Management Accountant / Financial Controller

Job Description Management Accountant / Financial Controller The Opportunity Our client is an established, founder-led e-commerce business operating within the health and wellness sector. Having achieved consistent year-on-year growth, they are now looking to bring their finance function in-house for the first time. This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced Management Accountant / Financial Controller to take ownership of the day-to-day finance function while becoming a trusted commercial partner to the Founder. This is far more than a traditional accounting role. You’ll gain a deep understanding of how the business operates, provide meaningful financial insight and help shape commercial decisions that support continued growth. Working closely with the Founder and senior leadership team, you’ll ensure there is always a clear, accurate, and forward-looking understanding of cash flow, profitability, margins, working capital, and business performance. Initially offered on a part-time basis (three days per week), the role has genuine scope to grow in both responsibility and hours as the business continues to expand. Key Responsibilities Cash Flow & Working Capital ● Own and maintain a rolling 13-week cash flow forecast. ● Monitor actual and forecast cash movements, identifying potential shortfalls before they become an issue. ● Track customer receipts, supplier payments, payroll, VAT and other significant cash movements. ● Maintain supplier payment schedules and recommend actions to improve cash flow. ● Monitor working capital and identify opportunities to improve cash conversion and capital allocation. Management Accounts & Reporting ● Produce accurate monthly management accounts, including profit & loss, balance sheet and reconciliations. ● Ensure balance sheet accounts are fully reconciled and understood. ● Analyse monthly performance, highlighting significant variances and recommending corrective action. ● Produce concise weekly financial reporting covering cash position, revenue, margins, working capital, VAT exposure and key commercial KPIs. ● Work closely with external accountants to improve month-end reporting and year-end readiness. Budgeting, Forecasting & Commercial Analysis ● Prepare and maintain annual budgets and rolling financial forecasts. ● Compare actual performance against budget, investigating material variances. ● Produce scenario planning to support strategic decision-making. ● Prepare ROI analysis and business cases for new products, equipment, marketing investment, and commercial opportunities. ● Provide commercially focused financial insight to help the leadership team make informed decisions. Channel, Product & Margin Analysis ● Produce financial reporting across multiple e-commerce sales channels. ● Monitor revenue, discounts, platform fees, fulfilment costs, advertising spend and profitability. ● Maintain accurate product costing models and gross margin analysis. ● Identify underperforming products, channels and promotions. ● Support pricing decisions by analysing profitability and commercial impact. Stock, Manufacturing & Labour ● Reconcile inventory between finance and operational systems. ● Monitor stock movements, write-offs and inventory valuation. ● Support stock counts and investigate discrepancies. ● Analyse production costs, labour efficiency, overtime and wastage. ● Work closely with operations to improve purchasing and production decisions. Financial Control & Compliance ● Reconcile sales across e-commerce platforms and payment providers. ● Reconcile bank accounts and key control accounts. ● Review supplier invoices and identify billing discrepancies. ● Improve purchase order, invoice approval and payment processes. ● Manage VAT reporting and ensure compliance. ● Identify areas of financial leakage and implement corrective action. Your Role As the Management Accountant / Financial Controller, you’ll become the owner of the business’s financial information and a trusted adviser to the Founder. You’ll provide clear financial reporting, explain what has changed and why, and identify risks before they become problems, and recommend practical solutions that improve profitability and cash flow. Rather than simply producing reports, you’ll help shape commercial decisions by turning financial and operational data into meaningful business insight. About You We’re looking for someone who is: ● Commercially minded and naturally curious. ● Highly organised with excellent attention to detail. ● Confident working independently in a fast-paced business. ● Comfortable challenging assumptions and explaining financial information to non- Finance stakeholders. ● Interested in understanding how the wider business operates, not just the finance function. ● Proactive, hands-on, and motivated to improve processes. Essential Experience ● Previous experience in a Management Accountant, Financial Controller or Commercial Finance role. ● Strong experience producing monthly management accounts. ● Excellent understanding of profit & loss, balance sheet, and cash flow. ● Experience preparing and maintaining cash flow forecasts. ● Advanced Excel or Google Sheets skills. ● Strong reconciliation and financial control experience. ● Ability to analyse profitability, margins and operational performance. ● Confident communicating financial information to senior stakeholders. Desirable Experience ● ACCA, ACA or CIMA qualified, part-qualified or qualified by experience. ● Experience within e-commerce, FMCG, retail, manufacturing or stock-based businesses. ● Experience with Xero, Shopify, Amazon, Unleashed or similar finance and inventory systems. ● Understanding of inventory accounting and product costing. ● Experience analysing marketing spend, customer acquisition costs and channel profitability. ● Previous experience working within a founder-led or high-growth business. ● Confident using AI tools such as ChatGPT or Claude to improve efficiency and productivity.