Job Title
Finance Cluster Controller
Job Description Summary
Job Description
Primary purpose of the job:
The role is responsible for:
- Leading all aspects of Finance Controllership for legal entities and branches registered in BeNeLux and CEE
- Ensuring local finance compliance requirements and Global and Regional policies and processes including revenue recognition are met
- Providing support to EMEA Controllership on intercompany and branch issues
- Jointly owning the commercial relationship with local compliance providers
- Establishing appropriate governance structures over compliance, reporting, reconciliations, controls and risk
- Driving continuous value through efficient legal entity structures, processes, use of third parties and by optimising the outsourced finance operating model
- Lead, develop and manage staff
- Countries within scope include Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Poland, Czech Rep, Slovakia and Hungary
Other professional qualifications required for filling the position:
- ACA, ACCA, CIMA, CPA or local equivalent
Foreign language skills required for filling the position:
- Fluent in English, both oral and written
- Knowledge of any other European language is an advantage
Required skills for filling the position:
- Experience in managing month end close process within a BPO / Shared service model for multiple EMEA Countries
- Experience leading local statutory audits and statutory accounts process across multiple EMEA countries – audit background and SOX control experience preferred
- Financial management experience with a proven ability to translate financial data into commercial language
- knowledge of major ERP systems and HFM, Workday strongly preferred and Essbase also useful
- Effective communication skills across a range of seniority levels and countries to Finance & non-Finance staff professional services business
- Post accounting qualification experience >10y.
- >10y post qualification Controllership leadership experience across multiple countries and within a US listed SOX control environment
- Experience of project & contract accounting
- Experience leading financial compliance and change in US GAAP & local GAAP environments and IFRS strongly preferred
- Demonstrable flexibility to meet competing and evolving business needs and drive for results
- Demonstrate Personal and Team leadership of remotely located Teams
- Demonstrate building and maintaining trusting relationships
- Critical thinker & problem solver
- Resilient change driver and adopter
- Ability to develop strong stakeholder relationships in a complex environment
- Fluent in both written and spoken English and preferably one other relevant language
Responsibilities:
Close & Reporting
- Responsible for accurate, timely, monthly closing of the books (in US GAAP) all in accordance with Global & EMEA deadlines, policies and compliance requirements,
- Review and approve AR invoice requests, unbilled revenue accruals, credit notes, AP invoices and journals in accordance with the delegation of authority (DOA) - checking completeness, accuracy and compliance
- Monitor and minimise late journals, unadjusted items reported and off system ETB adjustments
- Responsible for the timely production, management review, variance explanations, query resolution and sign-off of reporting and disclosure requirements (internal, external, statutory, treasury and group) in accordance with polices & timetables issued by US/EMEA Controllership and in accordance with all relevant regulations, procedures and controls
- Ensure adequate management review is in place over all aspects of accounting and reporting (eg FX, reconciliations, close, cash forecasts etc) to identify and remediate issues on a timely basis
- Responsible for driving timely investigation & resolution of unusual, outstanding & aged items (eg: reconciliation open items, bank open items, intercompany mismatch, aged accruals, unallocated cash)
- Support requests from senior management
Audits & Statutory Financial Statements
- Responsible for ensuring audited accounts are filed on time and that external audits are planned, efficient and co-ordinated with stakeholders minimising audit costs and over-runs
- Provide details of audit fees for budgeting and accrual purposes and ensure all audit fees are reviewed and have been approved according to internal approvals
- Responsible for ensuring local statutory accounts are prepared, reviewed and filed by the relevant filing deadline and meet relevant reporting requirements.
- Support Internal Audits and implement agreed recommendations
Balance Sheet Control
- Responsible for ensuring adequate governance is in place over the accuracy and integrity of all balance reconciliations and for reporting unadjusted items in accordance with Group/EMEA reporting requirements
- Work with Internal Control and Senior Management to establish reconciliation frequency and thresholds that are risk appropriate and efficient
Treasury:
- Responsible for reviewing weekly cash forecasts and ensuring these reflect the latest known input from Controllership
- Support Global Treasury and the business on treasury related requests (eg bank account changes, FBAR, FX, cash flow reporting, loan & interest settlement, bank guarantees) adopting Corporate providers and processes
- Responsible for identifying working capital improvement opportunities and supporting improvements
- Responsible for the remediation of entity liquidity issues
Compliance & Control
- Responsible for ensuring adequate financial control reviews are evidenced
- Responsible for ensuring adequate governance is in place to identify, prioritise and remediate risk in the countries and input to the quarterly EMEA Controllership risk review
- Support the communication, training and implementation of Global and EMEA Finance Policies and procedures and ensure financial records are compliant
- Support the timely and accurate completion and submission by others of the SOX 302 sub-certifications
- Support the accurate, efficient coding by others to minimize reporting and reconciliation issues and corrections (AP, AR, journals, payroll, manual payments)
Revenue Recognition & Debtors
- Responsible for ensuring revenue recognition and CECL policies are understood and correctly applied within Responsible for reviewing bad debt provisions ensuring they are adequate and in line with policy
- Perform ad hoc contract reviews and provide guidance on the most appropriate financial operational practices to adopt within the contract
- Support working capital optimisation across countries through meaningful metrics and finance operational support for aged debt reduction, achievement of DSO targets, prompt invoicing, cash collection & allocation and resolution of credit balances
Tax & Other returns
- Responsible for ensuring regulatory returns (including CIT, VAT, ECSL, other returns and business surveys) are adequately reviewed and submitted on time whether prepared internally or by service providers
- Responsible for ensuring tax related payments are correctly coded, approved and made on time
- Support transfer pricing studies and external audits by tax authorities
- Collaborate with Tax to ensure intercompany recharges and allocations are appropriate and timely
Intercompany
- Responsible for ensuring the Global intercompany policy and process is deployed efficiently across countries
- Responsible for ensuring intercompany transactions are processed by others on a timely basis ( eg referral fees and recharges)
- Drive timely investigation and reduction of intercompany mismatches supporting the FSC Intercompany team and R2R process owner
Process & Systems
- Support process and system change projects in accordance with prioritised plans
- Actively seek out smarter ways of working and optimise system functionality to minimize manual effort
Legal entities & Ad hoc
- Support all stages of M&A activity including due diligence and post-acquisition integration
- Collaborate with stakeholders to optimize legal entity structures and minimize compliance cost
- Lead the investigation and remediation of negative equity situations
Collaboration with Stakeholders
- Support senior management, Global & EMEA Controllership and Process Owners in the development and implementation of policies, procedures, controls and close calendars
- Responsible for timely resolution of escalated controllership issues and queries raised by stakeholders (eg the Business, US/EMEA Controllership, FSC teams and other third-party service providers)
- Drive optimization of the Accenture FSC model taking steps to make the FSC staff feel part of ‘one’ Finance team
- Sign off the scope of works of key compliance service provider contracts and drive cost effective compliance support
