Financial accounting manager

Band 8a · Financial accountant · 578 job evaluation points

Financial accounting managers run financial accounting, treasury, and tax for the organisation, and make sure controls and audit actions are in place.

Responsibilities

Manage the financial accounting, treasury, and tax functions.
Own the organisation's accounting policies and their application to new types of spending, such as cloud and data services.
Manage bank accounts, banking arrangements, and the cash flow forecast.
Manage tax compliance and tax risk, including on technology contracts and shared services.
Lead the response to internal and external audit findings on financial accounting and controls.
Line manage financial accountants and treasury staff.

Skills

Skill	Expected level	What this level means
Financial reporting and statutory accountsThis reference	Expert (4)	You can: own the organisation's annual report and accounts and the accounting policies behind them advise the board and audit committee on significant judgements and new standards lead the response to qualified audit opinions or material misstatements assure that reporting meets public accountability rules
Treasury and cash managementThis reference	Practitioner (3)	You can: manage the organisation's cash flow forecast and drawdown of funding manage bank accounts, payment methods, and banking controls plan cash for large or irregular payments, such as multi-year software licences
Financial controls and auditThis reference	Practitioner (3)	You can: test and improve the controls for a financial process manage audit requests for an area and agree actions on findings write and update financial procedures work with counter-fraud specialists to reduce fraud risk
TaxThis reference	Practitioner (3)	You can: manage the organisation's tax returns and tax reconciliations advise on the tax treatment of contracts, such as software licences, cloud services, and shared services maximise tax recovery within the rules
Public sector financeThis reference	Practitioner (3)	You can: advise managers on funding rules, including ring-fenced and time-limited funding manage capital and revenue limits for a programme or directorate prepare returns and evidence for funders and spending controls
Finance systemsThis reference	Practitioner (3)	You can: administer the finance or payroll system, including access, workflows, and reporting design reports and dashboards for budget holders test system changes and upgrades automate repetitive finance tasks
Financial managementUK GDaD PCF	Practitioner (3)	You can: negotiate, influence or set budgets in complex environments write or input into business cases and can communicate business-value propositions
People managementThis reference	Practitioner (3)	You can: line manage a team, setting objectives and running appraisals support wellbeing and manage attendance, performance, and conduct plan the team's development and succession
Corporate governance and complianceThis reference	Practitioner (3)	You can: run the governance cycle for boards and committees review policies and advise on compliance

Typical qualifications and experience

A recognised accountancy qualification, with extensive post-qualification experience.

Band 8a outline

Knowledge: Expert knowledge of a discipline and its management.
Autonomy: Interprets organisational policy for a service; sets the team's direction.
Scope: A service area or a discipline across the organisation.
Leadership: Manages a team, or leads a discipline without line management.
Accountability: A service area, its staff, and its budget.

Job evaluation (illustrative)

Factor	Level	Level summary	Points
Communication and relationship skills	5	Gives highly complex or contentious information needing developed persuasion and negotiation, presents to large groups, or communicates where there are significant barriers to acceptance.	45
Knowledge, training, and experience	7	Highly developed specialist knowledge across the range of the specialism (master's level or equivalent).	196
Analytical and judgemental skills	5	Judgements on highly complex facts or situations needing analysis, interpretation, and comparison of options.	60
Planning and organisational skills	4	Plans a broad range of complex activities or strategies, adjusting them as needed.	42
Physical skills	2	Skills gained through practice, such as standard keyboard use or driving.	15
Responsibility for patient and client care	1	Helps patients, clients, or relatives during incidental contact.	4
Responsibility for policy and service development	4	Implements policy and develops policy or services for a service or several areas.	32
Responsibility for financial and physical resources	5	Holds or sets budgets, or manages assets, for several services.	45
Responsibility for people	3	Manages a group of staff day to day, teaches core or specialist training, or gives core HR advice.	21
Responsibility for information resources	5	Designs and develops major information systems, or runs information systems for several services as the main duty.	34
Responsibility for research and development	2	Regularly does research, development, trials, or equipment and system testing as part of the job.	12
Freedom to act	5	Works within general policies, and in most cases decides how to interpret them.	45
Physical effort	1	Sitting, standing, and walking, with little physical effort.	3
Mental effort	3	Frequent concentration on unpredictable work, or occasional prolonged concentration.	12
Emotional effort	1	Rare exposure, or occasional indirect exposure, to distressing circumstances.	5
Working conditions	2	Occasional unpleasant conditions, frequent travel or outdoor work, or near-continuous screen use on most days.	7
Total (Band 8a: 540 to 584)			578

Financial resources is level 5 because the job manages the organisation's banking, cash, and assets across all services.