Commercial Accountant

Commercial Accountant
Salary £54,000

This is a job working for Ongo

Job Summary

The Commercial Accountant plays a key role in driving financial insight, supporting commercial decision making and monitoring and reporting on the financial health of the commercial entities.

 The postholder will be the financial point of contact for the business functions of the commercial business within Ongo’s group of companies, which currently consists of Ongo Roofing Limited, Ongo Heating and Plumbing Limited and Trent Valley Electrical Services Limited.

The postholder will lead on all finance matters including financial reporting and financial control for each entity.

 The role will require the postholder to provide well-informed and considered financial and business advice around strategic decision making to support the organisation in making financially sound choices.

 The Commercial Accountant will lead on identifying process and system improvements and will collaborate with colleagues across Ongo to introduce any enhancements identified.

 The role requires engagement with other areas of the finance function, the business at all levels and external partners as required on such matters to provide a first-class service to the Ongo group.

Benefits of working with Ongo include:

• 30 days paid holiday plus bank holidays and your birthday off
• Exceptional leave
• 15 hours per year paid volunteering
• Annual pay review
• Mileage reimbursement at 45p per mile
• Free parking (pass provided)
• “No sick days” voucher
• 9.5% pension contribution (Aviva)
• 3x salary life assurance policy
• Enhanced maternity/paternity pay
• Simply Health package (including Pro-counselling for family members)
• Housing Perks
• Agile working
• Home working equipment provided
• Local gym discounts
• Discounts at Costa and Starbucks (town centre)
• Car lease scheme

Main Responsibilities

Commercial insight and decision making

• Through regular contact, and site visits where necessary, develop a strong working relationship with relevant stakeholders within each entity
• Partner with relevant stakeholders to gain a full understanding of how the component parts of each entity operate in order that accurate financial advice and support can be offered to all
• To familiarise yourself with the commercial five-year business plans and support the commercial managers to deliver against this plan.
• To effectively communicate financial information in a way that is concise and comprehensible that allows for better decision making
• To provide accurate and informative financial information to enable strategic decisions to be taken
• To offer guidance and business acumen to assist in decision making
• To review financial information, offer an appropriate interpretation and provide critical analysis
• To recognise where further analysis is required and produce the necessary data and commentary to enable business decisions to be taken
• To ensure the commercial staff feel supported and challenged on financial matters

 Process improvements

• To identify any areas where systems or process could be improved
• To strengthen the effectiveness of existing systems, improve quality and consistency of outputs, introduce efficiencies, obtain best value and to reduce unnecessary workload
• To work with the commercial managers to maximise the amount of relevant and accurate financial information that can be produced from the software packages in operation
• To improve the information provided to colleagues, reduce complexity and ensure processes, information and reports are understood by all stakeholders
• Support continuous improvement initiatives across finance and operations

Management accounting

• To gain a full understanding of the drivers of income and expenditure to ensure actual results, year-end forecasts and future years’ budgets are prepared accurately.
• Produce, with the support of a Management Accountant, within ten working days of each month end, accurate monthly management accounts. To include:
• A flash set of results within five working days of the month end
• Profit and loss accounts, complete with supporting project reports, and balance sheets, including comparing the actual results to budget and forecast and reporting on the same
• Review inter-group trading and ensure the management accounts reflect an accurate position. Liaise with other members of the finance team to ensure inter-group balances and transactions agree across the group.
• Monthly statements of cash movements, including comparison with expectations
• Meaningful commentary with variance analysis for all the above through liaison with key stakeholders to go forward to the Executive Leadership Team and board.
• Critically evaluate and provide key data against the full suite of agreed KPIs.
• Hold monthly meetings with the commercial managers to discuss the value of work done, costs incurred and resultant profitability on contracts, to include work-in progress. Assess project results and compare with expectations, analysing and commenting on variances and making recommendations as appropriate. Produce the necessary analysis to ensure profits are being maximised
• Maintain knowledge of current contracts and tenders and their expected outcomes
• Be involved in the preparation of any quotations for new contracts, including review of pricing models. To flex budgets and forecasts for potential new projects and/or amendments to existing works
• To provide training and guidance to non-finance colleagues to ensure they are aware of and are supported to perform the financial requirements of their roles

