Management & Systems Accountant vacancy at the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy – supplementary information

March 2011

  1. The role of Management & Systems Accountant
  2. The Management and Systems Accountant will play a key role in the financial management of the Society and its charitable subsidiaries. The main responsibilities of the post are set out in the attached job description. It is envisaged that around 60% of time will be spent in regular tasks: such as the preparation of monthly management accounts. With the remaining 40% being allocated to project work. This will be a challenging post, with plenty of variety of work.
  3. The salary range for the post is currently: £39,802 to £45,460 (inclusive of London Weighting and other allowances). Other benefits include a final salary pension scheme and 25 days annual leave + 3 statutory days. There is a study package available to part-qualified candidates.
  4. The key requirements of the post holder are set out in the attached person specification. Sound communications and IT skills will be weighted as highly as technical accounting expertise. It is particularly important that the post holder can communicate complex financial matters clearly and fluently to staff outside the finance function and to CSP members.
  5. General background information on the CSP

2.1The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) represents Britain’s 50,000 chartered physiotherapists, physiotherapy students and assistants. It is estimated that over 90% of all UK registered physiotherapists are CSP members. The Society operates on a national, regional and local level, with 55 Branches and 13 Boards throughout the UK. The overall governing body is the CSP Council, which is made up of 27 elected members drawn from all sections of the profession.

The Society performs three important roles for its members, those of professional body, learned society and independent trade union. The CSP is a ‘not for profit’ organisation and is incorporated by Royal Charter - being neither a company nor a charity. The CSP is regulated by The Office of the Privy Counciland The Certification Officer of Trade Unions and Employers’ Associations.

The Society operates from freehold offices in Bedford Row, London WC1. It also rents small offices in Edinburgh, Belfast and Cardiff. The CSP currently employs around 140 staff, with over 10% of these being home-based. The CSP recognises ACTS – the white-collar branch of the T&GWU. Most staff are union members.

The core services of the CSP are provided through five functions, although staff often work cross-organisationally as the member services inter-relate. Each function is headed by a Director, who is a member of the Senior Management Team (SMT). The SMT also includes the Deputy Chief Executive/Operations Director. Those functions are: -

  • Practice and Development
  • Employment Relations and Union Services
  • Marketing and Communications
  • Finance, Facilities and Membership
  • The Chief Executive’s Office

Within each function there are a number of specialist sections – which are called ‘Units’ within the CSP. Most Units are managed by a Unit Head.

In addition to the Society, the CSP family includes two registered charities: The CSP Charitable Trust and The CSP Members’ Benevolent Fund.

Additional information about the CSP can be obtained from the website

  1. The CSP’s current financial position
  2. The Society’s current financial position can probably be summed-up by saying ‘The CSP is financially robust, but operating margins are very tight’.
  3. The Society’s reserves were £7.3m, as at 31 December 2010. The CSP owns three office buildings in Bedford Row and Jockey’s Fields. These were professionally valued at just under £6m in 2010. In addition, the Society has an investment portfolio, which is currently worth just over £4m. The organisation has no borrowings,
  4. In 2010 the Society reported an operating surplus of £270k on a turnover of £13m. In the year, £11.8m was received in members’ subscriptions and £600k in advertising revenue: principally from recruitment advertising in Frontline: the Society’s fortnightly magazine.
  5. The CSP is the largest of the Allied Health Professions (AHP) professional bodies. Compared to its peers, the CSP appears to ‘punch above its weight’ in the public arena. This is very important in the current political climate.
  6. The CSP Charitable Trust provides grants to support learning, development and research in physiotherapy. It also makes educational awards to individual physiotherapy students and researchers. The annual turnover of the Charitable Trust was £600k in 2010. Its reserves were £2.1m as at 31 December 2010.
  7. The CSP Members’ Benevolent Fund assists members in financial difficulties. Its turnover in 2010 was £213k, with closing reserves of £1.6m.
  1. The CSP Finance Unit
  2. The finance unit is based at the Bedford Row offices. There are five full-time posts in the Finance Unit, including the Finance Director.
  3. In general the section delivers a sound basic accounting service, and meets statutory deadlines. The section handles all the accounting and reporting for the CSP and the two charities.
  4. There is a stable and experienced team in Finance. Periods of service range from 4 to over 30 years.
  5. The current financial suite – Sage CS/3 is an ageing Unix based product, which is not being developed by its supplier. While it seems to be robust and reliable, its functionality is limited and it is not capable of being rolled-out widely, to staff outside the Finance department. We are about to upgrade to the latest Sage offering: Sage Line 1000v3.
  1. Future challenges for the Finance Unit
  2. The list below is not exhaustive, but it may give some flavour as to some of the challenges ahead:-

To adopt best practice, appropriate to the size and type of organisation, in all aspects of accounting and reporting

To improve the quality and accessibility of management information

To implement the Sage Line 1000 accounting suite.

To appraise and cost new member services and capital investment proposals.

The ability to deliver an activity based costing exercise and possibly ongoing activity based cost management.

The ability to account for, and report on, new income streams and possibly new business activities, as they come on-stream. This could involve the setting-up of a trading entity, to operate activities such as training, consultancy and running conferences. A requirement for job costing will probably result from this.

Possibly to take on the accounting and reporting for other similar organisations.

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