Finance Business Partner

Job description

AutoReq ID

140784BR

Job Title

Finance Business Partner

Country

United Kingdom

Location

Leeds

Function

KPMG Business Services

Service Line

Finance

Service Line Information

With a turnover in excess of £1.5 billion and a payroll of close to 16,000 partners and staff across UK offices, our Finance team covers a huge spectrum of work. It spans everything from being closely involved in supporting the organisation's business strategy to tightly managing critical business functions like employee payroll, expenses, accounts payable and billing.

KPMG Overview

KPMG is part of a global network of firms that offers Audit, Tax & Pensions, Consulting, Deal Advisory and Technology services. Through the talent of over 16,000 colleagues, we bring our creativity and insight to our clients’ most critical challenges.

With offices across the UK, we work with everyone from small start-ups and individuals to major multinationals, in virtually every industry imaginable. Our work is often complex, yet our vision is simple: to be the clear choice for our clients, for our people and for the communities we work in.

Job Description

Please note: This role can be based in either our Birmingham, Leeds or Manchester offices.

Business Finance is a c160 people strong collective of business-side partners that work in close proximity to the client-facing organisation as part of the KPMG Business Services Business Partner community.

Through process and policy they help to ensure governance and control over the firm’s financials and through analysis and insight they help business leaders make the best commercial decisions.

Strong relationships, deep expertise and a reputation as trusted advisors help the team advise and challenge in equal measure and play an integral part in the achievement of the firm’s strategic objectives.

Key Responsibilities

Business Partnering

- Acquire a thorough understanding of the business area being supported
- Build strong and trusting relationships with key stakeholders
- Tracking and reporting of all performance KPIs - especially those that have a P&L impact
- Prepare commentaries, MI packs and briefing papers, both standardised and ad hoc, in accordance with business priorities
- Drive standardisation and efficiency in use and production of MI in general, challenging exceptions
- Manage deep dive performance reviews as required on a routine basis clearly articulating outcomes and actions that need taking
Commercial Management

- Support Deal Board and other pre-engagement forums; especially around engagement budgeting and forecasting
- Manage in-flight commercial reviews to gain a deeper understanding of margin leakage and commercial learning points
Plan / Budget / Forecast

- Lead the Finance work-stream in relation to Business planning, budgeting and forecasting
- Responsible for deploying processes to the lowest required level, co-ordinating activity and working with stakeholders as appropriate
Financial Control / Management

- Stewardship over the P&L, ensuring that the accounts accurately reflect the financial position of the business
- Manage cost management processes and spend controls
- Ensuring that the BP team take appropriate action to understand and challenge all cost items and escalate issues
- Ensure Finance processes and policies are adhered to. Challenge deviation and always be forward thinking about improvements
Working Capital Management

- Own the Working Capital KPIs for the business area being supported and, with the Working Capital Managers, ensure the business is taking sufficient action on WIP and debt items and EL/EM underperformance is escalated
Team Management

- Day to day management of team, including understanding and supporting training needs and dealing with performance issues
- Manage the workload of the team through effective demand management and prioritisation
- Support recruitment across Business Finance as required
Finance Community

- Play a role in the leadership of the finance community, including active participation in manager meeting and similar forums
- Be an advocate for change programmes delivered by Finance / KBS, including automation tools, self-service, standardisation and any other changes in ways of working
Skills and Experience

- A qualified accountant (CIMA / ACCA / ACA) or strong relevant experience of accounting in an operational or professional services environment
- Resilient and able to work with multiple and highly demanding stakeholders
- An ability to work at both a strategic and a granular level – choosing when each is appropriate

Our Deal

If the chance to work with interesting clients and innovative technology wasn’t rewarding enough, we’ll motivate you in other ways too. At KPMG you can expect real responsibilities and opportunities to grow professionally.

‘Our Deal’ sets out all the different ways you’ll be rewarded at KPMG. Among other things you can benefit from honest conversations about your career as well as a range of other rewards. In all these ways and more, we have created an environment that can bring out the best in you.

Flexible Working

While some of our client-facing professionals can be required to travel regularly, and at times be based at client sites, we are supportive where possible of helping you to achieve a balance between your home and work demands.

We are happy to discuss individual requirements and our range of flexible working arrangements could be of interest. Furthermore, as part of the recruitment process, we can put you in touch with people who work flexibly so you can understand from them what our culture is like.

Applying with a Disability

KPMG are proud to be an inclusive, equal opportunity employer and we seek to attract and retain the best people from the widest possible talent pool. As a member of the Business Disability Forum we're committed to ensuring that you are treated fairly throughout our Recruitment Process. Should you be successful after the initial application stage, please discuss any reasonable adjustments that you may require, with your recruitment contact.

KPMG's commitment to diversity

We are proud of the value we place on individuality; we want you to bring your full self to work and truly maximise your potential. We believe that your individuality helps us to deliver the best results for our clients. Diversity of background, diversity of experience, diversity of perspective - that's the KPMG difference. But, don't take our word for it, find out more about diversity at KPMG.

Returning to work after a break
At KPMG, we appreciate that returning to work after an extended career break can be daunting. We understand that those with experience who have taken a career break have a wealth of experience and knowledge to offer our organisation, which helps us to achieve our business goals. We will support you to refresh your skills, develop your confidence and provide a supportive network across the firm to help you best integrate into the working environment. This role welcomes applications for individuals who have been out of work for 18 months or more and who have previous relevant experience.

Policy for Agencies

KPMG has a commitment to sourcing candidates directly and as such we do not accept speculative CV’s from agencies. Please check here to see our policy on agencies:Policy