Financial Accountant (Practice Background)

From Audit to Ownership – Financial Accountant Opportunity! Essex-Based | £50,000 to £56,000 | Permanent | Hybrid | Audit to Industry Role If you're in practice and spending your days reviewing other people’s work, this is your chance to step into a role where you actually own it. We're working with a large and complex organisation to recruit a Financial Accountant specifically for someone looking to transition out of audit or practice into a hands-on industry role. This is a position where your technical training will be fully utilised, but instead of testing, reviewing, and signing off, you’ll be the one responsible for producing, owning, and controlling the numbers. With an upcoming audit cycle and a significant VAT review already on the horizon, you'll step into a live, fast-moving environment where your expertise will be applied immediately across statutory accounts, audit coordination, VAT, grant reporting, and financial controls. What you'll gain • A genuine transition from review-based practice work into full ownership of financial reporting • Direct responsibility for key technical areas including statutory accounts, audit, VAT, and grant compliance • Exposure to a complex, multi-entity organisation with varied income streams and funding arrangements • The opportunity to move from validating work to producing and controlling it end-to-end • Immediate involvement in live audit and year-end cycles, not just preparation or testing • Strong support from a finance leader who understands practice background What you'll do • Take full ownership of the month-end close process, ensuring financial results are complete, accurate, and ready for reporting • Produce statutory accounts across the group, moving from audit review work into full preparation and control responsibility • Strengthen financial controls by owning processes directly rather than reviewing or testing them • Act as the main liaison for external auditors, managing information flow, resolving queries, and driving audit delivery • Lead VAT return preparation and play a key role in implementing actions from an upcoming VAT review • Take responsibility for grant reporting, ensuring expenditure is correctly recorded and compliant with funding rules • Run fixed asset accounting, including capital additions, disposals, and depreciation, ensuring complete accuracy of the register • Identify and lead improvements to financial processes, systems, and ways of working What you'll need • ACA / ACCA / CIMA qualified • Strong experience in audit and/or financial reporting within practice • Good understanding of FRS102 (SORP advantageous) • A proactive mindset with confidence to take ownership quickly Experience of auditing education, charity, or grant-funded clients would be beneficial, but the key requirement is strong practice training and readiness to move into industry. Interested? If you're in practice and ready to move into a role where you own the work you’ve been reviewing, and stay close to technical accounting, we’d love to hear from you!