Accountant

Overview

Are you an experienced finance professional looking to make a real impact in a large, complex organisation? We’re looking for a motivated and skilled Accountant to join our Finance team and play a vital role in supporting strong financial management, improving processes, and delivering high-quality financial services across the council.

This is an opportunity to bring your expertise to a forward-thinking environment where collaboration, innovation, and continuous improvement are at the heart of everything we do.

About us

Buckinghamshire Council is a relatively new organisation that combines the strengths and expertise of the previous five councils in the county to create positive change for local people, communities, and businesses. We are firmly focused on the future and have made a clear commitment to serve residents better and to provide stronger representation for Buckinghamshire, both locally and nationally. 

About the role

As an Accountant, you’ll provide specialist financial support that strengthens our Financial Control Framework and helps services across the council deliver value for money. You’ll work collaboratively following a Finance Business Partnering model, supporting a wide variety of stakeholders and helping them make confident, informed financial decisions.

This role is part of the Financial Planning & Capital team, supporting the Council’s £655m Capital Programme, and there will be opportunities for rotation around other teams.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Delivering high-quality management accounting and financial control services
• Supporting budget management activities, including risk-based analysis and reporting
• Managing control/suspense accounts, reconciliations, journals, virements, and establishment control
• Overseeing grant reconciliations, claims, trust funds, and partnership accounts
• Ensuring compliance with financial instructions, governance, and delegation frameworks
• Producing statutory returns and supporting the year-end accounts process
• Leading or contributing to service-wide improvement projects
• Enhancing systems and processes, particularly within SAP Finance and other business systems
• Providing clear, professional advice to Heads of Service and Budget Managers
• Training and mentoring colleagues and budget holders to build financial capability across the organisation

This role offers significant scope to influence better ways of working, drive efficiencies, and support a culture of accountability and continuous improvement.

Any-Desk:

As an ‘any-desk’ worker, you’ll need to be connected to our network to access digital folders and resources, but this can either be from home or an office location when required. You will be required to work from the office a couple of times a week, depending on your role and team requirements.

About you

To succeed in this role, you’ll bring strong technical expertise, excellent communication skills, and a proactive mindset. You’ll be comfortable navigating complex financial environments and confident in providing robust advice to senior stakeholders.

We’re looking for someone who has:

• Significant experience in financial reporting and accounting within a large, complex organisation
• Strong knowledge of financial policies, legislation, external funding, grants, and statutory returns
• Experience supporting the development of policies and procedures
• Understanding of local government finance and wider sector influences
• Excellent planning, organisational, and interpersonal skills
• Proven experience of managing budgets and financial control processes
• Experience managing or contributing to impactful projects
• Strong ICT skills including Excel and specialist finance systems (such as SAP)
• Degree-level education or equivalent
• AAT fully qualified with significant relevant experience or CCAB qualified/part-qualified

Please refer to the job summary attached for full details about the role.

Other information

For more information about the role please contact David Harvey, Senior Management Accountant at [email protected]

This post is covered by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore applicants are required to declare:

• All unspent cautions and/or unspent convictions

For further information on how long it takes for cautions and convictions cautions to become spent, please refer to our guide on the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (updated 2023) | Nacro

We understand that candidates may use AI tools to assist with their applications. While we welcome innovation, we expect all submissions to reflect your own experience, skills, and achievements accurately. Please ensure your application is truthful and demonstrates your personal capabilities, as this will be assessed during the selection process.

We reserve the right to close the vacancy once we have received sufficient applications, so please be advised to submit your application as early as possible.

Our values and culture

We have a set of values, which our employees have chosen, that represent what we are – Proud, Ambitious, Collaborative and Trustworthy.

By joining Buckinghamshire Council, you can expect:

• a fair and inclusive culture
• the chance to really make a difference to those around you
• health and well-being initiatives including an Employee Assistance Programme, Mental Health First Aiders and mindfulness workshops
• a unified voice through our Employee Representative Group
• ongoing support, and the opportunity to develop and progress in your career with us
• opportunities to take part in fun activities such as fundraising and social events

At Buckinghamshire Council, we know that our biggest strength comes from the people that work for us, and that’s why we’re working hard to ensure we continue to be an accessible and inclusive organisation.

From dedicated staff networks overseen by our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Steering Group, to proudly standing as a Disability Confident employer, it’s important to us that all our colleagues feel engaged, listened to, and valued. Our offer of flexible working empowers a productive and happy workforce and allows employees to combine work with other responsibilities and commitments.

We believe our workforce should reflect the diverse communities we service in Buckinghamshire, and are looking for like-minded individuals to join us in promoting equality, fairness, and inclusion for everyone.

About the Business Unit

Resources cover a wide range of specialisms, including Human Resources, Finance, ICT and Business Operations. Our main focus is supporting the other directorates to provide the best possible service to our residents. To do that, we have to make sure we have the right people in the right roles across the organisation. From our finance teams, working strategically to ensure the best value from public money; to HR keeping our employees healthy and happy, each service is vital in making sure Buckinghamshire Council has what it needs to run effectively and efficiently.

As well as providing high quality services to other areas of the Council, you could also be helping us build on the revenue which comes from our external clients. If you are ambitious, customer-focussed and bursting with new ideas, we want to hear from you.

We recognise and reward you

Hard work and success deserves recognition. That’s why we pride ourselves on the benefits we give our people. We actively encourage a good work-life balance and promote flexible and agile working arrangements. We provide discounts on various Cafés, restaurants, shops and auto enrolment onto our generous Pension Scheme. In addition to the opportunity to gain membership to Costco, we have discounted gym memberships, travel discounts with Arriva and much more.

https://jobs.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/working-buckinghamshire-council/