Financial Accounting:Ensuring the proper authorisation of company expenditure in line with agreed internal policy.Verifying the correct classification of income and expenditure in line with recognised accounting standards.Agreeing and authorising payment runs and one-off payments.Credit control.Maintaining asset registers.Month-end reports and reconciliations.Reviewing outsourced payroll calculations and reports.Preparing and reviewing VAT submissions.Consulting with the external accountant in the preparation of year-end financial statements.Management Accounting:Managing working capital to ensure sufficient cashflow for the smooth running of operations and to meet company objectives.Compiling regular management accounts and financial information to aid strategic decision making.Costing and analysis of company operations to assess profitability across departments.Improving the quality of management accounting information by: - allocating direct costs more accurately to specific operations - allocating indirect overheads more appropriately across activities - improving the content, presentation, and formatting of reportsPresenting management accounts and financial information at company Board meetings.Senior Management:Direct line management of finance staff and indirect supervision of other staff as part of the Senior Management Team.Negotiating utility and telecommunications contracts for the company with external suppliers and agents.Agreeing the sale and purchase of major assets within the Senior Management Team.Developing, reviewing, and implementing financial policies and procedures.Upgrading systems, where practical and appropriate, to improve efficiency.Consulting with external IT provider to resolve computer issues and ensure the prompt renewal of software licences.Investigating suspected staff theft and taking part in various staff disciplinary, welfare and investigatory meetings with other members of the senior team.

The charity operates a community centre with an annual turnover of around £85k and employs 8 staff. I joined the charity as a Trustee after moving to St Neots from London, as a way of making new friends in the local area. Based on my finance experience I was asked to become Treasurer and a member of the Operations Team - a sub-committee with delegated responsibility for making decisions on day-to-day issues from staff. At the start of the covid-19 pandemic I prepared cash flow forecasts for best-case and worst-case scenarios to assist in the effective management of charity reserves. I oversee payroll and managed staff furlough arrangements, including applying for monthly grants under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. I have also been able to assist in researching and making applications for other government support. I assisted in the re-opening of the centre, working with the General Manager on a covid-19 risk assessment, updating procedures, and putting measures in place to get the building ready to re-open. In a more practical sense I also act as one of the lead volunteers to run the "Lazy Breakfast" cafe on Saturday mornings.

A short-term contract, assisting a fast paced, international organisation to transition to new accounting software and training staff worldwide on how to use it. Day-to-day responsibilities also involved managing the Accounts Payable function, relating to high volume international payments in numerous currencies through multiple bank accounts; reconciling supplier statements, staff expenses, foreign currency cash and bank accounts; month-end journals for accruals and prepayments to ensure the accuracy of project budgets; liaising with country offices, banks and Western Union to resolve international payment problems (including countries with imposed economic sanctions).Introduced a system to improve new supplier vetting and account verification to speed up the processing of international payments and ensure accuracy.

Following the death of my father I took the decision to resign from work in order to deal with probate for his estate. This took around 8 months and proved to be a full time job in itself. After this was complete I took some time out to do some travelling and also used the time to study and complete the remaining ACCA professional exams.

An exciting and challenging role with a recruitment consultancy that was expanding throughout europe. The position was a short-term contract, covering maternity leave. As well as processing payroll and expenses for UK employees and authorising online bank payments, I was involved in establishing companies in different EU jurisdictions, including researching legal requirements and reviewing VAT returns for different branches. I also assisted the company accountant to prepare final accounts for group companies, including the translation of foreign currencies and completing control accounts and reconciliations for financial statement balances. Finally, I provided management information on the different branches, updating this to include new european branches as they were formed.

A temporary position to gain up-to-date experience on current accounting practice and software. Use of SAGE 50 to set up new business accounts and nominal codes; sales/purchase ledger functions; completing VAT returns and bank reconciliations; performing month/period end accounting procedures; producing trial balance and correcting errors through journal entries; and preparing year-end accounts and tax returns. Also using advanced Excel skills to analyse financial data (with pivot table and VLOOKUP functions), produce cash flow and budget information, assess variances and KPIs, and to produce charts and reports for decision making and planning.

Setting up, managing and developing a profitable café in central London was a huge achievement, requiring hard work, creative thinking and depths of stamina (while also studying for ACCA exams!). I remained very hands-on throughout, engaging in every aspect of the business. This involved strong multi-tasking, time management and decision-making skills as well as creativity and resilience to promote a brand, expand the customer base and increase revenue streams and profitability. This provided me with all round experience in running a business. I developed a business plan; created and costed the menu; sourced suppliers; developed a legally compliant Food Management system; created promotional materials; designed and implemented financial systems and procedures (as well as cooking, serving customers, doing the accounts, and cleaning!). Achieved a food hygiene rating of 4 on the first environmental health inspection (unusual for a start-up), rising to 5 in the second year, leading to increased sales. As a result of rising rent and rates and increases in the minimum wage the business became less profitable, so I took the decision to sell the commercial lease, making a profit.

Following my degree I worked in different roles within the Social Care sector, working my way up to management level. I supported a diverse range of vulnerable client groups in various settings, aimed at empowering individuals to live independently. This work involved risk assessment of clients, activities and environments; managing a caseload; building and maintaining relationships with clients and professionals; prioritising and responding to crisis issues; working to deadlines; staff recruitment, training, supervision and appraisal; drafting policies and procedures; writing reports; managing, promoting and developing projects; business planning; creating promotional materials; networking; and managing services within budget.A key achievement was improving service delivery at a mental health drop-in service through effective organisation, business planning and people skills. This was achieved by fostering good quality working relationships with individuals at all levels, delivering presentations, and developing information in a range of formats (leaflets, induction packs etc.). This resulted in increased client numbers and better outcomes.(Details of individual employers and dates can be supplied on request)

While studying at University (and after graduation) I undertook self-employed bookkeeping and agency assignments. Some of the work that I carried out during this time includes:- Setting up and maintaining a manual accounting system for a small restaurant, including bank reconciliation and VAT return completion.- Assisting a small shipping company with control accounts and bank reconciliations. - Working with a medium sized courier firm which was struggling with its accounting records due to long-term staff illness.During this time I also completed my own self-employed accounts and self-assessment tax returns.

After leaving college I worked in accounting practice for a number of small firms. This work involved: bookkeeping, payroll, bank reconciliations; control accounts; completing VAT returns; preparing financial statements and comparative analysis; calculating tax liabilities and submitting tax returns; auditing assignments; meeting with clients and liaising with tax authorities. A key achievement during this time was creating a spreadsheet using lookup tables to aid with payroll. This speeded up payroll processing and ended up saving the firm I was working for considerable time and money.(Details of individual employers and dates can be supplied on request)