Group Financial Reporting Accountant (12 months FTC)

We are seeking a Group Financial Reporting Accountant, to support our Financial Reporting Team in delivering against monthly, quarterly and annual financial reporting requirements.

This role will involve leading our consolidation process in the SAP/S4 HANA Group Reporting Module, which includes the preparation of monthly consolidations and quarterly group reporting packs for submission to our Group Team. The role is also responsible for maintaining and administering the consolidation system within SAP, and preparation and review of consolidation schedules to ensure timely reporting.

You will be working with our internal and external auditors on our year-round audit programmes (interims and year-end) to achieve timely preparation, review and filing of statutory accounts (IFRS, FRS101 and FRS102), and reporting to other key stakeholders. In addition, there will be an opportunity in the short-term to take on ownership of specific technical accounting areas, namely IAS 16 fixed asset accounting in relation to development costs across our data centres, which represents a significant proportion of total expenditure by the group, the largest balance sheet caption and IFRS 16 lease accounting.

Duties and Responsibilities

The role includes but is not limited to the following:

Consolidation (IFRS10)

• Monthly / Quarterly / Annual Reporting Requirements


o Consolidation for a group of approximately 30 companies across the UK and EMEA at several consolidation levels within SAP's Group Reporting (GR) Module (IFRS) and using Oracle's FCCS for upward reporting within the wider Group;

o Performing top-side Group Level Adjustments on consolidation;

o Reconciling data between isolated systems to ensure completeness and accuracy of information reported;

o Maintenance and review of consolidation schedules and records;

o Preparation of quarterly group reporting pack;

o Preparation of monthly/quarterly KPI reporting;

o Preparation of specific quarterly schedules for internal and external auditors.

Lease Accounting (IFRS16)

• Day-to-day


o Maintaining lease liabilities, right-of-use (ROU) assets and asset retirement obligations held in the SAP IFRS16 RE-FX module;

o Monthly posting of lease interest and ROU depreciation through the RE-FX module;

o Lease modification and re-estimation accounting from time to time;

o Business partnering with the commercial team on contractual rental reviews;

• Monthly / Quarter / Annual Reporting Requirements


o ROU asset reconciliation roll-forward schedules for quarterly reporting and annual statutory financial statements.

Fixed Assets Reporting (IAS16)

• Day-to-day


o Business partnering with cost managers and liaising with the Management Accounting team about existing and ongoing development sites;

o Monitoring assets under construction (AUC) capitalisation including identifying IAS16 capitalisation criteria and maintaining evidence for capitalisations;

o AUC transfer to PPE, PPE categorisation transfers, and disposal accounting;

o Maintaining sanitised AUC listings within SAP FAR;

o Running monthly depreciation;

• Monthly / Quarter / Annual Reporting Requirements


o PPE reconciliations and roll-forward schedules for quarterly reporting and annual statutory financial statements.

Other

• Preparation, review and filing of statutory accounts (IFRS, FRS101 and FRS102) and liaising with internal and external auditors.


• Borrowing cost capitalisation IAS23 - including lease liability expense and interest on bank borrowings.


• Project-based work business partnering within the wider organisation.


Process Improvement:

• Implement best practices to enhance efficiency and accuracy in financial reporting processes.


• Continuously identify opportunities for improvements to processes and controls related to financial reporting.


• In due course this will require assisting the business in preparation for compliance with a full SOX controls environment.


What success looks like in 12 months:

• Demonstrating key understanding of the GR Consolidation module, performing multiple monthly consolidations and streamlining the consolidation process.


• Demonstrating mastery of the RE-FX module, performing the creation of multiple new leases, and processing modification and re-estimation of existing lease liabilities.


• Demonstrable strong working relationships developed within the wider finance team (Financial Reporting, Management Accounting, Cost Management, FP&A, Tax and Treasury) as well as Data Centre Operations teams.


• Demonstrating mastery of the SAP fixed asset register (FAR), clearly able to articulate the flow of transactions from physical assets into the individual assets in the FAR.
  
  Essential:


• Specific and detailed knowledge of applying IFRS10, IAS16 and IFRS16 arising from previous experience in a top-four firm or similar and/or the Finance team of a multinational business.


• Similar practical experience in applying consolidation principles for medium to large international groups of companies within a complex, multi-system ERP setting.


• Familiarity with day-to-day usage of SAP including hands-on experience - ideally a recent deployment of S/4 HANA employing the fixed asset module and RE-FX (lease) module.


Desirable:

• Previous experience in Finance teams within the data centre industry or other services industries within the telecommunications, technology or infrastructure sectors.


• Awareness of practical implications of SOX reporting on consolidation accounting processes, leases and fixed assets within the control environment.


• SAP experience using the Group Reporting (GR) Consolidation module.


• Knowledge of potential US GAAP to IFRS differences in key duties and responsibilities outlined above


Skills:

Essential:

• Possess excellent communication and interpersonal skills. Be able to present and make suitable recommendations to the direct line Manager and wider stakeholders, including the CFO and other senior members of the Finance team.


• Self-motivated with great attention to detail and demonstrates strong ownership of tasks.


• Project management and prioritisation skills: well-organised and able to manage multiple workstreams and deadlines, multi-task and work independently.


• Proficiency in the use of MS Office - at a minimum Excel, PowerPoint and Word.


Plus, any other reasonable requests made by your line manager.

In line with VIRTUS' Vetting Policy, the successful applicant must be willing to undergo a BS7858 screening process.

VIRTUS Data Centres is the UK's fastest-growing data centre provider which owns, designs, builds and operates the country's most efficient and flexible data centres.

In May 2023 we announced our plans to expand into continental Europe, with our first data centre due to open in Berlin in 2026, to be quickly followed by two full campuses and expansion into other countries in the pipeline.

Our purpose is to serve humanity by being an active, positive participant in the 4th industrial revolution. When we talk about our purpose, we refer to our customers' customers; the child playing a computer game, the person watching their favourite movie, booking a medical appointment, a plane ticket, a hotel or doing their online banking; those things can't be done if we don't do our job.

Our mission is to consistently exceed the expectations of customers through innovative, high-quality solutions and services. We employ intelligent thinkers - people with positive attitudes, who add to the quality of our customer proposition and business.

We value individual endeavour and initiative and encourage teamwork and togetherness because collective experience and expertise are VIRTUS' greatest strengths., VIRTUS is an equal-opportunity employer. As part of our commitment to fight for equality, we work to ensure a fair and consistent interview process. We celebrate diversity and we are committed to an inclusive work environment.