 Budgeting and forecasting:

• To produce, with the support of the Management Accountant, monthly reforecasts and annual budgets. Provide insight to budget owners of their financial performance to date and consult with them to construct the forecast for the remainder of the current year and the budget for the next two financial years
• To produce a schedule in the management accounts pack that details the movement in year-end forecasts from the previous month, and detail the impact on future budgets
• Work with the operation teams to challenge assumptions and improve forecast accuracy and improved business decisions
• To produce cash flow forecasts for the current and following year. To monitor actual cash movements against these forecasts and report on the same
• To fully utilise Ongo’s forecasting and budgeting software
• To model options on budgets and forecasts, including sensitivity analysis, and provide constructive advice to the business
• Work alongside the business to produce 5-year business plans, including scenario modelling and sensitivity analysis

 Year end

• To assist the Financial Accountant in the preparation of the annual statutory accounts by supporting the Management Accountant to complete a year end reporting pack for your pre-submission approval. To provide any information requested by the Financial Accountant
• To deal with requests for information from our external auditors as and when required

 Financial control:

• Ensure tasks are completed effectively, using the minimum amount of manual processing to achieve the result required by the business
• Support the team in educating and helping budget owners acquire knowledge and skills to understand financial processes, budgets and deliverables. Reinforce budget ownership and support their understanding of actual and forecast commitments and consequential impact on decision making.
• Support the Accounts Receivable team with managing the debtor position
• Maintain awareness of Ongo’s finance and other relevant policies and support with the compliance thereof

 Progression planning

• To be part of the team of senior finance staff that contributes to the mentoring, developing and continued improvement of other members of the finance team
• To shadow the Finance Business Partners to understand the needs and requirements of other divisions within the Ongo group of companies separate to your principal division to provide cover and assistance as and when required
• To consider your own development and identify any opportunities for self-improvement

 Delivery of objectives:

To align yourself with, and deliver towards, the following:

• The Ongo Corporate Plan
• The business objectives of the Head of Finance
• Your own individual, and agreed, annual PDR

 Other

• Any other duties commensurate with the role’s level of responsibility and/or as reasonably directed or requested by the Finance Business Partner (Group), Financial Controller, Head of Finance or other senior or executive manager

• To implement an ethos and culture of continuous improvement and challenge within the roles remit
• Day-to-day decision-making regarding management of own workload to ensure all demands are met and any conflicting priorities are appropriately controlled and managed
• Required to make rational and objective judgements, decisions and recommendations in challenging situations and whilst under pressure
• Required to make rational and justified decisions concerning the financial position of the organisation
• Decisions made must ensure that the Group does not suffer any adverse financial or reputational damage

Skills, competence, experience required

• Qualified accountant or exceptional qualified by experience, with a high level of understanding of the responsibilities fundamental to the role
• A minimum of two years’ experience of working within a finance department in the construction sector, including involvement in producing and interpreting financial information and providing advice on commercial decisions
• Demonstrable experience on dealing with medium to long-term contracts, work-in-progress, reporting on cost-plus contracts, and gross profit analysis
• Experience of identifying and introducing process and system improvements
• Ability to manage stakeholders in specialist areas
• Ability to work independently but also cooperatively, without close supervision.
• Good interpersonal and communication skills, with ability to communicate effectively with stakeholders at a variety of levels, orally and in writing
• Ability to prioritise own work, and to work accurately under pressure to meet conflicting deadlines
• Be able to relate duties and deliverables of the role to a wider business context
• Highly IT literate, specifically in relation to finance systems and their efficient use and development. Confident in the use of Excel and other MS tools

We want our organisation to reflect the communities we serve, and we actively encourage applications from candidates of all backgrounds, particularly those from groups currently under‑represented in our workforce.

 As a Disability Confident Employer, we are committed to creating an inclusive and accessible recruitment process. This means we actively encourage disabled candidates to apply, we work to remove barriers within our recruitment practices, and we guarantee to consider applicants with a disability who meet the essential criteria for the role.

 If you need any adjustments at any stage of the recruitment process, please let us know. We are happy to support you to ensure you can perform at your best.