Interim Technical Accountant (Closedown Review)
Redditch fully remote
Contract to end of year
£3669.86 per day PAYE or £461.77 per day limited via umbrella company inside IR35
Our client is looking for an experienced Interim Technical Accountant (Closedown Review)
Applicants must be fully qualified CCAB accountants (CIPFA, ACCA, ACA, CIMA or equivalent) and possess a minimum of five years' post-qualification experience.
37 Hours per Week | Fully Remote | Inside IR35
This is one of a number of roles we are currently recruiting for please visit our website for more opportunities.
An experienced Interim Technical Accountant to support a key workstream within the department, focusing on a comprehensive review of the authorities' closedown arrangements and preparation of the Statement of Accounts.
The successful candidate will undertake a fundamental review of the 2025/26 closedown process across both councils, including the Statement of Accounts, notes to the accounts, supporting working papers and source documentation. This role will identify opportunities to strengthen processes, improve audit readiness, enhance governance and ensure adherence to best practice and CIPFA requirements.
Alongside the project work, the successful candidate will also provide support to the Corporate Finance team as required, undertaking duties aligned to a Chief Accountant function.
The review will include consideration of:
Existing revenue closedown processes and procedures
Existing capital closedown processes and procedures
Overall ownership and leadership of the closedown process
Roles, responsibilities and accountability across the finance team
Previous years' performance in delivering final accounts within statutory deadlines
Closedown timetables and allocation of workload
Technical accounting capability and capacity within the team
Closedown team structure, knowledge and experience
Finance system and technical issues impacting accounts production
Quality, sign-off procedures and consistency of working papers
Filing structures and document management arrangements
Maintenance of key control accounts and balance sheet reconciliations throughout the financial year
Capital accounting processes and maintenance of the Fixed Asset Register
Lessons learned from previous closedowns both internally and across the wider local government sector
Issues identified by Internal Audit and External Audit
Findings arising from the independent review of Bromsgrove District Council's 2025/26 unaudited Statement of Accounts
Processes used to extract financial information from the finance system for accounts production
Data quality, system access and availability of information
Spreadsheet controls and master workbook version control
Identification and treatment of prior year adjustments
Hard close procedures and controls over general ledger amendments
Audit trails for journals and late adjustments
Year-end accruals processes
Accounting treatment and coding of grants
Review and clearance of historic commitments
Budget monitoring arrangements, virements, approvals and audit trails
Timely completion of asset valuations and revaluations
Pension accounting arrangements and timeliness of actuarial information
Timely receipt of third-party information required for accounts production
Governance and frequency of closedown meetings
Compliance with the CIPFA Code of Practice
Completion and quality assurance of the CIPFA Disclosure Checklist
Opportunities to streamline and modernise accounts production
Strengthening balance sheet assurance arrangements
Improving preparedness for external audit
Management oversight, review and assurance processes
Extensive Local Government finance experience
Significant year-end closedown experience
Production and review of Statements of Accounts
Strong technical accounting knowledge within a local authority environment
Experience of capital accounting, fixed assets and balance sheet management
Experience working with external auditors and resolving audit queries
Strong understanding of the CIPFA Code of Practice and local authority accounting requirements
Ability to review existing processes, identify improvements and implement best practice
Experience operating at, or supporting, Chief Accountant level
This assignment would suit experienced Interim Chief Accountants, Technical Accountants, Financial Reporting Managers, Corporate Finance Managers or other senior local government finance professionals with a strong background in financial reporting, closedown and audit.
PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE FOR MORE OPPORTUNITIES colbernlimited co uk
The first part of our recruitment process is to send your CV. Should you be short listed Colbern Limited will contact you within 5 days or we may contact you about other job opportunities. Colbern Limited along with our clients are an equal opportunities employer