Finance Manager at Benjamin Edwards, Lincoln, Lincolnshire

Finance Manager

Location: Lincoln

Salary: £60,000 per annum

Benjamin Edwards is recruiting for a Finance Manager to join an established and growing business. The Finance Manager will drive continuous improvement across the finance function, lead finance projects and process change from business case to delivery. They will own the accuracy, reconciliation and control of inventory across the business and ensure processes and systems are designed to get it right first time. 

The role of Finance Manager

• Define, own and deliver the finance improvement plan, working with stakeholders to identify, prioritise and deliver finance projects on time, in budget and to scope

• Maintain integrated project plans that highlight dependencies and manage project risks by identifying mitigations and escalating where appropriate

• Work with the Financial Controller to set resource demand, secure sufficient allocation and coordinate project resources

• Manage project budgets, and manage changes to scope, cost, resource and timing within the agreed governance and change control process 

• Develop business cases that set out options, costs, risks and benefits, the impact of change, and the processes and resources required

• Define a communications plan for each project and provide regular progress reports to stakeholders and the Exec team

• Solve problems and remove barriers to delivery, making sure projects remain viable and meet the desired quality and scope

• Own the monthly reconciliation of inventory across ERP and operational systems, making sure quantities and values agree between systems and to the general ledger

• Investigate and resolve reconciling differences promptly, identify root causes and agree corrective actions with the operational teams involved

• Review inventory balance sheet reconciliations at month end and year end, making sure there are clear supporting evidence for sign-off and audit

• Support the valuation of inventory in line with the organisation’s stock accounting methodology 
• Develop and report inventory accuracy KPIs, such as count accuracy, reconciliation variances, adjustment volumes and ageing of unreconciled items, with clear actions to improve them
• Map the end-to-end inventory process, from purchase and receipt through movements, usage and production to sale and dispatch, and identify control gaps, manual workarounds and duplication
• Optimise sales order processing and self-billing eliminating manual interventions and supporting AR team to record accurately and on time 
• Optimise inventory processes and the data flows between ERP and operational systems so that transactions are recorded once, accurately and on time
• Support digital transformation to define and maintain inventory master data standards, including item codes, units of measure, locations and costing, working with system owners and users
• Support Controls and Governance Manager to design and embed inventory controls, including approval of adjustments, segregation of duties, period-end cut-off and authorisation of write-offs
• Support Controls and Governance Manager working with business, operations and procurement teams and system providers to document procedures, train users and embed lasting improvements
• Act as finance lead on system changes and enhancements, including requirements gathering, testing and go-live support
• Document and standardise finance processes, identifying opportunities for automation and better use of systems
• Promote a culture of continuous improvement, control and data accuracy across finance and the wider business
• Develop and maintain strong working relationships with stakeholders
• Undertake personal development and training where required
• Any other ad hoc duties

The ideal candidate for the role of Finance Manager

• Fully qualified accountant (CIMA, ACCA or ACA) and PRINCE2 Practitioner qualification or similar
• Proven track record of successfully delivering finance projects and process improvement with in-depth knowledge and experience of all stages of the project life cycle, including business case development and mobilisation of projects
• Experience of inventory accounting, stock reconciliations and stock count processes, ideally in an agricultural, food or manufacturing environment
• Experience of working across ERP and operational systems
• Strong data analysis and Excel skills, with the ability to reconcile large data sets accurately

To Apply

If you feel you are a suitable candidate and would like to work for Benjamin Edwards, please click apply.