The Opportunity 

Social Finance Limited is seeking an experienced Senior Management Accountant to take end-to-end ownership of the management accounts function during a period of organisational growth and systems evolution.

This role combines hands-on technical delivery with leadership, control enhancement, and stakeholder engagement. The postholder will ensure the smooth, accurate, and timely production of monthly management accounts, strengthen balance sheet integrity, and act as a trusted finance partner across the organisation.

The role is well-suited to a senior accountant comfortable operating in service-led, contract-heavy environments with imperfect or evolving finance systems, and who enjoys improving processes while still rolling up their sleeves.

This is a high-impact opportunity to step into a senior, visible finance role within a mission-driven organisation tackling complex social challenges. The role offers immediate ownership, influence, and leadership responsibility, with strong potential to convert into a permanent senior position.

Key Responsibilities 

Management Accounts & Month-End Close

Own the end-to-end monthly management accounts process (MAS), including:

• Accruals, deferred income, prepayments, payroll, fixed assets, and loan interest

• Review of all nominal transactions (VAT coding, cost centres, project allocations)

Prepare and circulate final post-close trial balance.

Deliver clear, insightful P&L, balance sheet, cash flow, and variance analysis.

Support the Financial Controller and Director of Finance with management commentary and board-ready insights.

Partner with budget holders on forecasting, reforecasting, and financial planning.

Balance Sheet, VAT & Reconciliations

Lead and review all balance sheet reconciliations, ensuring audit-ready standards.

Own VAT reporting, including:

• Quarterly VAT returns

• Partial exemption calculations

• Departmental irrecoverable VAT analysis

• Annual VAT adjustments

Oversee bank, credit card, loan, and control account reconciliations.

Produce high-quality year-end working papers and audit packs from Access/Dimensions data extracts.

Contracts, Projects & Revenue Recognition

Review and interpret complex service, consulting, and social investment contracts.

Ensure accurate revenue recognition and cost allocation aligned to contractual terms and accounting standards.

Work closely with project teams to validate income recognition and project coding.

Provide clear finance guidance to non-finance stakeholders on contract and project performance.

Systems, Controls & Process Improvement

Act as a senior user of Access Dimensions:

• Support users

• Manage workflows and approvals

• Resolve data and reporting issues

Design, improve, and embed strong financial controls across management accounting processes.

Identify and drive automation and efficiency improvements (particularly Excel- and system-based).

Partner with the Financial Controller to ensure consistency between management and statutory reporting.

Leadership & Team Development

Line manage the Finance Transaction Lead and provide day-to-day leadership and oversight.

Support, train, and mentor the Finance Assistant in reconciliations, reporting, and month-end best practice.

Build resilience and capability within the management accounts function.

Provide cover and hands-on support for transactional finance when required.

Wider Finance & Regulatory Support

Joint responsibility for preparation of finance reporting returns for review and submission, including:

• VAT

• FCA

• Crown Commercial

• ONS and other regulatory bodies

Support finance inbox triage, supplier setup, credit control, and PO processes as needed.

About you

Essential experience

• Fully qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent).

• Significant management accounting experience with strong balance sheet control.

• Proven leadership and line management capability.

• Strong experience in service-based, consulting, or contract-led organisations.

• Deep understanding of project accounting and revenue recognition.

• Track record of strengthening financial controls in complex environments.

• Comfortable working with evolving or imperfect accounting systems.

• Advanced Excel skills (pivots, lookups, cross-sheet logic).

• Strong communicator able to translate financial data for non-finance audiences.

• Highly organised, detail-focused, and deadline-driven.

Desirable

• Experience in the non-profit, social impact, or investment sector.

• Experience scaling or rebuilding a management accounts function.

• Familiarity with grant funding, restricted income, or impact investment structures.

• Experience with Access Financials / Access Dimensions.

Working at Social Finance

The fixed salary for this position is £60,000 per annum. Working for a mission driven organisation is more than just what we pay though, it’s about our culture, our approach and what else we offer. Read more about working at Social Finance here.

About Social Finance

We are an ambitious not for profit organisation that helps to design, fund and scale better solutions to complex social problems. Our vision is a fairer world where together we unleash the potential of people and communities. We do this by working in partnership with local and national governments, funders, communities and the social sector to tackle complex and enduring social problems in the UK and across the world.

Our skills include financial analysis, data and digital insight, outcomes-focused partnerships, strategy, research and design. We combine these specialisms in different ways to address specific social challenges. We create effective solutions that blend the expertise of communities and professionals to deliver better outcomes in issues such as homelessness, domestic abuse, children’s services, health, employment and skills.

Ready to make your own impact on these issues? Then come and join us.

Our multi-skilled team of over 120 people come from diverse backgrounds in the public, private and charity sectors, all sharing a passion for making change happen. We provide a high-quality training and development programme in-house with great opportunities for career progression. We’re a friendly and intellectually curious bunch, always up for a debate. Read more about what it’s like to work here.

Our Values

Everyone at Social Finance believes that change for communities is possible. To help us achieve it, we have three core values that guide everything we do. We are curious, empathetic and pioneering.

Equity, Diversity & Inclusion

We actively encourage applications from under-represented and minoritised groups, including those with lived experience of the social issues we are working to address. We are an equal opportunities employer.

We support a range of flexible working options and welcome UK based applications from outside of London/the Southeast so far as they can meet the in-person meeting requirements for the role. We can also accommodate secondments and part-time working. Read more about our approach to equity, diversity and inclusion here.

We work on some projects where our clients may require different levels of DBS checking for our employees. Candidates deemed suitable for a role after interview will be asked to declare any unspent convictions to ensure that we are able to resource them to projects appropriately.