Financial Controller

As a key member of the Support Management team, the Financial Controller plays a pivotal role in leading financial operations which combines strategic vision and influence with hands on delivery, ensuring robust financial governance and enabling key investment decisions that shape the future of College. The role is also responsible for leading, developing and mentoring the finance team, fostering a higher performing culture of collaboration and excellence.

• Drive and lead the College’s financial operations, ensuring full compliance with charity law, VAT legislation, and robust internal governance.
• Prepare accurate management and statutory accounts, delivering clear and accurate reports to the Trustees in line with FRS
  102 and SORP.
• Manage VAT compliance under PESM and Capital Goods Scheme, liaising with HMRC, and confidently representing College during inspections.
• Oversee treasury management and cultivate robust banking relationships.
• Drive and manage the annual audit process, maintaining strong internal controls and vigilance against fraud.
• Lead, manage and develop the Finance team.
• Deliver financial insights and modelling to support strategic projects and income diversification, working collaboratively with the FP&A Accountant and senior leadership.
• Act as a trusted partner to the Finance Director, collaborating on strategic planning and operational delivery.

• Lead the Financial transactional accounting team, ensuring clarity of responsibilities, high effectiveness, and that colleagues feel valued for their contribution to College.
• Enable effective forward planning and service delivery; lead by example in upholding high standards of performance and professionalism.
• Encourage debate and the implementation of best practice and effective change management.
• Recruit, induct, and conduct performance reviews and development plans for direct reports; address issues proactively and fairly.
• Provide accounting support to Guild (CLC’s Alumnae Organisation) including preparing termly and annual accounts.
• Provide accounting support to Friends of CLC in HK, an entity registered in Hong Kong, including preparing termly and annual accounts and supporting with the year end audit of this entity.
• Act as key owner of financial accounting systems and play a central role in future decision‑making regarding accounting software selection and implementation.
• Authorise invoices and process BACS payments.

• Set up and maintain the account structures.
• Reconcile allocated balance sheet control accounts and review reconciliations prepared by the team.
• Regularly review and report on the trial balance.
• Assist the FP&A Accountant with detailed inputs for monthly budgetary reviews.

• Ensure that fee income and extras are billed accurately and on time.
• Ensure completeness of income, all fees/extras are charged for all pupils, and the fee ledger is correctly reconciled.
• Proactively yet sensitively manage debtors within the community, employing approaches aligned to College ethos and policy.
• Prepare the termly pupil number reconciliations.

• Liaise with Bursary Administration Limited and the CLC admissions department to ensure all new applications and annual reassessments take place in line with agreed timelines.
• Ensure compliance with internal bursary policies and procedures.
• Accurately calculate the annual bursary fund by working with the FP&A Accountant and income from funds.
• Monitor and ensure the bursary fund is not overspent during the award process by supporting decision‑making for new bursary awards within the approved budget.
• Speak to bursary award holders parents as necessary to assist with any queries.

• Maintain and update the fixed asset register and calculate the charge for deprecation in line with policy.
• Review capital expenditure to ensure in line with College policy and accounting standards.
• Perform annual impairment review of all fixed assets and make adjustments as necessary.

• Prepare the statutory accounts for College and its subsidiaries and consolidate the results for Council.
• Prepare…