Job title:Accountant / Directorate: Policy & Resources
Post number: / Division: Accountancy Shared Service
Grade:9 / Section/team: Generic Post
Overall purpose of job:
To support the Strategic Leads in co-ordinating bothNorth and North East Lincolnshire Council’s financial planning, budget monitoring, treasury management and accounting processes alongside provision of a comprehensive financial support service to specific services and delivery of the council’s financial ledger systems and other financial planning and budget monitoring systems.
Post holders will be expected to be flexible in undertaking the duties and responsibilities attached to their post and may be asked to perform other duties, which reasonably correspond to the general character of the post and are commensurate with its level of responsibility.
Main responsibilities:
  1. Under the direction of the Strategic Lead, work with services to ensure the effective and efficient management of North and North East Lincolnshire Council’sfinancial resources at an operational level, allowing and ensuring services operate within approved resources.
  1. To advise the Strategic Lead, Chief Financial Officers, Directors, Assistant Directors and Head Teachers on specific service financial issues.
  1. To undertake project work as required which would include horizon scanning for new legislation, and analysing the effect, in order to support services in the design and implementation of any necessary change to financial risk management and process.
  1. Assist the Strategic Lead in producing corporate guidance to services and schools for the annual closure of accounts, drafting and reviewing the annual statement of accounts and facilitating the external audit of the council’s accounts, including meeting all reasonable requests for information and explanations in the course of the audit and the implementation of agreed actions.
  1. Ensure all accounting records and final accounts meet the requirements of the Service Expenditure Reporting Code of Practice (SERCOP) and the International Financial Reporting Standards Code of Practice (IFRS CoP)
  1. To establish, update and deliver training programmes in relevant areas
  1. To assist the Strategic Lead in the co-ordination and preparation of reports and data for leadership and management teams, partnership boards, cabinet briefings, Schools Forum etc.
  1. To Coordinate the completion of time and business critical statutory returns to government departments (eg RO, RA and s251 returns)
  1. To co-ordinate the delivery of multi-service and/or complex returns and projects across the Finance Team, including the review and improvement of processes.
  1. To ensure financial systems are maintained and developed and that their use is optimised, meeting both internal and external requirements, whilst ensuring system integrity at all times
  1. Provide clear, timely, accurate and understandable financial advice in respect of budgets, decisions and emerging issues

  1. To ensure through awareness, management and evaluation of risk, analysis of market and economic intelligence and horizon scanning that appropriate decisions are made and advice given to section 151 officers regarding council investment and borrowing decisions
  1. To provide clear, timely and accurate financial advice and information to senior management to ensure compliance with the legal requirement to set a balanced budget and resilient financial plan
  1. Monitor and advise budget holders on compliance with standing orders, financial regulations and legislation and make recommendations for changes as appropriate and in order to maintain an effective internal control framework
  1. To manage the Finance Team in the absence of, or under direction from, the Strategic Lead, including responsibility for recruitment, performance, absence management and training and development needs.
  1. To deputise for the Strategic Lead as required.
  1. To be responsible for at least one specialist area of finance (e.g. pooled budgets, school funding formula, capital accounting, special projects, technical accounting, allocation of support services costs to services, financial systems administration)
  1. To provide an income generating accountancy service to external bodies such as academies.

Knowledge, skill and experience:
  1. Experience of providing advanced financial services advice and advocacy to deliver effective outputs within a diverse and complex organisation and across a broad range of services.
  2. Experience of developing and implementing innovative interventions and solutions which have resulted in cost and/or service improvements and inform planning.
  3. Experience of planning and delivering financial training.
  4. Experience and a good working knowledge of finance including the socio political and economic environment in which Council’s operate
  5. A working knowledge of financial modelling, trend analysis and sensitivity testing to assess options, determine financial impact and make recommendations
  6. Good knowledge of local authority financial management including accounting and budgeting practices and procedures.
  7. Detailed knowledge of a range of service issues, to ensure that advice is relevant to service delivery.
  8. Experience of contributing to business improvement through delivery of targeted outcomes against deadlines and within budget
  9. Effective relationship management skills, including people management, motivational and interpersonal skills
  10. Ability to communicate effectively, at all levels, both orally and in writing, to both finance and non-finance colleagues and partners.
  11. Ability to negotiate with, and influence, a range of stake holders to ensure effective financial outcomes
  12. Computer literate, including extensive experience with financial ledger systems and business productivity software e.g. Microsoft Office.
  13. Ability to prioritise own work and that of others and to work accurately under pressure to meet conflicting deadlines.
  14. Ability to analyse, interpret and respond to changes in external environment such as new government initiatives, including the ability to develop innovative and effective solutions for a wide range of service issues.
  15. AAT qualified or studying for full membership of a Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies (CCAB) organisation or extensive experience in local government financeincluding evidence of undertaking continuing professional development in accordance with the requirements of the relevant professional body where applicable.
  16. Able to evidence a contribution to programme and project management
  17. Detailed knowledge of the operation of a specialist area of finance (e.g. pooled budgets, schools funding formula, capital accounting) and/or involvement in the production of accounts for a large multi-function organisation, preferably local government.
  18. Experience of planning and delivering financial training.
  19. Knowledge of accounting codes of practice and the ability to research, analyse, interpret and apply as appropriate.

