Closedown Accountant

Key responsibilities * Deliver allocated elements of the year-end closedown timetable. * Prepare accounting entries, reconciliations and supporting working papers. * Produce or review relevant notes and disclosures for the Statement of Accounts. * Complete control-account and balance-sheet reconciliations. * Investigate and resolve historic balances, miscoding and unreconciled items. * Review accruals, provisions, reserves and other year-end adjustments. * Support capital, grant, Collection Fund, pensions or group-accounting workstreams where relevant. * Ensure working papers provide a clear audit trail and meet external-audit requirements. * Liaise with service accountants and budget holders to obtain outstanding information. * Respond to external-audit queries and provide supporting evidence. * Track outstanding actions, risks and dependencies against the closedown timetable. * Apply the CIPFA Code and relevant local-authority accounting requirements. * Recommend improvements to closedown processes, controls and documentation. Essential experience * Recent hands-on closedown experience within a local authority. * Experience preparing Statement of Accounts working papers and disclosures. * Strong understanding of the CIPFA Code and local-government accounting. * Experience completing complex balance-sheet and control-account reconciliations. * A successful record of responding to external-audit queries. * Strong Excel, ledger-analysis and problem-solving skills. * Ability to work accurately under demanding statutory deadlines. Desirable experience * CCAB or CIMA qualification, or substantial specialist closedown experience. * Experience supporting delayed or challenging local-authority audits. * Knowledge of capital accounting, Collection Fund, pensions, leases or group accounts. * Experience with the authority’s finance system and closedown software. * Availability to increase commitment around key reporting deadlines if required