Commercial Management Accountant

About us

We are a leading consultancy with a purpose to make an enduring impact on health and healthcare. We work with leaders and frontline teams to improve health, transform healthcare, drive adoption of innovation and create value through investment.

Our consultancy serves the entire healthcare sector, from payors and providers of care, to life science companies, health tech and sector suppliers and health investors. We provide end-to-end services, from strategy through implementation, accelerated by data, digital and AI.

We shape opinion through evidence-based thought leadership on key issues affecting health. With unmatched ability to access and use health data, our consultants are a driving force for delivering positive and meaningful change.

Our strategic intent

We are focused on building the leading consulting company dedicated to health. We serve the entire healthcare sector, including healthcare systems (providers, payors and regulators), life sciences (pharmaceuticals, biotech, devices and diagnostics), health technology, health investors, and the wider supplier landscape.

We provide end-to-end services, from strategy through implementation, supporting organisations to improve population health and healthcare outcomes. Our work spans strategy and transformation, finance and performance improvement, and delivery accelerated by data, digital and AI. We help clients understand their ambitions, identify opportunities to create value, apply innovation in practice, and deliver sustainable, measurable change.

Our consulting is accelerated by data. With an unmatched ability to access and use health data, we are recognised for our expertise in its safe and responsible application, improving health and healthcare delivery, supporting adoption of innovation, generating evidence, and informing decision-making. Our engineering and data science capabilities underpin our consulting and are also deployed directly with clients, often as part of multidisciplinary teams.

We are building a community of expert consultants who want to operate at the leading edge of the profession and who share a passion for health. Through structured career development from Analyst to Partner, underpinned by apprenticeship, mentorship and formal training, we are cultivating the leaders of the future and supporting individuals to develop distinctive expertise that creates value for our clients.

Role summary

CF is growing across more practices, more clients and more geographies, and our finance function needs to grow with it. This role exists to make sure the firm’s numbers are accurate, on time and understood by the people who use them. You will be close to the drivers of a consultancy P&L, including utilisation, day rate, associate costs and lock-up, and you will help turn them into insight that Partners and the leadership team can act on.

You will report directly to the Head of Finance and work across the full P&L: revenue, delivery costs, cost of sales and corporate overheads. Day to day, you will deliver the month-end close and management accounts, support the rolling reforecast and annual budget, keep billing and cash on track, and support our year-end audit and tax compliance. Finance owns actuals and the reforecast, and you will work closely with the Operations and Resourcing team, who own the business plan and its operational drivers. This is a hands-on role in a lean team, with real scope to improve how we work and to grow as the function grows.

Responsibilities

The role’s responsibilities are organised into the following key areas:

Month-end close and management accounts

• Deliver the month-end close to an agreed timetable, including journals, accruals, prepayments and balance sheet reconciliations
• Prepare the monthly management accounts, with P&L analysis by practice and geography and clear commentary on what has moved and why
• Account for revenue on client projects, including work in progress, accrued and deferred income, reconciling timesheet and project data from CMap to the ledger
• Maintain the fixed asset register, intercompany balances and other core balance sheet schedules

Forecasting and budgeting

• Support the Head of Finance on the rolling reforecast, updating revenue, delivery cost, cost of sales and overhead forecasts with practice leads and budget holders
• Contribute to the annual budget, working with the Operations and Resourcing team so the budget and the business plan reconcile
• Analyse performance against budget and forecast, explaining the drivers behind variances such as utilisation, day rate and associate spend
• Build and maintain forecasting models and run scenarios when the leadership team needs to test a decision

Billing, cash and working capital

• Support accurate and timely invoicing, making sure each invoice is attributed to the right client, project and practice, and that a signed contract, purchase order or letter is in place
• Track aged debt and lock-up, working with project leads to resolve queries and collect cash
• Prepare the weekly cash position and the rolling cash flow forecast
• Review supplier and associate invoices against approved purchase orders and timesheets before payment

Reporting and insight

• Provide the finance input to the monthly Integrated Performance Report (IPR) for the Executive Operating Committee (EOC) and the Board, working with the Operations and Resourcing team so the numbers are consistent
• Maintain core finance measures, including project margin, lock-up, debtor days and overhead spend against budget
• Give budget holders a clear, regular view of their costs and answer finance questions from across the firm
• Help move reporting from static spreadsheets to live dashboards, using Power BI, automation and AI tools safely where they add value

Compliance and controls

• Prepare VAT returns and support corporation tax and other filings with our external advisers, across our UK and international entities
• Prepare the year-end audit file and act as a day-to-day contact for our external auditors
• Operate and improve financial controls, and keep finance processes and policies documented and current
• Keep finance system data clean and well structured, so reporting can be trusted

Working with others and development

• Work as a business partner to practice leads and central teams, including People, Operations, Business Development and Data Operations
• Contribute ideas to improve finance processes, and share knowledge across the team
• Take on other finance requirements as they arise; this is an evolving role that will develop as CF grows

Requirements

Mandatory:

• At least five years’ experience in a finance role, ideally in professional services or another project-based business
• Part-qualified ACA, ACCA or CIMA, or equivalent practical experience
• Hands-on experience of month-end close, including journals, accruals, prepayments and balance sheet reconciliations
• A sound understanding of how the P&L, balance sheet and cash flow connect
• Advanced Excel skills are essential for this role, including building and maintaining forecasting models and working with large data sets
• Strong attention to detail and the ability to deliver accurate work to tight deadlines
• Confidence to explain financial information clearly to non-finance colleagues, including Partners, and to ask good questions when something does not look right
• Thrives in a lean, fast-moving environment: adaptable, hands-on and able to deliver without relying on established processes or large support teams

Desirable

• Experience in a consultancy or professional services firm, including revenue recognition on client projects and working with utilisation, day rate and work in progress data
• Experience in healthcare, life sciences or a health-focused organisation
• Experience with a cloud accounting system such as Xero, a resourcing or professional services system such as CMap, and Power BI
• Experience using Xero would be highly advantageous
• Experience of multi-entity or multi-currency accounting, including international VAT and tax requirements
• Experience supporting a year-end external audit
• Experience using AI tools or automation to improve finance processes

Flexible working

Our default is to work in person with our clients, but we also support remote working. Team members can work from home one day per week as standard, and we offer an additional 44 remote working days per year. This allows you to work from home up to two days per week, subject to client needs, or use your allowance in blocks, depending on what works best for you. Office hours are flexible within our core hours of 10am–4pm.

Our Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion

We are committed to building an inclusive and supportive culture where diversity thrives, and all our people can excel. We only recruit, promote and reward our people based on their skills and contribution, without regard to gender, race, disability, religion, nationality, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, marital status, or other characteristics.

We are Disability Confident Accredited, and we want you to feel comfortable and able to perform at your best in the recruitment process. If you require any reasonable adjustments for any part of the recruitment process, please let us know

Benefits

• We offer a competitive and flexible reward package designed to support you at work and beyond it. You will benefit from a generous holiday allowance that grows with your career (minimum of 25 days), a strong employer pension contribution, and the freedom to tailor benefits to suit your lifestyle, from wellbeing and fitness to financial protection.
• We are committed to supporting life’s important moments, with enhanced family leave, income and life protection, and access to practical benefits that make everyday life easier, such as interest-free loans and travel support.
• Your wellbeing matters to us. You will have access to a comprehensive wellbeing and employee assistance programme, preventative health benefits, and initiatives that support an active, balanced way of working.
• Above all, we invest in our people; offering flexibility, security, and benefits that grow with you, so you can do your best work while building a sustainable and rewarding career.