JOB DESCRIPTION

/
Job title: / Trainee Accountant
Grade: / Career Grade 2Cto 3A
Location of work: /

Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Greater Manchester

Directly responsible to: /

Principal Accountant

Directly responsible for: /

N/A

Contract:
Hours of duty: /

2 year Fixed Term – Full Time

37 hours per week Monday to Friday

Primary purpose of the job: / To provide flexibleFinancial support to all functions within the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner to enable the provision of an efficient and effective service.

Main duties and responsibilities/accountabilities:

Trainee will be paid on a career grade, after having worked in the post for a minimum of six months; gaining salary increases for passing examinations and gaining a satisfactory performance appraisal, as follows:
  • Starting salary - scp 22 £20,253
  • After passing the certificate stage - scp 26 £22,937
  • After passing the diploma stage - scp 29 £25,440
The specific duties/accountabilities are given below: these cover the 2 year period required to get the full CIPFA qualification via AAT Fast Track .
All of the duties/accountabilities will be undertaken at some point in the training period (in line with CIPFA’s work experience requirements) and a sub-set of these will be given to the trainee at any specific point in time. Whilst it is expected that the level of responsibility and degree of difficulty/complexity of the work required from the trainee will increase over time the trainee may carry out Level 2/3 work early in their employment in response to business need and opportunities for fast track personal development. This means that the post holder must accept elements of flexibility in duties and responsibilities.
  1. Level One : The trainee will largely be undertaking general financial work posting budget virements onto the financial system, identifying and correcting errors in the general ledger, extracting and manipulating financial data from the financial system and undertaking routine correspondence etc.
The trainee will be supervised and assist more senior staff members in various finance tasks as directed.
  1. Level Two : The trainee will be expected to undertake financial tasks unsupervised after appropriate training has been given.
The trainee will start to interact with management and staff outside of the Finance Team, for example assisting in budget preparation and budget monitoring and meeting with Budget Managers to undertake these tasks.
The trainee will undertake financial tasks including budget monitoring, assisting in producing the Financial Statements, treasury management, financial modelling, completion of grant claims and statistical returns and interpretation of financial data/trends.
  1. Level Three : The trainee will be working on more complex/difficult tasks that will involve more interaction with others (including non finance staff, senior management and external organisations) including writing of reports and notes, management of meetings and agendas,use of technical financial skills (such as modelling, costing, options appraisal).
This will be the stage when the trainee undertakes an audit themselves, assists in a major procurement and undertakes a topic/project within a Service with significant financial implications and presents the findings to management (as required by CIPFA’s work experience requirements).
  1. Level 4 - Qualified Accountant Stage : The trainee will be asked to undertake professional finance work suitable for a newly qualified accountant until the Trainee Accountant Scheme contract ends.
This is likely to include some supervision/management of other staff, involvement in change/improvement projects, and assisting/providing financial advice for strategic decision making.
Other General Duties / Responsibilities
  1. The Trainee Accountant will deliver general financial management support to budget holders. The role is expected build strong relationships with finance colleagues and internal partners.
  1. The Trainee Accountant report to the Principal Accountant (although day to day supervision and support may be carried out by the Accountant or Audit Team.
  1. The post has have no direct financial or staff management responsibility. In direct financial responsibility will be generic in nature, primarily supporting other team members in the monitoring of budgets, reconciliations, final accounts, financial advice etc.
  1. The post-holder will be expected to achieve high customer satisfaction levels and make a real and demonstrable difference to the delivery of the Police and Crime Commissioners business.
Specific Duties to include;
  • To undertake and succeed to achieve the CIPFA professional qualification, and make every resonalbe effort to pass examiniations and successfully complete the course of study.
  • To undertake general finance/accountancy work (budget setting, budget monitoring, final accounts, treasury management etc)
  • To provide General Financial Support and advice to others as appropriate.
  • To undertake Financial Adminstrative tasks, for Accounts Payable, and Accounts Receivable related work experience tasks
  • To undertake internal audit assignments, and contribute to providing a professional internal audit service.
  • Undertake adhoc projects that are allocated as appropriate.
  • Use of Financial Ledgers, Word, Excel and other software packages to carry out various tasks allocated.
  • Contribute to the achievement of the commercial, technical and organisaitonal objectives of the section.
  • Contribute to the appropriate performance target for the Finance Team.
  • To represent the Police and Crime Commissioners Office in a professional manner at meetings with the Greater Manchester Police Force or external organisations as appropriate.
Special Conditions of Service
There may be occasions when work outside of normal hours, including weekends, will be required.

Review arrangements:

The details contained in this Job Description reflect the content of the job at the date it was prepared. Over time jobs may change. This Job Description will be revised from time to time in consultation with the post holder.

Date job description prepared/revised:7th July 2015

Prepared/revised by:Jayne Stephenson, Chief Financial Officer

Agreed job description signed by holder:

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Trainee Accountant Job Description and Person Specification

Person Specification

Job title / Salary / Location
Trainee Accountant / £20,253-£25,440 / Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Greater Manchester

(*See grid overleaf)

Essential criteria / Necessary requirements – Qualifications, skills, knowledge, experience etc. / * M.O.A.
AAT NVQ level 4, with a minimum of 2 years work experience is a Financial Environment / A/I
Ability to organise own time effectively to meet deadlines, prioritising, preparing and setting realistic timescales to achieve agreed results without close supervision. Whilst being flexible to meet competing demands. / A/I
Ability to communicate confidently and effectively, without the use of unnecessary jargon at an appropriate level for the audience and situation you are working in. /

A/I

Able to identify, analyse and interpret information from a range of sources and develop appropriate solutions /

A/I

Strong organisation skills and attention to detail / A/I
Demonstrate sound working knowledge of Accounting Standards and procedures, and working within an organisations financial regulation framework. / A/I
Good IT skills: Ability to use multiple applications, systems and associated software packages. / A/I
An awareness of the role of the Police and Crime Commissioner / A/I
Promotes diversity and equality in service delivery / A/I
Be a resident in the Greater Manchester Region / A/I
Desirable criteria / Desirable requirements – skills, knowledge, experience etc. / * M.O.A.
Minimum of 2 years work experience in a Public Sector Financial Environment. / A/I
Completed by / Date / Approved by / Date
Christine Mullins / July 2015 / Jayne Stephenson / July 2015

Method of assessment (* M.O.A.) A = Application form, C = Certificate, E = Exercise, I= Interview, P = Presentation, T = Test, AC = Assessment centre

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Trainee Accountant Job Description and Person Specification