Senior Management Accountant - Fixed Term Contract

CMS is looking for a Senior Management Accountant to join the Edinburgh team on a 12 months Fixed Term Contract.

CMS is a Future Facing firm with more than 70 offices in over 40 countries and 5,000+ lawyers worldwide. We combine deep local market understanding with a global perspective. We are passionate about building strong relationships with our clients, our people, and the communities we work in.

We take a bold, dynamic, and agile approach to ensure our clients are able to face the future with confidence. We are driven by technology and readily embrace the possibilities it opens up for developing new and better ways of working. Our aim is to inspire, impact and support our clients and our people, helping them to maximize their potential and thrive.

Heading up a team of three Management Accountants. Management accounting covers two main areas:
* Central management accounting role in respect of the UK LLP and certain tasks on a global basis.
* Acting as the lead contact for a number of our global business support departments. Examples of these departments include BD, IT, Facilities, Risk etc.

Key tasks include

GENERAL MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING
Monthly
* Responsible for preparing and posting accurate month end journals (e.g. Bonus accruals, WIP, Bad Debts, Provisions etc), ensuring all management accounting team deliverables are consistently met.
* Prepare Firmwide P&L Management accounts, including commentary, for CFO and Management review.
* Preparing and distributing monthly overhead reports to budget holders, partnering and supporting the business to deliver desired financial performance against plan.
* Liaising with global finance teams in a group oversight capacity to ensure timely coordination and completion of tasks.
* Commercially analysing business unit performance against objectives.
* Coordinating all monthly deliverables with the Financial Accounting team.
Ad hoc
* Ensuring the group chart of accounts is properly controlled and correctly maintained. (GL codes and description, Units and offices, Departments and teams, Posting rules for system transactions.
* Supporting the team as required, providing cover for team members in times of absence.
* Gaining a full understanding of all procedures and systems in place.
* Providing requests and analysis as part of the year end statutory audit process.
* Assist as necessary on one off opportunities or projects to ensure that financial implications are fully understood.

GROUP BUDGET AND FORECAST
* Co-ordinate budget/forecast process with Head of Finance Business Partnering.
* Ownership of Business Services budget/forecast submission and review.
* Supporting and advising the business and global finance teams during group annual budgeting and quarterly reforecasting cycles and updating the planning software tools.

BUSINESS SUPPORT DEPARTMENTS
* Working with the senior members of the departments to prepare budgets, report against budgets on a monthly basis and to develop the forecasting of costs.
* Develop strong working relationships with Heads of departments and key stakeholders within their teams.

TEAM DEVELOPMENT
* Ensure delegation and split of tasks between 2 Management Accountants is appropriate.
* Review of Management Accounting team outputs.
* Support development of team members.

Previous experience
 Management accounting

Professional/Educational Qualification
 Graduate level education.
 Qualified Accountant - ICAS, ACA, ACCA, CIMA or Equivalent (essential)
 Proficient in MS Office applications (minimum of Excel and Word)

Skills & Experience required
 Excellent written and verbal communication skills, able to communicate at all levels.
 Confident professional manner
 Strong analytical skills
 Grasps, retains and analyses complex information and concepts; great attention to detail.
 Deliver high quality, risk aware, pragmatic and practical advice in client friendly, jargon free language (oral and written).
 Has an excellent understanding of best use of IT and other support functions to enhance advice and services, both within the firm and externally to clients.
 Ability to show initiative and good judgment, functioning well under pressure, able to switch gears on a moment's notice and ability to concentrate in an environment of multiple demands and distractions.
 Ability to develop good working relationships and act as translator for non financial colleagues.
 Ability to handle multiple priorities and perform accurately under time pressures and constraints.

At CMS, a next-generation mindset is woven into all we do. We're diverse, supportive and inclusive, embracing our corporate social responsibility and creating a culture of sustainability in which every one of our people, whatever their background, can maximise their potential and thrive. For further information about CMS' diversity initiatives and programmes, please view the Diversity & Inclusion pages on our website.

Please apply online or contact a member of the Talent Acquisition team if you have any questions. For information regarding our competitive range of benefits please visit our Rewards & Benefits page on our website.

Please note that CMS have a preferred agency panel in place. Only applications submitted via the portal at the point of instruction will be accepted.

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