The Corporate Controller will assume the responsibility and accountability for the integrity of the relevant corporate balances that form the books and records at a General Ledger (GL) account split by profit centre or cost centre level.
The Corporate Controller role also includes significant control activities required to support that reporting. This includes performing Balance Sheet and PnL integrity checks, acting as a gatekeeper for how activities are captured in SAP ERP.
The candidate will be responsible for ensuring that all accounts are reconciled and substantiated, informing end users of legal entity data that all control and substantiation processes have been completed, and performing intra-month checks to ensure that activities are correctly captured in the underlying books and records of each legal entity.
Success within the role will be dependent upon the development of mutually beneficial relationships with other divisions within both Finance and the wider organisation, as well as across global reporting locations.
KEY DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES
- For set entities, responsible for month-end accounting and control procedures in line with month-end close processes and the Financial Control Framework.
- Identify, design, and implement improvements to key SAP ERP processes, e.g., allocations, accruals & reversal, Fixed Assets, Intangibles IFRS 16, intercompany reconciliations, and pre-payments.
- Work closely with the technical accounting team to ensure advice given is seen through to physical implementation, both for existing business activity as well as new structures taken on.
- Support the standardisation and improvement of month-end activities for all legal entities to ensure consistency of processes and controls.
- Lead efficiency projects to drive reduction in close timeline across the month-end process.
- Supporting other Finance teams by acting as the key interface between the Controlling team and reporting functions. Confirming that all responsible financial data is accurate, reconciled, and complete in SAP ERP. Additionally, provide evidence that all relevant data is underpinned by rigorous governance processes and controls.
- Ownership of sign off for relevant Profit and Loss and Balance sheet accounts using the GL Sign off tool.
- Review working papers and results of more junior team members within the wider Trade Accounting function.
- Support auditors as part of annual audit.
EDUCATION/ QUALIFICATIONS
- Qualified Accountant, with 5 years or more experience post qualification
Skills & Competencies
- Strong understanding of IFRS
- Proactive and decisive mindset, with experience working to tight close timescales.
- Highly motivated and proactive individual and team player.
- Diligent and dependable, approaching work with an attention to detail.
- Ability to work on own initiative as well as being an effective member of a team.
- Solid understanding of business processes and controls, ability to analyse and identify improvements.
- Strong desire to learn and develop professionally and take a willingness to share expertise and develop others.
- Strong project management skills.
- Strong communication skills.
- Highly effective written and verbal communication skills.
- Fluent in English.
Experience
- Qualified Accountant with at least 5 years' experience post qualification
- Exposure to the accounting and/or controlling function in a large or medium sized multinational business, either in practice or industry.
- Experience of a commodities or trading business would be an advantage.
- Experience of working in an international organisation with an overseas parent company would be an advantage.
- Strong understanding of IFRS accounting and reporting and core financial accounting control principles.
- Previous experience of reviewing working papers of more junior team members of a team.
- Strong MS Excel experience; explicitly the use and manipulation of pivot tables on often large amounts of transactional level data.