Christopher Key Email & Phone Number

Coventry, England, Gb

Coventry, Gb

Coventry, Gb

Responsible for the Group Accounting Team whose key responsibilities include several key statutory and regulatory reports including the financial accounts, funder returns and forecasts. Responsible for ensuring that the systems and processes for financial reporting are robust and effective and allow quick and useful analysis so that strategic business decisions can be made. Key responsibilities include:• Managing a number of statutory returns and processes including the financial statements, HESA reports, TRAC returns and HEFCE planning forecasts looking to maximise the returns wherever possible to improve the University’s standing and to improve internal control and understanding over various issues.• Managing the management accounting process and planning process ensuring consistency between departments. Maintaining an accounting framework and systems to allow accurate reporting and enabling different users of financial and non-financial information to extract necessary data.• Managing the Group Accounting Team whose responsibilities include fixed assets, administrative departments management accounting, consolidation reporting and financial reporting. • Creating analytical tools and dashboards to allow quick and effective analysis of business performance and allowing necessary actions to be taken. • Regulatory compliance matters including adherence to accounting standards and practices and ensuring the University maintains good financial control. This includes work on new accounting standards (FRS102) and ensuring that the revised SORP is implemented correctly. • Writing and presenting a number of reports and papers for various committees and communication across the business. This includes a mixture of explaining material in a non-technical manner to non-finance individuals and also being able to go into significant detail for more experienced committees.

Sheffield, South Yorkshire, Gb

Key responsibilities included:• Ensuring the financial integrity of transactions at the University and ensure the robustness of financial data used by stakeholders in the business.• Managing the financial statements process and year end audit for the main University accounts and also several subsidiaries, including planning the whole process and reporting to various committees through the course of the year.• Managing the tax affairs of the University, ensuring compliance with VAT, CT and PAYE issues, ensuring the University’s processes are robust and designing and implementing improvements where necessary.• Directly or indirectly managed and supervised the sales ledger team, purchase ledger team and financial accounts teams, consisting of approximately 40 individuals. Working with the teams to organise and coordinate their work flows to ensure work is performed efficiently and effectively and prioritised as necessary. • Managing the treasury and cash flow operations of the business, dealing with balances of £150m ensuring that returns and risks are managed appropriately. Whilst doing this I managed to generate an additional £750k for the University from strategically placing funds with institutions. • Communication and management of internal and external contacts, including internal and external auditors, key banking relationships both for debt and investments, professional advisors and HMRC.• Involved in a number of cross faculty and directorate projects including a Procurement2Pay project and a new payroll system for the University. These resulted in both efficiencies and cost savings for the University.• Improving internal controls and responding to both internal and external audit recommendations.

Gb