About this role
Job summary
The post holder will provide support to the Directorate Accountant in the delivery of financial and statutoryobligations of the Trusts Financial Management function. Responsibility for producing financial informationand providing support to a group of clinical and departmental budget holders. To be a key member of theTrust's Finance Department and contribute to the delivery of its overall objectives.They will be a member of the divisional team, providing complex financial and business information toclinical and non-clinical colleagues. They will support aspects of service area financial and businessperformance and financial management processes to ensure efficiency and effectiveness.
Main duties of the job
Working with the Directorate Accountant, the post holder will develop and produce information to supportaccurate and timely monthly performance reports for presentation at service meetings and to feed into theTrusts position for internal and external corporate reporting. There will be a requirement to discuss thisreview with budget holders.To achieve this, the post holder will be expected to work with the clinicians and budget holders within theservice area to model financial information to enable informed decision making on business processes andplans, which improve and enhance the overall productivity of the Trust.The post holder will support the Directorate Accountant in the preparation of robust financial forecasts tobe agreed with the Finance Manager and Head of Finance. This will include supporting the planning processand associated work streams.They will deputise for the Directorate Accountant as and when necessary.
About us
Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust comprises Aintree University Hospital, Broadgreen Hospital & Royal Liverpool University Hospital.
We are part of NHS University Hospitals of Liverpool Group, formed on 1 Nov 2024 from the coming together of LUHFT and Liverpool Women's NHS Foundation Trust. The Group was born from a shared aim to improve the care we provide our patients.
UHLG is one of the largest employers in the region, with over 16,800 colleagues dedicated to caring for our communities - from birth and beyond.
For the 630,000 people across Merseyside, we are their local NHS. We provide general and emergency hospital care, alongside highly specialised regional services for more than two million people in the North West.
Aintree University Hospital is the single receiving site for adult major trauma patients in Cheshire and Merseyside and hosts a number of regional services including an award-winning stroke facility. Broadgreen Hospital is home to elective surgical, diagnostic and treatment services, together with specialist patient rehabilitation. Liverpool Women's Hospital specialises in the health of women and babies, delivering over 7,200 babies in the UK's largest single site maternity hospital each year. The Royal Liverpool University Hospital is the largest hospital in the country to provide inpatients with 100% single bedrooms and focuses on complex planned care and specialist services.
For roles at Liverpool Women's, visit their careers page.
Job description Job responsibilities
While responsible to the Directorate Accountant the post holder works under minimum supervision, andis responsible for ensuring that a range of deadlines are met within the section. This post requires a highlevel of initiative in dealing with queries from Managers, Clinicians and other staff within the Trust.Decisions on day to day operational issues can be made and in the case of complex issues, with referenceto the Directorate Accountant. It would be expected that a member of staff in this post would to a largeextent manage and prioritise their own workload and that of support staff, to ensure predetermineddeadlines are met in a timely manner.- This post requires excellent communication and working relationships within the Finance Department, theTrust and externally. In particular the post has to deal with a high volume of queries from the Directorates.It is expected that the post holder would communicate complex financial matters to non-financial staff suchas Clinicians, Clinical Managers and administrators.- The post holder is responsible for at least one other member of staff and there will be responsibility totrain new staff in what is quite a technically demanding role.- The nature of the position requires that the post plays an important role in the financial reporting of theTrust. High levels of IT skills are essential to deal with the wide range of systems used within thedepartment. It is expected that the post holder would be actively pursuing a recognised professionalqualification, or possess the equivalent experience.- The nature of the post requires a high level of VDU usage. In addition, the monthly reporting cyclerequires a high level of input for approximately 2 weeks out of every month, this can be extremelydemanding at times.