Principal Accountant Housing HRA | Bristol City Council

Principal Accountant
Housing HRA

£39,880 - £42,821 per annum

Joining our team, you’ll be our HRA financial expert and manage our Business Plan. You’ll oversee financial reporting and budgeting relating to all aspects of Housing, including investment and development, and rent setting processes. From monitoring political, economic, social and technical contexts and their impact on Housing, to supporting strategic decision-making and contributing to operational plans, you’ll be pivotal to our efficiency and effectiveness.

Managed by: Finance Manager or Business Partner

Responsible for: Senior Accountant

Directorate: Growth and Regeneration x 2

Purpose of the job

The post holder will take a proactive approach in managing and delivering timely financial and management accounting services; including budgeting, medium and long term financial planning, project support, forecasting, financial reporting and control.

Build strong working relationships with key stakeholders across the council and provide directors, heads of service, senior managers and partner organisations with financial information and advice, including identifying opportunities for business improvements and efficiencies.

Review and introduce financial control procedures which aid the identification of risks and in providing financial information, advice and guidance, improve financial management for the council.

Demonstrate your commitment to corporate working by participating in corporate or crosscutting improvement projects and provide financial information, advice and guidance to develop plans that enhance the skills and capabilities of staff, improve individual, team and service performance, identifying and addressing shortfalls quickly.

Key responsibilities

Build excellent professional relationships with key senior stakeholders across the council, external partners and government departments as appropriate. Representing the council at external forum and maintaining those relationships to ensure that required initiatives are financially viable & delivered as effectively as possible.
Interpretation of financial performance for council wide services or activities and provide options to managers to assist them achieve required efficiencies and spend to budget position on an on-going basis.
Providing independent analysis and interpretation of complex and technical financial data, to facilitate support and challenge to both internal and external stakeholders and allow decisions to be made following consideration of financial resource and risks implications.
Maintaining the accuracy of forecasts and, using a good understanding of the business model and financial drivers, to challenge and influence the key stakeholders.
Ensuring compliance with finance and other regulations including CIPFAs code of practice any operational guidance and grant conditions.
Writing and presenting reports on the analysis and interpretation of financial performance and actual or implied changes to legislation for budget holders and senior officers and the public in relation to financial issues and collaborate with external partners and agencies as required.
On an ad-hoc basis to be a member on tender evaluation and grant panels. To identify which bid offers the most economically advantageous proposal based on the criteria specified in the relevant documentation and ensure the financial implications (capital and revenue) are fully understood at the outset.
To undertake appropriate development work as required in response to changing financial regimes, new government legislation and initiatives.
To manage and motivate staff assigned to the post, ensuring supervisory practices are undertaken, learning and development is proactively supported and provide coaching and mentoring as appropriate.

Specific job outcomes / accountabilities

Business support

To provide financial support to lower risks projects related to the respective area of the directorate, develop business cases and options appraisals in support of business objectives, investigate and support mechanisms for greater efficiencies or additional income generation and invest to save.
In accordance with council procedures and delegated level of financial authority, support the development and timely preparation of the key internal and external financial documents for your respective area of the portfolio; quantifying associated costs, benefits, risks and funding solutions and associated sensitivities.
Acquiring and maintaining comprehensive service specific knowledge to support policy development as appropriate, working with service leads reinforcing the need for corporate governance and financial management best practice.

Technical reporting

The preparation of final accounts and the annual statutory accounts in accordance with relevant accounting and statutory requirements and liaising with the councils external auditors.
Undertake financial evaluation of new policies; advising upon and implementing legislation and government circulars including, but not limited to, the government’s business rates regime, accounting requirements in relation to the Collection Fund, and Council Tax setting; financial advice, support and guidance to service departments, material subsidiaries and Schools.
Advise on implementation of International Financial Reporting Standards for the council’s statutory accounts including, but not limited to, supporting the maintenance of the Asset Register.
Support the annual update, maintain and report on the 30 year HRA Business Plan and associated model and assist with the setting of rents in accordance with statutory requirements.

