Commercial Accountant

This role will report into the two Commercial Controllers and will be a key part of the Commercial Finance team. You will have a close working relationship with your client leads and with the other Commercial Accountants. You will be responsible for driving client margin improvement and leading change and best practice in relation to finance in your client teams.

You will be part of a dynamic and relatively new team which strives to ensure best commercial practice is at the heart of all agency business transactions. The Commercial Finance team is responsible for internal client reporting. They provide timely, accurate and relevant financial information to the management of the centralized agency. This is used to help inform strategic decisions.

There is a team of four Commercial WIP Managers reporting in to the Commercial Accountants. The Commercial WIP Managers are responsible for client billing and job management among other things.

Key Responsibilities:

Partnership with the client lead

o Working closely with the client leads on your designated clients

o Responsible for working with the wider team on revenue reporting and forecasting

o Ensuring timely reporting in adherence with internal timetables

o Working with the client lead on resource reforecasting and ensuring this is recorded in the capacity planning tool, advising on best practice and margin improvement

o Building a margin improvement plan and monitoring progress against it

o Reviewing the KPIs with the client leads and providing narrative on areas as appropriate and making an improvement plan

o Attending internal meetings with Client Group Lead and Commercial Controller

o Reviewing the T&E spend and advising the client lead as appropriate

o Regular catch-up with the client project managers to understand the latest scopes, staffing, capacity planning and job progress on clients

o Main point of contact for client leads on financial best practice and commercial discipline

Client reporting

o Preparing accurate and timely client reconciliations

o Assistance in any client audits

o Understanding the client contract and any usual clauses

o Ensuring the client team (and wider finance team) are aware of any unusual procedures or contractual issues in respect of the client

o Accounting for foreign exchange in line with the client contract and Ogilvy policies

o Booking foreign exchange hedges with WPP treasury where applicable

Managing Staff

o Setting objectives and targets

o Annual appraisals

o Regular catchups

o Providing constructive feedback to ensure job satisfaction and that company objectives are met

Client Revenues

o Ensuring the revenue tracker is kept up to date at all times

o Ensuring the tracker matches exactly to Maconomy reporting each month-end

o Posting any revenue accrual or deferral journals in a timely manner for month-end reporting

o Providing narrative for any income accruals particularly those over 30 days

Job Management

o Ensuring all jobs are opened, maintained and closed efficiently and effectively.

o Working closely with the Commercial WIP Manager to ensure regular timely billing and review of all jobs

o Reviewing third party costs with the Commercial WIP Manager to ensure NWC is managed effectively

o Ensuring best commercial practice in all areas of a job

o Ensuring more efficient use of Maconomy in job management

o Tracking jobs regularly and highlighting areas of over service

o Ensuring rate cards and estimate are up-to-date and accurate

o Ensuring best practice in relation to foreign exchange hedging

NWC Management

o Ensuring best commercial practice is in place in respect of Accrued Revenue, WIP and Debtors

o Chasing up debtors directly with the client where necessary

o Liaison with Finance Plus as appropriate

o Training the finance and non-finance teams in respect of best commercial practice

Client Profitability

o Tracking jobs and proactively challenging client teams on overruns

o Reviewing all SOWs and push back where necessary

o Regular review of rate cards and standard practice

o Ensuring efficient planning of staff at appropriate levels

o Preparing and analyzing reports for the Commercial Controllers and the client teams in respect of client profitability, over servicing, recoverability

Financial Reporting

o Purchase Management - ensuring client teams are aware that all sign up to our T&C’s prior to engagement

o Liaise with Finance Assistants on Timesheet management

o Reviewing all expenses being posted onto your client jobs and pushing back if necessary

o Ensuring that all queries from the Finance team are responded to with accurate and timely information

Key Skills:

• A commercially focused part qualified or QBE accountant who wants to get involved and drive change in the business
• An individual who is self-motivated and deadline driven with an excellent track record of accuracy
• A combination of excellent attention to detail and the ability to step back and see the bigger picture from a commercial perspective
• Excellent communication skills
• A keen desire to work with client teams to improve margins and improve processes to drive efficiency whilst constantly keeping in mind the commercial impact on the business
• An individual who works well with both finance and non-finance staff, who is approachable, well organized and has a desire to succeed
• An individual who is able to work with a fair degree of independence, and able to interact with and influence the wider business to put commercial best practice at the heart of their business