Assistant Accountant

Tailor Your Resume for this Job

We are a fast-growing timber frame manufacturing company seeking a capable and experienced Assistant Accountant to join our Finance team on a part-time basis (60% FTE Monday – Friday).

This is a hands-on accounting role with responsibility for supporting the day-to-day operation of the Finance function and playing an active role in the monthly financial close. The position combines transactional accounting, month-end journals, balance sheet reconciliations, P&L review and payroll support, with a strong focus on ensuring the accuracy and completeness of the monthly accounts.

The successful candidate will take responsibility for defined areas of the month-end close, including reviewing financial information for accuracy and completeness, investigating unusual or unexpected movements and preparing appropriate accounting adjustments within established processes. The role holder will be expected to complete assigned month-end tasks and also understand whether the resulting financial information is reasonable and complete.

Month-End Accounting and Financial Close

• Managing the timely close and review of the creditor’s ledger at month end.
• Preparing and posting month-end accruals, prepayments, depreciation and amortisation, maintaining relevant fixed asset registers and completing the associated balance sheet reconciliations and supporting schedules.
• Preparing other month-end and group reporting journals, including IFRS-related adjustments where applicable.
• Preparing various internal and group reports as part of the month-end reporting process.
• Reviewing Profit and Loss cost lines to assess the accuracy and completeness of monthly expenditure, comparing actual expenditure against prior periods, historical trends and budgets, investigating unusual movements and identifying and posting any required accruals, prepayments or correcting entries.
• Supporting the overall objective of ensuring that monthly management accounts are materially complete and accurate before the close is finalised.
• Reconciling Relevant Contracts Tax (RCT) balances.
• Maintaining clear and appropriate supporting documentation for journals, reconciliations and adjustments.

Accounts Payable, Payroll and Finance Operations

• Processing supplier invoices through the paperless invoice system.
• Issuing invoice approval lists and following up with colleagues to ensure timely approval.
• Issuing supplier cut-off reminders in advance of month end.
• Processing supplier payments.
• Providing cover and support for the weekly payroll process during periods of leave or absence.
• Supporting the Finance team with other accounting and administrative requirements as required.

Qualifications

• A recognised Accounting Technician qualification is highly desirable; however, part-qualified accountants, experienced finance professionals, or candidates with strong practical experience in month-end accounting, journals, reconciliations, P&L review, AP and payroll processing will also be considered.
• Previous payroll experience is considered an important requirement for the role.

Candidate Profile
We are looking for an experienced finance professional who is comfortable taking responsibility for defined areas of the monthly close and who combines strong accounting accuracy with practical financial judgement.

The successful candidate is likely to have:

• Approximately 3 to 5 years of relevant finance or accounting experience, although the quality and relevance of experience will be more important than a specific number of years.
• Strong practical experience of the month-end accounting process.
• Previous hands-on AP and payroll processing experience and a good understanding of controls, deadlines and the importance of accuracy and confidentiality.
• Experience completing and reviewing balance sheet reconciliations, Profit and Loss accounts and investigating unusual or unexpected movements.
• Strong numerical accuracy and attention to detail.
• The ability to step back from individual transactions and assess whether the overall financial result is reasonable.
• Excellent IT and Excel skills and confidence working with accounting, payroll and financial reporting systems.
• The ability to organise workload around fixed monthly and weekly deadlines.
• The confidence to follow up with colleagues and suppliers where information, approvals or supporting documentation are outstanding.
• Good communication skills and the ability to deal appropriately with confidential payroll information.
• The ability to work independently once trained while also working effectively as part of the wider Finance team.

Cygnum is Ireland’s leading timber frame manufacturing company, spanning more than 29 years of delivering timber frame homes to many of Ireland’s leading builders and developers.

We offer our employees a friendly environment and the opportunity to grow within your role. We are located in Macroom, just 30 minutes from Cork or Killarney. We welcome applications from candidates of all backgrounds and are committed to building a diverse and inclusive team

Following successful completion of the initial training period, satisfactory performance and demonstration of the ability to perform the role independently, hybrid working will be available. The anticipated hybrid arrangement will involve approximately three days per week on site.

Expected hours: 24.0 per week

Benefits:

• Bike to work scheme
• Employee assistance program
• On-site parking

Work Location: In person