Financial Accountant

We are seeking a diligent Financial Accountant to join our South Wales Fire & Rescue on a Permanent basis.

Your skills will be crucial in supporting the financial operations within the organisation.

Client Details

South Wales Fire and Rescue Service is responsible for providing fire protection, emergency response, and safety education across ten local authorities in South Wales, serving over 1.5 million people. The service operates a network of stations with both full-time and retained firefighters, responding to a wide range of incidents including fires, road traffic collisions, and flooding. In addition to emergency response, it focuses heavily on prevention and community engagement to reduce risk and promote public safety.

Description

The Financial Accountant is a crucial role in maintaining the financial health and efficiency of South Wales Fire and Rescue Service (SWFRS), supporting both day-to-day operations and long-term strategic goals.

This role is a blend of traditional Capital and Financial Accounting, Treasury, with specialised responsibilities relating to financial, banking and payment systems.

The role will be responsible for (but not limited to);

Capital Accountancy

• Develop and maintain capital investment plans including identifying funding sources and arrange the prioritisation of projects.
• Prepare and manage the annual capital budget, to include cost forecasts, schedules and coordinate with stakeholders to ensure alignment with strategic priorities.
• Monitor the implementation of capital projects, ensuring adherence to budgetary constraints, and provide regular information to stakeholders to assist decision making.
• Monitor budget performance and provide variance analysis in the preparation of regular Board level reports

Financial Accounting

• Actively support the closure of accounts process and the preparation of the statutory statement of accounts by taking responsibility for the completion of relevant statements and disclosures contained within.
• Ensure compliance with relevant accounting standards (e.g. IFRS), regulations, and CIPFA Codes of practice.
• Co-ordinate with auditors during the statutory audit and completion of the internal audit plan to ensure compliance and successful opinions.
• Responsible for dealing with HMRC on aspects of VAT and tax, overseeing accurate completion of relevant returns within deadline.

Treasury Operations

• Maintain adequate liquidity to meet financial obligations, i.e. operational and capital funding needs.
• Arrange the investment of surplus funds in accordance with the Treasury Management Strategy and Scheme of Delegations.

System Duties

• Responsible for the financial accounting system, ensuring functionality and integration with internal systems, i.e. payroll, procurement, banking and finance.
• Facilitate ongoing maintenance and support for users, liaise with system providers and internal stakeholders for effective upgrade, backup and security.
• Maintain the integrity of financial data within the system to include overseeing periodic routines and the chart of accounts reflects Service reporting requirements.

Profile

The successful Financial Accountant should have:

• Qualified CCAB member (e.g. CIPFA, CIMA, ACCA, or equivalent) with relevant graduate qualification and/or equivalent knowledge or skill gained through experience.
• Proven experience in budgeting, financial control, analysis and reporting.
• Experience of the annual closure of accounts process, statutory financial reporting requirement and fixed asset management.
• Understanding of treasury management practices, including cash management, debt management and investment strategies

Job Offer

• An salary paying up to £49,000 then increasing to £50,000 after 6 months pronation.
• Flexible working 7:00 - 19:00
• 2 flexi leave days per month
• Work from home 1-2 days per week pending workload and team needs
• 30 days annual leave (rising to 35 after 5 years) + Statutory holidays
• Local Government Pension Scheme
• Range of other benefits, i.e. free parking, free gym, 1hr weekly gym support etc