating flexibility and a willingness to take on new challenges and add value

Manage and develop one direct report once established in your role

• Mentor and provide guidance to the finance assistant, fostering their professional development and growth.
• Perform bi-annual reviews, along with other line management duties (training will be provided).
• Oversee all aspects of their work from the accounts payable cycle; accurate coding/approval processes to cashflow reporting, posting journals and month end reconciliations.

You in summary:

• Likely to be recently / newly qualified, or nearing the very final stages of a professional accounting qualification (e.g. ACCA, CIMA) with a strong academic track record to date.
• You balance getting into the detail and getting-stuff-done whilst being commercially minded and able to work closely with senior business owners/stakeholders.
• Experienced with accounting concepts, with a good understanding of deferred and accrued revenue and cost accounting.
• Previous experience working in strategic/creative/marketing agency/live events would be desirable but not essential.
• Flexible in your approach; around 2 days a week WFH and 3 in the office is required.
• You are a self-starter and proactive, always striving for continuous improvement in efficiencies, systems and best practice.
• You work well with others to achieve team goals.
• Have experience working to deadlines with the ability to prioritise workload accordingly.
• You have strong attention to detail and analytical skills.
• Possess excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively with colleagues at all levels of the organization.
• You are ambitious to further your career, make use of continued professional development on offer and keen to grow with your role as opportunities arise within our rapidly expanding group.
• Possess a strong proficiency in Microsoft Excel, including the ability to use pivot tables and V-Lookup.