Group Business Accountant

Introduction

Who we are:

The Economist Group is a global media and information-services company that exists to champion progress with customers currently spread across 159 countries and an active subscriber base of 1.2 million. We provide individuals and organisations with the expertise, insights and perspective to press forward.

The Finance team’s vision is to partner with the Group in driving profitable growth, through finance excellence. We support our businesses to make effective commercial and operational decisions; provide information and analysis to management and the Board to support strategic decisions; manage working capital to quickly convert profit into cash; develop and maintain a strong control environment to comply with legal, statutory and tax legislation in all territories we operate in.

With over 100 Finance professionals operating from offices in London, New York, Hong Kong & Gurugram, we are rapidly building a substantial presence in Gurugram to become our largest finance hub. You will be joining our global organisation at a pivotal moment, working with finance and business colleagues from around the globe to deliver the Finance vision.

The Business:

• an iconic brand with a history dating back 179 years
• a truly global business with customers in over 150 countries
• a unique combination of B2B and B2C Businesses

The Finance Team:

• be part of our Finance Transformation programme, reshaping our processes and the technology we use
• work closely with finance and business colleagues from around the globe
• ability to influence in an organisation of 1,600 people

Currently we are looking for an experienced Group Accountant to provide financial assistance to the shared services departments, through preparation of management accounts, and adhoc analysis.

The Group Accountant is responsible for applying financial controls including balance sheet reconciliations and they will support the Manager - Group Accounting and the wider Group Finance accounting team.

The role will cover requirements from the group globally, particularly requests from London. As such, while the role is based on local hours (9:00-5:30pm in Gurugram) some flexibility will be required to cover day-to-day contact with London and occasional meetings with other global offices.

Accountabilities

Key accountabilities:

• Preparation of monthly management accounts and reporting information for all Shared Services departments
• Responsibility for all property accounting (occupancy) including property finance leases globally
  
• Liaison with the FP&A team to ensure business activity is accurately reflected within the finance reports
• Accounting for sales transactions where multiple products are sold as a bundle (“group sales”)
• Preparation of files for quarterly review of costs by managers in the Facilities Management departments (UK, US, Hong Kong, India)
• Accounting for property and other administrative cost allocations (annually)
• Manage the invoicing for the UK subtenants in the UK properties
• Preparation of management accounting pack for external accountants in France
• Branch accounting for the Japanese branch of the Hong Kong legal entity (including taxes)
• Accounting for Life Assurance costs including allocation of costs to other businesses in the group
• Accounting for global travel costs managed through the Group’s external travel bureau (Egencia)Preparation of travel cost (Egencia) allocations
• Balance sheet reconciliations for central Shared Service departments and Group functions
• Monthly and Quarterly information reporting to Government departments (including UK National Statistics office)
• Assist with preparation of legal entity accounts
• Assistance with end of year audit queries, including US Insurance audit

Experience, Skills And Professional Attributes

Experience, skills and professional attributes

The ideal skills for this role are:

Skills / Attributes

• Education and training
• Qualified Accountant
• BA/BS in Finance or Accounting preferred
• Previous work experience
• Experience of management accounting including accruals and variance analysis
• Balance sheet reconciliations

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• Technology
• MS Office: Excel to intermediate level
• ERP: ideally Peoplesoft
• Google work suite, or similar collaborative work-tool
• Languages
• English
• Key skills
• Attention to detail and Accuracy
• Ability to manage own deadlines and prioritise work
• Good written and oral communication skills
• Personal attributes
• Commitment to quality and timely service delivery
• An ability to work under pressure and to tight deadlines
• Self-motivator, eager and willing to learn
• Pro-activity and responsiveness
• Interpersonal skills
• Able to communicate well with global colleagues and provide support to non-financial managers

Performance Measures:

• Accuracy of accounting
• Level of support provided to the business and own team
• Ability to meet reporting deadlines
• Timely and accurate completion and issue resolution of balance sheet reconciliations
• Timely production of budgets and forecasts
• Ability to provide well-presented information and insightful analysis of variances to plan

The Economist Group values diversity. We are committed to equal opportunities and creating an inclusive environment for all our employees. We welcome applicants regardless of ethnic origin, national origin, gender, gender identity, race, colour, religious beliefs, disability, sexual orientation, age or marital status.