Financial Accounting Manager - Global payments (Fintech)

Responsibilities

About the Team:
The EMEA accounting and reporting function owns the GL accounting and oversees the month end closing procedures for all subsidiaries in Europe, Middle East and Africa. We work across various accounting projects, providing technical support and ensuring all statutory requirements are compliant, including preparation of financial statements and liaison with external auditors.

We are looking for a highly motivated and proactive Financial Accounting Manager to join our EMEA Accounting and Reporting team on a permanent basis. The successful applicant will lead the accounting and reporting workstream covering our Global payments (PIPO) entities and the GL activities for entities currently in the process of obtaining financial authorities' licences (e.g. e-money, payment institution, or equivalent regulated permissions). The role is critical in ensuring the readiness of the books and records of these regulated entities, supporting both internal Group reporting and external regulatory submissions.

Responsibilities:
- Own the GL accounting and month-end / quarter-end closing for the PIPO entities and the in-scope entities pursuing financial authorities' licences across EMEA;
- Partner closely with PIPO Business, Treasury, Tax, Legal and Compliance teams to ensure the accounting treatment of payment flows, safeguarding accounts, client money and intercompany settlements is accurate and compliant;
- Manage the readiness workstream for newly licensed entities, including chart of accounts set-up, opening balance migration, accounting policies alignment and design of internal controls supporting the regulatory environment;
- Prepare and review monthly reconciliations between IFRS and local GAAPs for the entities in scope, ensuring timely and accurate reporting packages to Group Finance;
- Support the preparation of statutory financial statements and manage the relationship with external auditors to deliver statutory audits within agreed timelines;
- Liaise with external accounting service providers to ensure reporting deliverables are produced accurately and on schedule on a monthly/quarterly basis;
- Support regulatory reporting requirements (e.g. FCA, BaFin, CBI, DFSA or equivalent) in collaboration with Compliance and Regulatory Reporting teams, ensuring financial inputs are reliable and submitted on time;
- Stay up to date with relevant accounting standards (IFRS) and regulatory developments affecting payment institutions and e-money issuers, applying Group accounting policies, standards, procedures and internal control practices across EMEA entities;
- Ad-hoc reporting and analysis for UK/EU regulators, Group Finance and senior management; support special projects related to entity set-up, licensing and accounting integration.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications:
- BA/BS degree in Accounting, Finance, or related field;
- ACA/ACCA fully qualified with 5+/significant years of post-qualification experience;
- Practice experience in audit, with a combination of in-house experience preferred; exposure to financial services, payments, fintech or other regulated entities is strongly preferred;
- Current theoretical and practical knowledge of IFRS and its implications on reporting; familiarity with safeguarding requirements and client money rules is a strong plus;
- Experience supporting entities through a regulatory licensing process (e.g. EMI, PI, or equivalent) is highly desirable;
- Advanced Microsoft Excel skills;