- To take responsibility for the maintenance and development of spreadsheets, delegating routine tasks tothe Assistant Accountant, and reporting issues to the Directorate Accountant. To ensure income andexpenditure is recorded accurately. To discuss routine and more complex queries with internal managersand external bodies where necessary. To provide support and advice to the Assistant Accountant in dealingwith queries. Financial information and reports are produced in a timely and accurate manner. Queries aredealt with in a timely and professional manner- To take responsibility for analysing income and expenditure, identifying variances, investigating wherenecessary and providing high level reporting to the Directorate Accountants for review. High qualityinformation is provided to Directorate Accountants for review.- To oversee the completion & reconciliation of control accounts in conjunction with the assistantaccountant on a monthly basis and maintain appropriate documentation on file. All control accounts arefully reconciled and signed off in line with the agreed timetable for completion.- To ensure that budgets are reconciled on a monthly basis, and maintain appropriate documentation onfile. Budgets are fully reconciled and signed off in line with the agreed timetable for completion.- To develop a detailed understanding of the recharge system, providing high level support in assisting theDirectorate Accountants setting, developing and maintaining recharge budgets. To ensure that rechargesare processed accurately in accordance with the monthly timetable, covering recharges betweenDirectorates within the Trust and recharges to external bodies. To ensure that a thorough understanding ofthe basis of recharging is developed, to enable clear and appropriate advice and support to be given withinthe Trust and to external bodies.- To complete all necessary work in respect of recharge systems in line with the agreed timetable, torespond to all queries effectively- To raise ad hoc requests for invoices to be raised and to ensure the income is recorded in an accurate andtimely manner. Invoices are raised within the agreed timetable- To provide high level support in the annual budget setting process for Directorates. Developing anawareness of Directorates pressures and development needs and linking these to key targets andinitiatives.- To develop an awareness of the Business Planning process and support the Directorate Accountants inproducing financial information relating to it. To make significant contributions to the process in support ofthe Directorate Accountant- To produce the budget statements in Excel format from the General Ledger system on a monthly basis,ensuring that all data is reconciled and updated prior to being sent to the Directorates. Statements areproduced to a high level of quality in terms of presentation, within agreed timescales.- Assist in the provision of reference cost and financial flows information, undertaking complex costing andanalytical work, and providing interpretation and review of outcomes. Developing a thoroughunderstanding of guidance provided by the Department of Health, and applying to relevant areas asrequired. Develop a thorough understanding of the mechanics involved in undertaking work, to develop anunderstanding of the guidance and be able to advise as necessary.- Contribute to the smooth and efficient functioning of the finance function by performing ad hoc duties asand when required especially to ensure the fulfilment of any statutory financial information requirements.- To be responsive and flexible when required. Assist the Directorate Accountant where necessary in theprovision of information and costs relating to specialist contracts. Developing an understanding of therelevant service areas, and linking the commissioning arrangements with the process of setting andmaintaining budgets.- Develop sufficient knowledge and be able to clearly link budgetary and commissioning arrangements.Take responsibility for calculating and monitoring costs of projects, reporting to the Directorate Accountant- Develop sufficient knowledge and provide support when required. Support the training process whenrequired, both in terms of finance and non-finance staff. Favourable feedback where training is undertaken.
Person Specification
Qualifications Essential
Qualifications required: Degree or equivalent Actively studying towards a recognized professional qualification
Experience Essential
Experience of working within a management accounts environment Experience of working with financial ledger systems
Knowledge Essential
A good understanding of the NHS finance regime
Skills Essential
Possess a high degree of numeracy and accuracy and the ability to work with spreadsheets to provide high quality financial information Possess high level IT skills having successfully completed the ECDL or equivalent.
Personal Attributes Essential
To be able to work as part of a team and work on their own and have the flexibility to undertake new tasks in accordance with the priorities of Directorate Accounts Ability to organize their own work and demonstrates initiative required to ensure that all tasks are completed. Possess good communication skills in order to work effectively
Disclosure and Barring Service Check This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Certificate of Sponsorship Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
Employer details Employer name Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Address Aintree University Hospital
Aintree House Lower Lane
Fazakerly
L9 7AL
United Kingdom
Employer's website https://www.liverpoolft.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)