Financial Accountant

  • Panoramic Associates
  • Chelmsford, Essex
  • Feb 27, 2026
Full time Accounting

Job Description

Financial Accountant (Public Sector)


Salary: 65,000 - 69,000

An excellent opportunity has arisen for a Financial Accountant to join a high-performing public sector finance team within a Corporate Finance / Financial Accounting function. This is a broad, technical role with exposure across statutory accounts, treasury, VAT, fixed assets and capital accounting, supporting strong governance and high-quality financial reporting.



Key responsibilities (5 bullets)

  • Support and help lead the annual closedown and production of the Statement of Accounts, including liaison with external audit
  • Manage fixed asset accounting and maintain the asset register, ensuring accurate valuation and robust controls
  • Deliver/support Treasury Management activity (cashflow, borrowing/investments, leasing) and contribute to strategy development
  • Provide a high-quality VAT advisory service, including returns, partial exemption calculations and HMRC liaison
  • Produce clear financial reports, analysis and briefings for senior stakeholders, and drive continuous improvement to processes/controls


Person Specification

Essential

  • Qualified accountant (CIPFA / ACCA / ACA / CIMA or equivalent) or demonstrably equivalent experience in a technical finance role
  • Strong knowledge of public sector/local government finance and statutory reporting requirements (or highly transferable experience in a similarly regulated environment)
  • Proven experience contributing to year-end accounts/closedown and working with auditors
  • Experience in at least two of the following: fixed assets, capital accounting, treasury management, VAT
  • Strong analytical capability with excellent Excel/financial systems skills; able to interpret large datasets and explain outputs clearly
  • Confident communicator with experience producing written reports for different audiences and advising senior stakeholders


Desirable

  • Direct experience preparing/monitoring capital programmes and related accounting entries
  • Knowledge of IFRS/CIPFA Code environment and local government returns (where applicable)
  • Experience supporting or supervising staff / coordinating workloads in a small finance team
  • Evidence of process improvement, control enhancement, or finance transformation activity


.