(WHB989890) Deputy Head of Financial Services
About The Role
The post-holder will be a CIMA/CCAB-qualified Accountant
The post holder will be responsible for a comprehensive and high-quality financial, statutory accounting service to the Trust, ensuring the accounts and process are of a high standard and be able to work with the external auditors.
The post holder will provide expert financial input, advice, and support in all areas of financial accounts ensuring the provision of an efficient, effective, and professional financial accounting service to deliver the Trust’s financial duties, statutory accounts, and financial returns and to support managers within the Trust.
The post holder is responsible for ensuring systems and processes are in place to ensure the Trust meets its mandatory obligations to account appropriately. This will include work around capital, fixed assets, and revenue accounting.
Ensure that the integrity of the general ledger is maintained to accurately record the financial position of the Trust.
The role will ensure efficiency, effectiveness, integrity, and business focus of financial systems and processes.
Responsible for providing, implementing, and maintaining a range of complex computerised and manual accounting systems.
To advise staff trust-wide on technical financial issues such as VAT, Capital accounting, and other financial accounting matters.
The post holder will also need to ensure the information received from other staff is suitable for external publication, including in statutory documents and work with external stakeholders.
The post holder will need to have a detailed knowledge of financial accounting.
To deputise as required for the Head of Financial Planning and Financial Services.
Risk Assessment:
Works with display screen equipment for prolonged periods
Key relationships:
Internal:
Executive Directors
Divisional Management Teams
Clinical Directors, lead clinicians & Matrons
Directorate Managers
Departmental / ward managers
Internal Audit
Corporate Functions staff
Finance Department
External:
ICB and other NHS Bodies
NHSE/I
External Audit
External Consultants
Internal Audit
Private Providers
Key areas of responsibilities will include:
Statutory Returns and External Monitoring
1. Lead the production of the Trust’s statutory annual accounts, providing comprehensive procedure notes, high-quality working papers, and a detailed plan and timetable to all finance and appropriate non-finance staff to ensure completion of the accounts in line with local and national deadlines.
2. To be responsible for the month-end and year-end processes as required across a broad range of financial accounting tasks. This will involve producing schedules for both external statutory accounts, returns to the Department of Health, and internal reporting, ensuring these are high quality and timely.
3. Work with the Trust’s external auditors during any audit of the statutory accounts and ensure that responses to queries raised by the auditors are dealt with in an appropriate and timely manner.
4. Lead on the analytical review of accounts ensuring that highly complex information and financial concepts are interpreted and conveyed clearly and persuasively to internal and external stakeholders.
5. Liaison with internal and external audit to implement best practices as recommended to the Trust. This will involve the timely implementation of audit recommendations and liaising with colleagues to ensure audit actions are communicated and implemented within the Finance Department and across other departments of the Trust where applicable.
Financial Accounting
1. To be operationally responsible for the preparation and management of the balance sheet, cash flow, and working capital financial metrics and the reporting of these both internally and externally. This will involve identifying risks and appropriate mitigating strategies where applicable and conveying this complex information in a clear and persuasive way.
2. Assist with monitoring the Trust’s cash flow, providing forecasts on expected future cash flows, and ensuring that the Trust has sufficient cash to meet its expected outgoings.
3. To be the finance lead with respect to treasury management procedures ensuring accurate and timely cash flow reports support treasury management activities.
4. To be operationally responsible for the production, implementation, and review of detailed financial policies and procedures for the financial accounting functions carried out in the Trust. Ensure financial procedures are updated in line with Standing Orders and Standing Financial Instructions and widely communicated across the Trust.
5. Play a lead role in implementing systems and management actions in support of ensuring statutory financial performance targets are achieved.
6. Ensure that Control Accounts, Suspense Accounts, and other Balance sheet entries are reconciled and cleared on a monthly basis with any issues investigated and resolved.
7. To coordinate the implementation of VAT regulations across the Trust and facilitate maximum recovery, working alongside the Trust’s tax advisers. This will involve providing advice and guidance to finance and non-finance managers across the Trust on matters relating to VAT and other accounting issues
8. To support the Trusts LTFM (Long Term Financial Model) and annual Financial Plan, ensuring they accurately reflect the balance sheet and financial details. This will involve supporting the capital teams to ensure capital plans are accurately reported and forecast to provide cash flow details.
9. Provide technical support on capital and revenue business cases as required including finance charges.
10. To operationally lead the Trust’s PFI accounting ensuring all modeling and reporting is maintained and developed in an appropriate manner.
11. Responsibility to ensure that a periodic revaluation of the Trust’s estate is undertaken and reported appropriately in the Trust accounts.
12. Identify ways of improving processes and procedures to ensure the finance functions are efficient and effective and to manage the necessary changes in the business processes in conjunction with the Head of Financial Planning and Financial Services.
Financial System
1. Responsible for providing, implementing, and maintaining a range of complex computerised and manual accounting systems. To ensure systems are reviewed and updated to comply with changes in reporting, security, and legislative requirements.
2. Ensure that transaction authorisation levels within financial systems comply with the Trust’s Standing Financial Instructions and Scheme of Delegation.
Other
1. Maintain and recommend any changes to the Scheme of Delegation and Standing Financial Instructions
2. To be the line manager in respect of accounts payable and systems, reporting and liaising with other senior colleagues as required.
3. Ensure staff receive appropriate training to meet their professional needs and the needs of their post, and ensure that all mandatory training required by the Trust is undertaken and maintained.
3. To actively participate in the departmental review of policies and procedures, suggesting changes and improvements to processes and procedures whether within the postholders’ work area or the wider department.