Creativity and innovation:

These are important for many aspects of the work of this post, such as:

  1. Contributing to the review and development of policies and procedures in response to changing legislation and other requirements.
  2. To contribute to, or complete, the development and review of financial processes and systems including procedures for budgeting, monitoring and the closure of accounts.
  3. Interpreting accounting rules, grant conditions and legislation to ensure the most favourable outcome for both councils.
  4. Developing Accountancy Services within a framework of policies and procedures and through interpretation of regulations and standards and direction from senior managers
  5. Developing new methods for the apportionment of support service charges, within the framework of principles provided by SERCOP and related professional guidance.
  6. Understanding of how activity affects costs and ability to suggest and work up alternatives.
  7. Developing and optimising financial management systems and divising system processes to meet financial control, monitoring/forecasting requirements, taking in to account the many differing needs and complexities of individual services within both council’s.
  8. Continually improve the presentation of financial information to ensure it is concise, informative and effective.
  9. Designing and presenting financial training courses to suit a range of financial competencies, e.g. Non-Financial Managers, Schools Staff and School Governors, Finance Team staff, Administrative staff.

Contacts and relationships:
Provides advice and guidance on a wide range of issues, some of which are likesly to be complex and contentious requiring tact, sensitivity and persuasive skills.
  1. Directors/Service Management Teams/Senior Managers/Head Teachers: Weekly contact advising on budgetary and financial planning issues and the impact thereof.
  2. Shared Service Managers and other staff with delegated financial responsibility: Daily contact on financial monitoring and management issues.
  3. Elected Members: Ad hoc responding to Member queries and presenting simple reports to the appropriate Cabinet Member.
  4. Internal and External Audit: Ad hoc contact on accounting and related issues, and on grant funding and performance indicators. At certain times contact with the council’s external auditors can be extensive especially during the annual audit of accounts.
  5. Other Local Authorities/ Professional Bodies/Government Departments/Local Government Forums: Ad hoc professional contact for strategic benchmarking, networking, advice and consultation etc.
  6. External partner organisations: Quarterly liaison on strategic financial issues.
  7. Suppliers ofboth council’s financial software: Weekly contact on a range of issues including system development and fault resolution.

Decision making:
  1. Make decisions and provide advice on funding streams, budgeting issues and proper accounting treatment through consultation with the appropriate stakeholder(s).
  2. Preparation and maintenance of the council’s medium term financial plans, interpretation and calculation of government guidance and policies to ensure council funding is accurately forecast and monitored.
  3. Efficient and effective decision making which determines operational standards and working practices within Accountancy Services or leads to changes in financial procedures and service practice which have significant implications for the provision of service to employees, partners, communities and citizens
  4. Makes decisions on operational application of treasury management strategies and approved counterparty, lists with full appreciation that errors or misjudgements directly translate to significant financial and reputational loss.
  5. Provide recommended decision notice to the Section 151 Officer on all new borrowing undertaken with robust qualitative and quantitative reasoning evidenced. Borrowing decisions can have revenue implications lasting 50 years + for the respective council.
  6. Makes decisions on the application of financial procedure rules and guidance.
  7. Advise Section 151 officer of the financial impact of decisions to be taken, including the overall ability of the Council to invest in or the need to reduce/cease service provision.
  8. Identify and resolve problems with effective financial management in a service, reducing failure demand and improving service performance, with the help and support of the Strategic lead, where appropriate.

Responsibility for resources:
  1. Responsibilityfor portable assets, including laptop computer and mobile phone.
  2. Generally the post-holder will be away from their designated base for circa 30% of their working time and may be required to work at North or North East Lincolnshire Council.

WORK ENVIRONMENT
Work demands:
  1. The post needs to meet business critical deadlines throughout the financial calendar, often determined by legislation. Work routines need to be flexible in order to deal with changes in priorities.
  2. Prioritise own workloads, and that of staff, to meet demand and, in conjunction with the Strategic Lead, to strategically plan workloads around known pressures, demands and changes.
  3. Work is carried out to an annual cycle and increasing pressure results from additional demands and tight deadlines, sometimes statutory.
  4. In addition some ad hoc work requires immediate attention and has to be done to set deadlines.
  5. There is a need to manage and respond to conflicting demands, requiring prioritisation, sometimes between different services/authorities.
  6. There is a need to meet with service management teams, schools and service managers on a planned cycle, but sometimes ad hoc and at short notice.

Physical demands:
  • Normal physical effort.

Working conditions:
  • The work is predominantly office-based.

Work context:
  • Minimal risk to health.


Position in organisation:
Indicate how many staff the post is directly accountable for:
Are posts in more than one location? Yes
Is this at the same site? Yes Are the posts managed highly mobile? No
Is the supervision/management shared with another post in the structure?No
Please indicate which post(s) ______
The post is subject to:
Disclosure of convictions under the Rehabilitation of Offenders (Exemption) Act 1974 Yes □No□
Political restriction Yes □ No□
Employee:
(signed) / (print) / Date:
Manager: (signed) / (print) / Date:

Appendix A – Accountancy Shared Service Struct

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