Capital & investment coordinator

To support the development of the council’s rolling five -year Capital Programme, liaising with officers across the council to compile bids and funding information; the re-phasing of approved budgets and the inclusion of budget bids for new projects.
To prepare monthly capital budget monitoring reports for all budget managers in accordance with approved timescales and monthly and quarterly capital expenditure and receipts, monitoring information for inclusion within the budget monitoring report for presentation to the relevant Executive meeting, working group or Cabinet.
To produce the final accounts for capital in accordance with International Accounting Standards and the CIPFA Code of Practice, including preparing the various notes to the accounts for these areas as required by the Capital and Investment Manager, including the preparation of audit working papers to provided sufficient evidence of compliance as required by the council’s external auditors to obtain a timely unqualified opinion on the accounts.
To complete government returns in relation to the capital activities of the Council as required including the annual Capital Estimate and Capital Outturn Forms and the Quarterly Capital Expenditure Returns.
Optimise VAT recovery on capital projects including assessing the impact on the council’s partial exemption and to manage the regular review of the partial exemption position and the annual outturn calculation as required by HMRC.

This job description sets out the key outcomes required. It does not specify in detail the activities required to achieve these outcomes.

General accountabilities

So far as is reasonably practicable , the post holder must ensure that safe working practices are adopted by employees and in premises/work areas for which the post holder is responsible to maintain a safe working environment for employees and service users. These are defined in the Corporate Health, Safety and Welfare Policy, departmental policies and codes of practice.
Work in compliance with the Codes of Conduct, Regulations and policies of the City Council.
To model and promote good equalities practice and value diversity across the service.
Ensure that output and quality of work is of a high standard and complies with current legislation / standards.
Ensure that all mandatory training is undertaken as required. For example – Bristol City Council’s Induction, Health and Safety, Equalities, Safeguarding Children and Safeguarding Adults. Please note - this is not a comprehensive list.

Person Specification

Knowledge & experience

Essential

Qualified accountant and member of CCAB (or equivalent) recognised body with evidence of continuing professional development.
Experience of resolving technical accountancy issues within a large organisation, preferably public sector and through a full financial cycle.
Experience of working with stakeholders’ directorate-wide, council wide and with the council’s external partners whilst ensuring that the council’s interests are safeguarded.
Experience of planning, motivating and controlling the work of a diverse team of Finance staff dealing with complex accounting issues.
To be able to demonstrate considerable technical and operational experience in a minimum of two of the following:
- Supporting the optimisation of effective finance systems
- Complex budget management (revenue or capital) - through a full financial year or life cycle
- Project accounting work - HM Treasury green book business cases
- Undertaking robust due diligence and producing the resulting options appraisal
- Completing statutory accounts for a complex organisation
Knowledge on the undertaking of tendering and other procurement activities - preferably in a local government environment.

Desirable

Experience of working within a political environment.
Technical reporting role - Member of CIPFA
Experience of completion of financial returns, including section 251, ASC-FR, RO, RA and Consistent Financial Reporting returns.
Ability to manage and motivate people to achieve best value under demanding and changing conditions.

Abilities & apptitudes

Ability to work to tight deadlines in resolving a range of complex issues.
Evidence of problem solving and providing confident financial advice, appropriately stressed tested to inform decision making, together with good analytical and modelling skills and experience.
Ability to work autonomously, using initiative, creativity and resourcefulness, with an ability to see the wider implications.
Ability to communicate effectively both verbally in making presentations to groups and in a variety of written formats, maintaining impartiality and objectivity.
Ability to demonstrate a commitment to the continuous improvement of services to the benefit of customers.
Strong communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to interact with colleagues and customers with limited financial and computer skills. Able to challenge, support influence and establish excellent working relationships.