Interim Financial Reporting Accountant
Job description
Original text imported from Reed
Your new company
A global digital business going through transformation and change across a complex, fast-paced, multi-entity environment and is continuing to invest heavily in automation, systems and finance transformation. They have a large finance team and, due to growth, are looking to bring in a contractor.
Your new role
A short-term Statutory Accountant assignment within a central group reporting function. You will support statutory reporting and audit delivery across multiple European entities, with some ad-hoc international exposure, alongside involvement in wider finance transformation and process improvement initiatives.
Key focus areas include:
- Preparation and coordination of statutory financial statements
- Supporting year-end and ongoing audit requirements
- Group consolidation inputs and reporting
- Project-based work linked to finance transformation and process enhancement
What you'll need to succeed
- Qualified Chartered Accountant (ACA / ACCA or equivalent) ideally from a practice background
- Strong experience producing statutory financial statements
- Exposure to group or multi-entity reporting environments
- Comfortable managing deadlines, audits and multiple workstreams
- Some familiarity with IFRS (including evolving standards such as IFRS 18)
- A proactive, process-driven mindset and willingness to roll sleeves up
What you need to do now
If you're interested in this role, click 'apply now' to forward an up-to-date copy of your CV, or call us now.
If this job isn't quite right for you, but you are looking for a new position, please contact us for a confidential discussion about your career.
Hays Specialist Recruitment Limited acts as an employment agency for permanent recruitment and employment business for the supply of temporary workers. By applying for this job you accept the T&C's, Privacy Policy and Disclaimers which can be found at hays.co.uk
Key skills
AI-extracted from the job advert
Application advice
5 AI-generated recommendations to maximise your chances.
⭐ Lead your CV personal statement with your ACA/ACCA qualification and statutory accounts experience, as these are listed as the primary requirements in the advert.
📊 Quantify your statutory reporting scope: e.g. 'Prepared statutory financial statements for 8 European entities across 3 jurisdictions, supporting a Big 4 audit team of 12.'
🌐 Explicitly reference IFRS experience — and name IFRS 18 if applicable — as the advert singles out evolving standards, signalling the client wants someone current on technical updates.
🎯 Highlight any Big 4 or mid-tier practice background prominently, as the advert specifies 'ideally from a practice background' — frame this in your first bullet under each relevant role.
🤝 Include a brief note on finance transformation or process improvement projects you have contributed to, as the advert lists this as a key workstream alongside core statutory duties.
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:
- •Prepared statutory financial statements for 9 European entities under IFRS, coordinating directly with external auditors to close year-end within a 6-week window.
- •Led group consolidation inputs for a 14-entity digital media group, resolving 23 intercompany elimination queries and reducing audit queries by 30% year-on-year.
- •Contributed to a finance transformation programme, redesigning the month-end statutory close process and cutting reporting cycle time from 18 to 11 working days.
Free to copy — tailoring requires a 30-sec CV upload.
Your cover letter is ready
We've drafted a cover letter for Hays Specialist Recruitment Limited. Preview the opening, then unlock the full personalised version.
Letter preview — tailored to Hays Specialist Recruitment Limited
Dear Hiring Manager,
Hays' interim Statutory Accountant assignment within a global digital business's central group reporting function is a strong match for my technical profile. As a qualified ACA with hands-on experience preparing statutory financial statements across multi-entity European environments and supporting Big 4 audit teams through year-end, I am well placed to contribute from day one without a lengthy onboarding period.
My background in group consolidation and statutory reporting spans several complex, multi-jurisdictional organisations where I have owned audit deliverables, managed IFRS compliance — including emerging standards — and contributed to finance transformation workstreams. I am comfortable operating across multiple deadlines simultaneously and have a track record of identifying process improvements within reporting cycles.
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Interview questions
10 questions generated from this advert.
Technical
- ›Walk us through your end-to-end process for preparing statutory financial statements under UK GAAP or IFRS for a multi-entity group.
- ›How have you handled group consolidation adjustments when entities operate under different local GAAP frameworks?
- ›What is your understanding of IFRS 18 and how does it differ from IAS 1 in terms of presentation of financial statements?
- ›Describe your experience supporting external auditors during year-end — what documentation and schedules do you typically own?
- ›How have you contributed to finance transformation or process improvement initiatives in a previous statutory reporting role?
Behavioural
- ›Tell me about a time you managed multiple statutory reporting deadlines simultaneously — how did you prioritise and what was the outcome?
- ›Describe a situation where you identified a process inefficiency in a reporting cycle and took steps to improve it.
- ›Give an example of when you had to get up to speed quickly in a new organisation or complex environment — how did you approach it?
- ›Tell me about a time you had to push back on a deadline or escalate a risk during an audit process.
- ›Describe a situation where you worked across multiple stakeholders or business units to deliver a consolidated reporting output.
STAR answer examples
Model answers using the Situation-Task-Action-Result framework. Adapt to your own experience.
Tell me about a time you managed multiple statutory reporting deadlines simultaneously — how did you prioritise and what was the outcome?
Describe a situation where you identified a process inefficiency in a reporting cycle and took steps to improve it.