Assistant Accountant at Balfour Beatty

About the role

Balfour Beatty has an exciting opportunity for an Assistant Project Accountant to join our HS2 Major Projects team to work in London.

Role Purpose:
The main purpose of the role is to control effectively and efficiently all the transactional processes of the Finance Department, ensuring all costs are correct and applied to the correct period whilst maintaining adherence to the internal governance of the JV. To provide professional site support to ensure successful operational delivery.

What you’ll be doing

As an Assistant Project Accountant, you will:

• Report to Project Accountant on issues pertaining to processes. Working with Project

Accountant & Finance Director to drive efficiencies across the wider business.

• Review Timesheet Portal timesheet entries when required to verify time spent on the

project.

• Prepare & Review Balance Sheet Reconciliations (monthly; including all Payroll & staff costing accounts) ensuring they are accurate and timely. Make necessary adjustments where required.
• Support on all external & internal audits including client/supply chain cost verification as required.
• Update and review staff rates every month ensuring rate build-up is in line with JV

expectations. Ensure timely communication to JV Finance partners and the Commercial team where significant differences occur.

• Interfaces directly with project staff to ensure projects receive adequate support and

guidance from the site support function.

• Review accounts transactions including plant returns, material receipts, GRN’s etc to

ensure accuracy and efficiency. Full understanding of the P2P process.

Generating payment runs to ensure all payments made within in 26 days of being due.

Understand Balfour Beatty’s commitment to the Prompt Payment Code and look to

query / resolve invoices in a timely manner. Updating any internal Balfour Beatty

databases, where necessary.

• Liaise with the Supplier Invoices Team in Newcastle to upload JV invoices into R12

where not delivered by Tradex.

• Working with the commercial team to ensure all subcontract payments are on R12 in a timely fashion. Liaising with the Subcontract Team in Newcastle to resolve any queries.
• Demonstrate an understanding of Domestic Reverse Charge ensuring invoices are

HMRC compliant. Furthermore, ensuring all VAT Payments to HMRC are made on

time.

• Update Bank Reconciliation File on an ongoing basis. Ensuring information is current

and accurate.

• Liaise with the Internal Reporting Team in Newcastle to arrange any journals required.
• Responsibility for the preparation of the 13-week cashflow forecast. Providing updated variance analysis for any material anomalies or variances.
• Attending cost meetings with the project controls team to provide up to date information on any costs that need to be accrued manually.
• Liaising with BB Newcastle to ensure all project cost feeders are accurately reconciled on a monthly basis and ensuring any material variances are identified and explained.

Who we’re looking for

Personal Qualities & Experience:
Essential:
Degree Qualified;

Experience in a cost control environment;

Understanding costs/inputs in R12 and wider impact.

Desirable:
AAT Qualified/CIMA or ACCA part qualified;

Ideally be a part-qualified Accountant with Site Support experience understanding the relationship between costs and the overall Financial statements;

Detailed knowledge of R12;

Good verbal and written communication skills with previous experience in working on a fast-moving project;

Ability to communicate and influence effectively at all levels of the business;

High level of integrity;

Proactive and diligent nature with a can-do attitude;

Ability to work under pressure whilst meeting tight deadlines.

Why work for us

Day in, day out, our teams deliver amazing projects in challenging conditions; developing, managing and maintaining the vital infrastructure and public spaces that modern economies, societies and communities rely on.

About us

From wind farms to railways, through tunnels and over bridges; our design and construction teams have been successfully delivering complex projects for over 100 years.

We have a proven record of delivering and managing tailor-made infrastructure and construction schemes for each of our customers. Our recent schemes have included the London 2012 Aquatics Centre, Heathrow Airport’s Terminal 2B, Whitelee Windfarm and the White City Development Substation.

We value diversity and celebrate individual differences, believing that our inclusive culture helps the business continue to grow as a strong, dynamic and innovative organisation.

Balfour Beatty is a corporate signatory to WISE (Women in Science & Engineering). Our aim is to attract more people from diverse backgrounds to help us build on our inclusive culture. We are a member of the workingmums.co.uk Top Employers’ Charter through which we demonstrate our commitment to enabling parents to progress and enhance their careers whilst managing the challenges of family life.

Balfour Beatty is also Gold Award holders in the Ministry of Defence ‘Employer Recognition Scheme’ and actively encourage applications from Armed Forces personnel, veterans and reservists.

Job Reference: BBUK06470