Accountant, Financial Reporting, Accounting Manager

Accountant (maternity cover) Sheffield City Centre (office-based and hybrid) Salary: £45,000 - £55,000 pa (pro rata for the contract duration) We’re looking for a qualified Accountant to join Uni Homes on a 9-month maternity cover contract, starting in Feb/March 2026. This is a unique opportunity to make a tangible impact during a key growth phase. Alongside core accounting responsibilities, you’ll lead process improvements and drive system adoption (Salesforce and Sage Intacct) to enhance efficiency and reduce manual work.

If you enjoy balancing BAU tasks with strategic initiatives and want to leave a legacy of efficiency, this is the opportunity for you.

Key responsibilities:

Lead short-term impact projects to streamline finance processes and reduce manual work. Champion system adoption by driving greater use of Sage Intacct and Salesforce across finance workflows. Act as a change agent, influencing stakeholders and embedding best practices during the contract period. Support the month-end close, including preparation and posting of journals, prepayments, and accruals. Assist with monthly management accounts and variance analysis, collaborating with the Management Accountant.

Maintain and reconcile balance sheet control accounts, investigating and resolving discrepancies. Process monthly payroll for approximately 140 employees across two companies using Sage, ensuring accurate and timely submission of PAYE and pension contributions. Ensure compliance with UK payroll legislation, including statutory payments and pension auto-enrolment. Manage supplier relationships, resolve queries, and ensure timely payments aligned to authorisation limits. Prepare and process weekly supplier payment runs, following internal controls.

Maintain accurate bank and cash records, including daily reconciliations and correct allocation of transactions. Use Sage Intacct for financial reporting, transaction processing, and system-based workflows. Reconcile large and complex data sets accurately and efficiently as part of month-end and reporting. Assist with year-end accounts and audit schedules, responding to auditor queries. Provide operational finance support to other departments, including resolving coding queries and supporting budget tracking.

Collaborate with Finance Assistants and provide cover during peak activity or absence. Support the Financial Controller and Finance Director with ad-hoc tasks and continuous improvement initiatives.

Skills and experience:

Qualified accountant (ACA/ACCA/CIMA or equivalent), with practical experience in a fast-paced SME or scale-up. Demonstrable experience project-leading process or systems change in finance, including stakeholder management and delivery. Comfortable balancing hands-on accounting with strategic initiatives. Hands-on experience processing payroll for a medium-sized organisation (c.100 employees), ideally using Sage. Strong knowledge of UK payroll legislation, including statutory payments and pension compliance. Proven experience reconciling large data sets and managing high transaction volumes.

Strong understanding of double-entry bookkeeping and month-end processes, including journals, accruals, and prepayments. Confident in reconciling balance sheet accounts and investigating discrepancies. Comfortable with cloud-based finance systems; experience with Sage Intacct desirable. Advanced Excel skills and ability to translate manual processes into systemised workflows.

About us:

At Uni Homes, we’re on a mission to transform the entire student rental experience across the UK. As the market-leading student accommodation advertising platform and utility management service provider, we make finding and securing all-inclusive student accommodation simple, seamless, and stress-free. Since launching in 2015, we’ve experienced rapid growth. Today, we operate in 60 cities, partner with 1,000 agents and operators, and are backed by Macquarie Capital and LDC.

Our success has been recognised with accolades from EY Entrepreneur of the Year, Deloitte UK Technology Fast 50, The Negotiator Awards, and Great Place to Work certification. What do you get when you work here? With…