Role: Financial Controller – 3–6 Month Fixed Term Contract
Location: Kent (office based, with occasional travel to other sites)
Contract: Fixed term contract, 3–6 months, full time
Salary: Up to £70,000 per annum (pro rata), depending on experience
Reporting to: Chief Financial Officer
The opportunity
A well-established multi-site organisation is looking for a qualified Financial Controller to join on a fixed term basis for 3–6 months, covering a notice period and providing crossover while a permanent appointment is made.
This is a hands-on, control-focused role. You will take ownership of month-end, the balance sheet, statutory reporting and the year-end audit, keeping financial governance tight and reporting on time and accurate throughout the handover period.
It will suit an experienced financial controller or senior finance manager who is available at short notice, comfortable stepping into an established process quickly, and happy to run the day-to-day without a long lead-in.
What you'll be doing
- Own the monthly management accounts process end to end, ensuring accurate and timely reporting to deadline
- Maintain strong financial controls across revenue, costs, payroll, cash, working capital and capital expenditure
- Oversee balance sheet integrity: reconciliations, accruals, prepayments, provisions, fixed assets and control account reviews
- Lead the year-end audit as the key point of contact for external auditors, ensuring audit deliverables are delivered on schedule
- Prepare statutory accounts and support statutory and tax reporting requirements
- Ensure compliance with relevant accounting standards, internal policies and reporting deadlines
- Manage bank reconciliations, cash reporting and treasury administration
- Identify and resolve control weaknesses, process gaps and reporting inefficiencies
- Provide day-to-day supervision and support to the finance team, maintaining standards and continuity during the transition
- Document key processes and controls to enable a clean handover to the incoming permanent appointment
About you
Essential
- Qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent)
- Proven experience in a Financial Controller or senior financial accounting role
- Strong technical accounting background covering month-end, year-end, statutory accounts and audit
- Demonstrable balance sheet control and reconciliation discipline
- Confident managing an external audit process independently
- Experience supervising or supporting a finance team
- Available at short notice and able to commit to the full contract period
- Hands-on, pragmatic and comfortable operating at pace in a lean finance function
Desirable
- Multi-site experience within hospitality, leisure, retail, property or another service-led environment
- Exposure to capital expenditure and project accounting
- Experience improving finance processes, controls or reporting systems
What's on offer
- Up to £70,000 per annum, pro rata for the contract term
- A broad, autonomous remit with genuine ownership of the control agenda
- Immediate start available for the right candidate