Assistant College Accountant

Position

The Assistant College Accountant will report to the College Accountant, perform financial line functions and work as part of a small Finance Bursary team. The post holder will deputise for the College Accountant in his absence.

Duties

Deputising for the College Accountant in his absence as a point of contact for Finance Bursary colleagues and senior management.

Assisting in the preparation of Merton College Charity SORP financial statements to audit standard, including;

• Opening trial balance reconciliation and journals
• Calculation of income and expenditure prepayments and accruals
• Maintaining the fixed asset register and calculating depreciation charges and profits/losses on disposal
• Reviewing income, expenditure and balance sheet nominal ledger transactions and correcting miss postings
• Liaising with staff and external stock-taker to calculate year-end value of wine, food and cleaning stock
• Entering and posting journals
• Checking that balance sheet nominal balances reconcile with backing schedules, investigate differences and correct where required.
• Maintain schedules of College security investments and review Estates Bursar’s year-end land and property valuations.
• Calculating the USS and OSPS deficit reduction pension provisions using University of Oxford spreadsheet modellers and College assumptions of discount rates, salary increases, contributions paid, etc.
• Maintaining backing schedules for notes in the financial statements including staff costs, grants and awards, movements on endowment and restricted funds of the College, trustees’ remuneration and pension schemes.
• Analysing various income and expenditure nominal balances requiring further disclosure in the financial statements.
• Creating the new year-end SORP financial statements spreadsheet, entering trial balance figures and amending the spreadsheet for new nominal balances, changes in legislation or disclosure requirements.
• Amending the SORP financial statements spreadsheet where required and finalise for distribution to the Finance Committee and Governing Body.

Preparation of limited company trading subsidiary financial statements for senior management and audit review, including stock valuations and College management cost re-charges.

Review and amend trading subsidiary financial statements for changes in accounting standards and legislation.

Trading subsidiary half year stock reconciliation.

Preparation of regular management reports using the accounting package reporting tool to download data into an Excel spreadsheet for review and amendment. Analysis and explanation of major variances for senior management review.

Responsible for the preparation of the College’s annual income, expenditure and capital expenditure budgets for senior management review, including;

• Meeting with budget holders to discuss the information and analysis required to complete budgets for their areas of responsibility.
• Providing spreadsheet templates for senior management to complete
• Distributing transaction reports generated from the accounting system
• Creating and distributing departmental payroll schedules for budget holders.
• Create the budget spreadsheet template to enter or link budget holder figures
• Review draft budgets with the Finance Bursar and College Accountant
• Amend budget where required and finalise for distribution to the Finance Committee and Governing Body.

Check quarterly partial exemption VAT return calculations and correct where necessary.

VAT partial exemption annual adjustment and Capital Goods Scheme calculations for review.

Preparation of statutory returns including IRS Form 990, Business Surveys and Business Register & Employment Survey.

Maintain accurate and up-to-date records of the College’s investments.

Private equity bank account transaction journal entries into accounting system and reconciliation to backing spreadsheet and investment manager’s statements.

Restricted fund bank account transaction journal entries into accounting system and reconciliation to backing spreadsheet and bank statements.

Endowment and restricted fund in-year reconciliations to endowment and restricted assets. Calculation of amounts to be invested and money to be transferred between unrestricted and restricted bank accounts.

University of Oxford Collegiate Funding Formula (CFF) netting-off calculations, journal posting and invoice nominal coding.

For more detailed information, please visit our dedicated recruitment website: microsites.hays.co.uk/jobs/merton-college