Accounting Associate, Grant Thornton, Reading / Oxford

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To assist in the provision of a full range of accounting services to clients of the fast growing General Compliance and Outsourcing Services (GCOS) department in Winnersh and Oxford.
GCOS accounting team provides outsourced accounting services to a wide variety of international and UK based clients.

The role of the applicant is to provide accounting support within the GCOS accounting team including preparation of annual statutory financial statements, monthly management accounts and quarterly VAT returns.
Job Description:

Markets

Maintains and grows network of contacts in the firm in order to share relevant knowledge and information.
Proactively identifies clients' needs that can be satisfied from the firm's services and informs the manager.

Clients

Provides a high level of support to more senior colleagues within the team, in the provision of accounting services to clients, specifically including the following:

Preparation of annual statutory financial statements for review for Limited companies and LLPs.
Preparation of annual accounts for sole traders and partnerships for review from client's source documents.
Preparation of monthly management accounts for review by portfolio managers
Preparation of VAT returns, EC sales Lists and Intrastat returns for review
Preparing or checking of general ledger, sales ledger, purchase ledger and cash book postings
Preparing or checking BACS electronic payment files
Preparing or checking of bank reconciliations
Data collection and analysis
Supervision of more junior colleagues
Dealing with queries by phone and email from clients, 3rd parties and external auditors
Help in setting up new clients on accounting system

Is able to deal with day to day queries from clients and consult with managers appropriately demonstrating good judgement.
Develops a good working relationships with client staff with whom you will have most contact.
Adheres to the firm's risk management policies and procedures, consulting with colleagues as necessary.
Notifies of any potential ethical breaches to managers and partners, making suggestions of how to address them.
Identifies issues and brings to attention of manager.

People

Contributes to team and departmental meetings
Maintains an understanding of accounting standards and relevant tax legislation.
Proactive in managing client expectations.
Asks for feedback on own progress and applies it going forward.

Operations and results

Actively monitors budgets and timeframes on assignments, taking responsibility for achievement of these.
Agrees time allotted for each task and provides regular updates to senior colleagues on progress.
Identifies opportunities for charging overruns and collates supporting evidence.
Responsible for compiling content of the accounts files and is aware of expected standard.
Completes work set by and meets time deadlines accordingly.