Financial Accountant

At Smart, our mission is to transform retirement, savings and financial wellbeing, across all generations, around the world.

THE ROLE

The Financial Accountant will provide support to the Finance team by managing daily accounting tasks. As an introductory role, you will be developed to become competent in supporting the delivery of the monthly and annual financial close process (‘FCP’) for the UK Finance Team.

Over time - through your role and your supported study - you will gain an understanding and appreciation for generally accepted accounting principles, in particular IFRS, and be able to work comfortably with numbers. To get going you will need a keen eye for detail, and a determined mindset to get things right, as well as an appetite to learn; you should not be afraid to question or challenge when things do not make sense.

As you learn the role, we hope you will be active in making suggestions for improving the documentation and efficiency for the financial tasks that you are responsible for. You will be relied on to offer insights for the day-to-day use of our ERP (NetSuite) and where we may be missing opportunities for optimisation.

You will be a present member of the team and actively contribute to team discussions, from weekly catchups to organised collaboration sessions.

You will uphold and champion the Finance team’s policies and control environment to support Smart’s global scaling.

What you Could be Doing

Within this role we will give you responsibility for various areas of our financial statements and reporting companies. As you progress through your studies you can expect more complexity in the areas that you have ownership of. At all stages you will be fully supported by your managers and peers.

Transactional Finance

• Record and process accounting transactions in the general ledger

• Reconcile balance sheet accounts regularly and accurately

• Ensure proper documentation and justification for all postings

Financial Reporting

• Prepare monthly, quarterly, and annual management accounts

• Prepare basic accounts and assist with the analysis of financial statements

• Prepare management reports for internal stakeholders to support decision-making

Systems & Process Improvement

• Actively use and improve our ERP system (NetSuite), identifying automation or efficiency opportunities

• Contribute to continuous improvement and financial governance across business functions

• Help document finance procedures and strengthen internal controls

As well as day-to-day accounting and reporting, we also have the opportunity for you to be involved in project work that will support the business in developing its financial practices.

WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR

The skills, experience, and aptitudes we are looking for are listed below but please don’t be discouraged from applying if you don’t meet every single one of these criteria – having a ‘can do’ attitude is sometimes more important than being able to tick every box:

• As this role is a training contract, we’re happy to consider candidates with qualifications at all educational levels; however we do ask that you have already started your studies (ACCA or ACA) and that you have a minimum of 18 months experience in audit or industry.

• Intellectually curious and keen to take on new challenge

• Self-motivated with the ability to take initiative

• Strong attention to detail

• Confident to ask questions when unsure, and suggest changes to documentation and processes

• Resilient and adaptable

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, comfortable with building relationships across other teams within the business

WHO WE ARE

We work in partnerships with governments and financial institutions in the UK and internationally. Our cloud-native digital platform is revolutionising how people around the world think about, and save for, their retirement.

At heart, we’re a financial technology business. What we do is all about innovation, and using the power of digital change to put the customer first. Our Engineers will tell you that working at Smart gives you the opportunity to play your part in developing world-class technological solutions, working with – and learning from – like-minded people.

You’ll also find that, across our business, our colleagues love Smart’s culture, and how what we do means better financial outcomes for savers. That feels worthwhile, and it means that what we do, collectively, goes way beyond the nine to five of a typical working day.

Don’t just take our word for it – you can see what our colleagues say about working at Smart on LinkedIn Life and Glassdoor .

BENEFITS

At Smart, one of the eight principles we work to is “We want happy and good people in our team”. We created a list of benefits that helps us achieve this goal:

• 25 days’ holiday per year, increasing with length of service.

• £500 annual training budget to spend on your professional development

• Extensive private healthcare, including dental, eyecare and EAP

• Enhanced sick leave (three months’ pay per year)

• Enhanced maternity and paternity (maternity – 6 months fully paid/paternity – 3 weeks fully paid)

• Death in service insurance cover

• Fully-paid five-week sabbatical after five years of employment

• In office wellbeing, such as manicures, massages and barbers.

• Smart employees also enjoy a 50% discount on orders from our sister company Arena Flowers, Britain's most ethical florist. They offer unique hand-tied bouquets, luxury flowers, letterbox flowers, plants and gifts to spend on friends and loved ones or even for yourself.

We think Smart is an awesome place to work. If it sounds like somewhere you’d like to work, too, and if you’re ready to play your part in our continued success in the future, then naturally we’d love to meet you.