The role

We are hiring a Finance Assistant to support our UK Finance Team.

With 250 Partners in the UK and revenues of approximately £0.5bn per annum, the UK business operates via seven practice groups and is a leading law firm in the UK

Despite the size of the UK business the UK team is small in structure and so the Finance Assistant will play a key role in supporting the UK Finance team. This is a hands on role, which will be involved in various financial aspects of the business, providing valuable financial insights to support better decision making and help improve the financial performance of the firm.  

MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Financial Reporting and Analysis:

• Assist with the production of the various UK monthly reporting packs and suggest commentary inputs to the packs.
• Investigate any monthly P&L or KPI variances to budget and the prior year.
• Drill into specific income or costs lines in order to provide insightful explanations behind overspends or underspends to budget across the UK cost centres.
• Provide Headcount analysis and investigate any variances to budget. Ensure any issues with the headcount master data are fixed in the HR system.
• Review the granular detail on utilisation and investigate any outliers in the data.
• Provide reports and analysis to help drive improvements in financial hygiene (missing timesheets, master data errors, WIP reports, credit notes raised etc)
• Reconcile unbilled disbursements to ensure we have a clear view as to whether disbursements have been paid and are ready to bill onto the client.
• Perform reviews of the UK P&L to ensure costs are being correctly categorised in the accounts.
• Identify and develop additional reporting, which would be of value to the UK Business (e.g. Travel & expenses reporting)
• Deliver financial reporting in a timely and accurate manner and suggest ways to speed up the reporting cycle.

Financial Planning:

• Support the forecasting and budgeting process for the UK by assisting with detailed analysis and requests for data
• Input into the production of insightful reporting packs on the UK Budget and forecast’s.

Business partnering:

• Support the delivery of key UK projects such as the annual client rate reviews and quarterly WIP reviews.
• Assist with any adhoc billing or process queries, which are raised by the Business.
• Conduct ad hoc financial analysis

ABOUT YOU

• Working towards ACCA / ACA / CIMA qualification is not essential but preferred.
• Positive and pleasant with the confidence to build relationships and liaise with stakeholders across the global firm.
• Capable and confident in verbal and written communication.
• The ability to work under pressure and to tight deadlines with a continuous improvement mentality.
• Minimum of Excel, Word and PowerPoint skills but able to pick up other applications like Power BI and Think cell. 
• Strong team working skills and a passion for delivering results in timely manner.

ABOUT US

DLA Piper is a global law firm with lawyers and business service professionals located in more than 40 countries throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific. Our global reach ensures that we can help businesses with their legal needs anywhere in the world. We strive to be the leading global business law firm by delivering quality, service excellence and value to our clients and offering practical and innovative legal solutions to help them succeed. Our clients range from multinational, Global 1000, and Fortune 500 enterprises to emerging companies developing industry-leading technologies, as well as government and public sector bodies.

OUR VALUES

In everything we do connected with our People, our Clients and our Communities, we live by these values:

• Be Supportive – we are compassionate and inclusive, valuing diversity and acting thoughtfully
• Be Collaborative – we are proactive, passionate team players investing in our relationships
• Be Bold – we are fearless and inquisitive, challenging ourselves to think big and find creative new solutions
• Be Exceptional – we are strategic and driven, exceeding standards and expectations

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

At DLA Piper, diversity and inclusion underpins how we live our values and everything we do. We believe that everyone has a voice, and that everyone’s voice counts. We know that the rich diversity across our firm makes us stronger, more innovative and creative, which helps us to better serve our clients and communities. We are committed to providing an inclusive working environment and culture across our global firm, where everyone can bring their authentic self to work.

Diversity of perspective, thought, background and culture combine to make us the leading global law firm; that’s why we actively seek to build balanced teams. We welcome the unique contribution that you will bring to our firm and actively encourage applications from all talented people – however your talent is packaged, whatever your background or circumstance and regardless of how you identify.

HYBRID WORKING

We recognise that people have responsibilities and interests outside of their career and that as a business, we all benefit from working flexibly. That’s why we are open to discussing with candidates the different ways in which we are able to support requests for agile working arrangements.

PRE-ENGAGEMENT SCREENING

In the event that we make an offer to you, and where local legislation permits and where relevant, we will conduct pre-engagement screening checks that may include but are not limited to your professional and academic qualifications, your eligibility to work in the relevant jurisdiction, any criminal records, your financial stability and work-related references.