Assistant Accountant
Job description
Original text imported from Reed
Our client, a prominent player within the defence industry, is seeking an experienced Assistant Accountant on a contract basis. This involves supporting daily tasks, performing key month-end activities, budgeting, and reporting processes, ensuring deadlines are met with high accuracy.
- Ensure costs are analysed and accruals posted for accurate and timely monthly actual reporting
- Support the business in ensuring cost allocation to the correct cost elements/functional cost centres
- Work with Business Partners to support daily business requests and queries
- Contribute to the timely delivery of the annual operating cost budget and forecasts
- Support the external audit process where required, particularly with audit preparation and evidence gathering
- Document processes to aid the reduction of single point failures and allow for holiday cover
- Support the reporting role to develop more efficient processes, especially in budgeting
- Identify and communicate any cost risks and opportunities throughout the year to assist in accurate forecasting
- Communicate effectively across all business functions and resolve queries as required
- Undertake additional duties as needed to support the Industrial Performance and Operations team
- AAT qualified or part-qualified professional accountancy qualification (e.g., CIMA)
- Strong Excel skills and high attention to detail/accuracy
- Experience with SAP or a similar ERP system is advantageous
- Opportunity to work with a dynamic and supportive team
- Chance to engage with a range of interesting projects
- Professional development opportunities within the finance sector
If you are an experienced Assistant Accountant looking for a contract role that offers both challenge and reward, we would love to hear from you. Apply now to join our client's dynamic and talented team.
Key skills
AI-extracted from the job advert
Application advice
5 AI-generated recommendations to maximise your chances.
⭐ Highlight your AAT qualification or CIMA progress prominently as these are essential requirements for this role
📊 Quantify your Excel experience: 'Created 15 budget models using advanced formulas and pivot tables'
🔧 Emphasise SAP or ERP system experience as this is specifically mentioned as advantageous
📋 Showcase month-end process improvements: 'Reduced month-end close from 8 to 5 days through process optimisation'
🎯 Demonstrate defence industry knowledge if applicable, as this is a specialised sector requirement
Suggested CV bullets
3 bullets our AI drafted for this specific advert, mirroring its ATS keywords.
Add these 3 bullets under your most recent experience:
- •Processed £2.4M monthly accruals across 12 cost centres using SAP, achieving 99.8% accuracy in month-end reporting
- •Collaborated with 8 Business Partners to resolve cost allocation queries, reducing month-end close time by 2 days
- •Prepared audit evidence for £15M annual budget review, supporting external auditors with comprehensive documentation
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Letter preview — tailored to Matchtech
Dear Hiring Manager,
Matchtech's Assistant Accountant position within the defence sector aligns perfectly with my AAT qualification and SAP experience. The role's focus on cost allocation, month-end reporting, and audit preparation matches my technical expertise in financial analysis and process improvement.
My background in management accounting has equipped me with strong Excel skills and experience in budget preparation, variance analysis, and cross-functional collaboration with Business Partners. I have consistently delivered accurate month-end closes while identifying cost risks and implementing process efficiencies.
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Interview questions
10 questions generated from this advert.
Technical
- ›How would you handle cost allocation across multiple cost centres in SAP?
- ›Explain your approach to month-end accruals and journal entries
- ›What Excel functions do you use for budget variance analysis?
- ›How do you ensure accuracy when processing high-volume transactions?
- ›Describe your experience with external audit preparation and evidence gathering
Behavioural
- ›Tell me about a time when you identified a cost risk and how you communicated it
- ›Describe a situation where you had to meet a tight month-end deadline
- ›How do you handle conflicting priorities from different business partners?
- ›Give an example of when you improved a financial process
- ›Tell me about a time you had to resolve a complex cost allocation query
STAR answer examples
Model answers using the Situation-Task-Action-Result framework. Adapt to your own experience.
Tell me about a time when you identified a cost risk and how you communicated it
Describe a situation where you had to meet a tight month-end deadline