4. To be responsible for your own development on a continuous basis and to participate in the Directorate’s appraisal process and ensure team members are appraised.
5. To ensure that Trust and Directorate procedures are strictly adhered to
6. To check and ensure appropriate response and action on all audit report comments, and responses to FOI requests relating to the section.
7. Support the wider Finance team as required and agreed with the Assistant Director of Finance. Deputise for the Head of Financial Planning and Financial Services.
Communication
Liaise with a range of staff including managers and clinicians to interpret complex or ambiguous requirements. Apply specialist knowledge and advice on information available, particularly in relation to data sources, methods of analysis, and data quality
The job entails the provision and explanation of information. The post holder must therefore have excellent communication and must be confident when communicating with people at all levels of the organisation.
General
To adhere to trust policies regarding confidentiality and information security.
To carry out any other duties commensurate with the grade of this job.
The duties defined in this job description are not definitive and may be subject to future amendments following appropriate consultation.
Standard Clauses:
The purpose of this post should remain constant, but the duties and responsibilities may vary over time within the overall role and level of the post. The post holder may from time to time be asked to undertake other reasonable duties. Any such changes will be made in discussion with the post holder in light of service needs.
Competence
The post holder is responsible for limiting his/her actions to those which s/he feels competent to undertake. If the post holder has any doubts as to his or her competence during the course of his/her duties then s/he should immediately speak to their line manager or supervisor.
Codes of conduct
All employees of the Trust who are required to be registered with a professional body, to enable them to practice within their profession, are required to comply with their code of conduct and requirements of their professional registration. Those staff who are not required to be registered with a professional body are required to comply with the Trust’s codes of conduct.
Confidentiality
The post holder must maintain confidentiality, security, and integrity of information relating to patients, staff, and other Health Service businesses.
Records Management
All employees of the Trust are legally responsible for all records that they gather, create, or use as part of their work within the Trust (including patient, financial, personnel, and administrative), whether paper or computer-based. All such records are considered public records and all employees have a legal duty of confidence to service users. Employees should consult their manager if they have any doubt as to the correct management of records with which they work.
Health and Safety
Employees must be aware of the responsibilities placed on them under the Health and Safety at Work Act (1974) and the Manual Handling Operations Regulations (1992) and all relevant Trust Health and Safety Policies and Guidance. This ensures that the agreed safety procedures are carried out to maintain a safe environment for employees, patients, and visitors to the Trust.
Infection Control
Employees must accept personal responsibility and accountability for Infection Prevention and Control practices. Employees should ensure they are familiar with, and comply with, all relevant Infection Control policies for minimising the risk of avoidable ‘Health Care Associated Infection’. All Employees must undertake annual mandatory updates in Infection Control.
Risk Management
It is a standard element of the role and responsibility of all employees of the Trust that they fulfill a proactive role toward the management of risk in all of their actions. This entails the risk assessment of all situations, taking appropriate actions, and reporting all incidents, near misses, and hazards promptly. It is a contractual obligation that all employees must cooperate with any investigations undertaken.
Children and vulnerable adults
You have a responsibility for promoting and safeguarding the welfare of the children/young people/vulnerable adults that you come into contact with or are responsible for in your job role and sphere of competence.
Disclosure and Barring Service
The Trust aims to promote equality of opportunity for all, with the right mix of talent, skills, and potential. Criminal records will be taken into account for recruitment purposes, only when the conviction is relevant. As the Trust meets the requirements in respect of exempted questions under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, all applicants who are offered employment will be subject to a criminal record check from the Criminal Records Bureau before the appointment is confirmed. This will include details of cautions, reprimands, or final warnings, as well as convictions. Postholders may periodically be asked to undertake a re-check.
The Trust is legally required to check all staff against the Disclosures and Barring Services Children’s and Vulnerable Adults barring lists if they engage in what is defined as “Regulated Activity” or “Controlled Activity”: Regulated Activity is defined as working closely with children or vulnerable adults, paid or unpaid, on a frequent or intensive basis. Controlled activity is work that provides opportunities for contact with children or vulnerable adults, or their records.
Equality and Diversity
The Trust promotes policies and practices that challenge discrimination, promote equality, respect individual needs, preferences, and choices, and protects human rights. The Trust has a clear commitment to equality for all in employment practices based on an applicant’s ability, skills, and aptitude for the post. A range of equality & diversity policy initiatives are in place, and all successful applicants are expected to familiarise themselves with these. It is therefore the duty of every employee to comply with the detail and spirit of these policies and the law at all times. Any issues or concerns you have should be taken up with your manager or the human resource team as soon as possible.
Dignity
All employees must treat each person as an individual, offering a personalised service respecting people’s dignity and modesty at all times.
Conflict of Interest
The Trust is responsible for ensuring that the service provided for patients and its care meets the highest standard. Equally, it is responsible for ensuring that staff do not abuse their official position for personal gain or to benefit their family or friends. The Trust’s Standing Orders require any member of staff to declare any interest, direct or indirect, in contracts involving the Trust. Staff are not allowed to further their private interests in the course of their NHS duties.
If you have the skills and ambition to make a positive contribution to Walsall Healthcare Trust, please contact Westwood Harris Burns on 0161-527-6024, or, info@harrisburns.com for an information pack or to arrange an informal discussion.
Salary
Band 8a
Location
Finance, Worcestershire Royal Hospital.
Downloads
Contact
Westwood Harris Burns on 0161-527-6024 or email info@harrisburns.com
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