Principal Accountant Financial Planning

Job Description

Principal Accountant (Financial Planning)Uxbridge£625 Per DayI am recruiting for a local authority who is looking for a Principal Accountant to work within the Councils Financial Planning Team and will oversee the accounting and financial support provided for the Collection Fund (Council Tax and Business Rates) aswell as the Councils Housing Benefit subsidy.Job RolePeople ManagementTo be responsible for the development and performance of senior accountants within the Financial Planning team in line with the Councils HR policies.To ensure all team members receive the appropriate level of communication to maintain engagement with the Councils strategic financial priorities.To develop awareness of the budget production process across the Council and in particular across accounting, working with senior colleagues to ensure relevant training and communication.Customer ManagementAs the lead Principal Accountant for budget production, to ensure that Senior Managers in Finance and accountants at all levels are fully informed of all the MTFF and budget production process and understand their responsibilities in the process.To communicate the budget production timetable to all accountants and to work closely with them to ensure they have the capacity to deliver all requirements on time and to support them in the preparation of their group submissions.To support the development of effective external working relationships with other appropriate public and private bodies to ensure the service has the knowledge and expertise to continuously improve its budgeting performance.Operational Service DeliveryTo manage and develop the Councils budget production process and to develop and co-ordinate the annual budget review exercises linked to the development of the Councils MTFF. To be responsible for the production of the Councils annual budget book.To collate and produce the Councils monthly budgeting monitoring report, clearly linking financial information with the impact on residents and service users. And to continue to develop the report and the reporting process in line with the Councils transformationagenda. To maintain the financial model to forecast future General Fund revenue and capital expenditure and funding levels, based on analysis of local government finance settlements and intelligence of all funding announcements. To provide specific advice and guidance to the Financial Planning Manager and Deputy Director Corporate Finance on issues concerning financial strategy, budget monitoring and funding, across all areas of the Council.Service Planning & DevelopmentSupport the development of the Councils Medium Term Financial Forecast and Budget Production timetables in order to comply with local and statutory deadlines, following consultation with the Corporate Director of Finance, CMT, finance SMT and all Heads ofFinance. These timetables will form the basis of the Team Plan for communication and management within the Financial Planning function.Support the development a longer term plan for the development and evolution of the Financial Planning function to cover all new areas for activities and the team capability and capacity necessary to deliver the plan.