Financial Accounting and Reporting | Senior Civil Service 1

Summary

Role summary

SCS1 roles that encompass Financial Accounting and Reporting will have a wider role across finance. Financial Accounting and Reporting elements of the role will include leading teams that ensure the core financial controls are in place and deliver high quality external reporting, including Annual Reports and Accounts and Parliamentary Estimates.

Typical Role Responsibilities

SCS1 roles that encompass Financial Accounting and Reporting will have a wider role across finance. Financial Accounting and Reporting elements of the role will include leading teams that ensure the core financial controls are in place and deliver high quality external reporting, including Annual Reports and Accounts and Parliamentary Estimates.

Entry Route

Only suitable for staff with the required skills within Finance and/or experience in Financial Accounting

Typical Qualifications

Essential:

• Qualified with CCAB, CIMA or equivalent
• Financial experience over an extended period of time

Responsibilities

Tasks

• Leading the financial accounting and reporting function, creating a strong cultural identity and cohesion, empowering staff, promoting accountability and the autonomy to deliver internal and external objectives

• Taking accountability for:-

  • timely laying of unqualified annual report and accounts, meeting high quality standards
  • the submission of Estimates and ambits to HM Treasury and Parliament
  • reports to Audit Committee and other key stakeholders on the key features of the financial accounts and status of key issues and risks in the production of the financial accounts

• Providing advice and guidance to Senior Stakeholders on all aspects of Financial Accounting and estimates as a recognised expert

• Providing management assurance to the Accounting Officer / Permanent Secretary that key financial controls have operated effectively and that the annual report & accounts meet the necessary reporting standards

Expectations

Behaviours

For details of Behaviours read the Success Profiles guidance on GOV.UK

• Seeing the Big Picture

• Leadership

• Communicating and Influencing

• Making effective decisions

• Delivering at Pace

• Developing Self and Others

Interpersonal Skills

• Ability to lead a significant portfolio, motivating and developing a diverse team to deliver an effective and efficient service, with a strong track record of building capability and developing people in a fast paced and challenging environment

• Ability to build and maintain successful relationships, win and retain the trust of peers and senior stakeholders

• High level of confidence and resilience, with an ability to work autonomously and to manage ambiguity and challenge.

• Skilled finance professional, with strong analytical ability and credibility across all aspects of financial management

• Creative thinking skills and the ability to use financial and wider performance analysis to challenge how things are done

• Balancing the demands of a wide range of competing stakeholders, including non-executive board members and senior officials from HM Treasury and National Audit Office

Professional Skills

Key for Levels of Professional Skills

A = Awareness

W = Working

P = Practitioner

E = Expert

Qualification

Essential

• Qualified with CCAB, CIMA or equivalent

• Financial experience over an extended period of time

• Accelerated qualification is available for G6s and SCS1 with the relevant experience.

Entry and Progression Routes

Entry Routes

Within Finance

This role may be suitable for individuals in the following roles:

• Financial accounting and reporting G6s with wider financial or non-financial experience
• SCS1s in other areas of finance who have some technical accounting reporting experience

From Outside Finance

This role is not suitable for non-finance professionals or individuals without significant previous experience in financial reporting.

Progression Routes

Staff in this role typically move into other SCS roles in Finance or progress to SCS2 roles.