Interim Senior Accountant - Contractor

Overview

The organization is seeking an experienced finance professional to cover the Head of Finance while she is on maternity leave. This role will manage the day-to-day finance function, serving as the main point of contact for finance activities including accurate bookkeeping, timely supplier and payroll payments, and producing clear monthly numbers for Senior Leadership.

You will work independently, with external accountants and Senior Leadership available for support as needed.

Key Details

• Engagement: Contractor, up to 2 days a week (days to be agreed; availability for month-end, payroll, and VAT deadlines)
• Duration: 6 months, with the possibility of extension
• Location: Remote, UK-based
• Start date: December 2026 (including a handover period with the Head of Finance)
• Scheduling: Flexible
• Compensation: Competitive day rate

Responsibilities

Bookkeeping and Accounting

• Code and post transactions in Xero accurately and on time
• Reconcile bank accounts, cards, and payment platforms across all entities and currencies
• Maintain prepayments, accruals, fixed assets, and intercompany balances, meeting month-end close deadlines

Sales Invoicing and Credit Control

• Raise customer and partner invoices in line with contract terms
• Check invoices against agreed pricing and usage data
• Maintain supporting files in Excel to accompany invoices
• Allocate cash receipts, chase overdue invoices, and report on debtors and cash collection

Supplier Payments and Expenses

• Process supplier bills, run payment batches, and respond to supplier queries
• Review and approve employee expense claims against policy
• Reconcile company cards (Pleo), including account coding and VAT codes

Payroll

• Run monthly UK payroll through the payroll provider, including starters, leavers, changes, pensions, and benefits
• Submit payment to the payroll provider on time

VAT and Tax Compliance

• Prepare and submit VAT returns through Xero, including reverse charge and overseas sales treatment
• Comfortable calculating partial claims
• Spot and flag VAT issues early and raise anything unusual
• Provide information to external accountants for year-end accounts and corporation tax

Management Accounts and Reporting

• Prepare monthly management accounts (P&L, balance sheet, and cash flow), including clear variance commentary against budget if needed
• Consolidate multi-currency into group accounts
• Update the cash flow forecast and highlight cash risks to leadership

Ad Hoc and Wider Finance Support

• Respond to finance queries and data requests from colleagues, customers, partners, and suppliers (e.g., supplier forms, VAT certificates, and bank letters)
• Work with external accounts to prepare year-end accounts and tax returns

Requirements

Essential

• Based in the UK with the right to work in the UK
• Proven experience running day-to-day finance, ideally as a senior bookkeeper, assistant accountant, or finance manager
• Strong Xero skills, including bank reconciliations, multi-currency, and month-end close
• Confident with UK tax, including VAT returns and PAYE payroll
• Advanced Excel
• Comfortable using AI tools (Claude) in daily work and keen to use them to work faster
• Accurate, organized, and able to work independently to deadlines, with the ability to explain numbers clearly to non-finance colleagues

Preferred Qualifications

• AAT, ACCA, ACA, or CIMA qualified or part-qualified
• Experience in a startup or scale-up, ideally with multi-entity groups including US subsidiaries

Compensation & Benefits

• Competitive day rate
• Flexible scheduling
• Contract duration: 6 months (extension possible)
• Remote (UK-based)