FP&A Accounting Manager

Role Purpose 

The Accounting Manager sits within the FP&A team and has end‑to‑end accountability for the UK&I month‑end close and SG&A accounting, ensuring timely delivery, high‑quality outputs, and strong financial discipline across the Finance function. 

The role leads the day‑to‑day operation of the month‑end close, including oversight and management of the offshore Management Accounting team, setting clear standards, expectations, and timelines to ensure a predictable, well‑controlled close. The role also carries direct line management responsibility for an FP&A Analyst with specific accountability for Direct Marketing spend, providing day-to-day guidance, objective-setting, and performance oversight for this individual. 

Operating as an accounting lead within FP&A, the role is the owner of P&L integrity for SG&A, combining technical accounting judgement with strong process ownership and cross‑functional business partnering. In particular, the role partners closely with HR and IS, providing clear oversight of actual and forecasted spend, ensuring costs are well understood, appropriately controlled, and consistently reflected across accounting outcomes and forward‑looking views. 

The focus of the role is on ownership, control, and continuous improvement, ensuring accounting outputs are robust, explainable, and trusted by FP&A, Financial Accounting, and functional leadership. 

Key Responsibilities 

1. Month‑End Close Leadership 

• Own and coordinate the UK&I month‑end close process, with specific accounting ownership for UK&I SG&A. 

• Lead the day‑to‑day execution of close activities, including management of the offshore Management Accounting team, ensuring clear ownership, sequencing, and deadlines. 

• Ensure close activities are:  

• Timely and predictable 

• Clearly owned with appropriate review and sign‑off 

• Performed in line with group accounting policies and financial controls 

• Act as the primary escalation point for close issues, resolving problems pragmatically and at pace. 

• Drive continuous improvement in close efficiency, quality, and discipline. 

• Ensure a clean, well‑understood bridge from actuals to forecast and plan. 

2. SG&A Accounting Ownership & Business Partnering 

• Own the end‑to‑end accounting for SG&A, ensuring costs are:  

• Complete and accurately recorded 

• Correctly classified and allocated 

• Consistently reflected across actuals, forecasts, and plans 

• Act as the finance lead for SG&A accounting outcomes, partnering particularly closer with HR and IS 

• Provide clear visibility and challenge on actual and forecasted spend, ensuring variances are understood, explainable, and actioned where appropriate. 

• Act as point of accountability for SG&A month‑end results, including:  

• Accruals and prepayments 

• Provisions and estimates 

• Review of material movements versus prior period and forecast 

• Apply accounting judgement consistently, balancing technical accuracy with commercial understanding. 

3. P&L Integrity, Review & Governance 

• Act as custodian of SG&A P&L integrity, ensuring:  

• Clear ownership of cost lines 

• Consistent application of accounting policies 

• Robust and supportable use of judgement and estimates 

• Engage directly with Cost Centre Managers to:  

• Ensure SG&A spend is well understood, appropriately planned, and clearly explained 

• Challenge cost trends, timing, and classification where required 

• Reinforce accountability for cost control and financial discipline 

• Review and challenge unusual items, trends, or reclassifications, working collaboratively with:  

• Cost Centre Managers 

• HR and IS business partners 

• FP&A colleagues 

• Provide direct line management for the FP&A Analyst responsible for Direct Marketing spend, including regular 1:1s, objective-setting, performance reviews, and professional development support. 

• Ensure accounting outcomes are transparent, explainable, and auditable, with no reliance on post‑close fixes or unexplained variances. 

• Maintain high‑quality documentation supporting key judgements, estimates, and cost ownership. 

4. Controls, Standards & Best Practice 

• Ensure SG&A accounting and close processes operate within a strong financial controls framework. 

• Define and embed clear standards and expectations for:  

• Accrual quality 

• Documentation and audit evidence 

• Review and approval processes 

• Share best practice across Accounting and FP&A teams, improving consistency and reducing key‑person dependency. 

• Partner with Internal Audit and Control teams, addressing findings promptly and sustainably. 

Key Relationships 

Direct Reports 

• FP&A Analyst – Direct Marketing 

• Wider FP&A Team 

• Wider Finance Function 

• Offshore Management Accounting team 

• HR Leadership  

• IS Leadership and Technology Finance 

• Finance Transformation 

• Internal/External Audit 

• Group / Regional Finance 

Skills & Experience 

Essential 

• Qualified accountant (ACA / ACCA / CIMA or equivalent). 

• Strong technical understanding of P&L accounting and month‑end close. 

• Proven experience owning close processes in a complex organisation. 

• Experience leading or coordinating offshore or shared‑service teams. 

• Confident applying judgement, challenging constructively, and setting standards. 

• Ability to translate accounting detail into clear, practical outcomes for non‑finance stakeholders. 

Desirable 

• Experience in SG&A‑heavy environments. 

• Exposure to SAP or a similar ERP. 

• Experience operating in audit‑facing control environments. 

• Experience of line managing or directly developing at least one team member, with the ability to set clear objectives and build capability. 

What Success Looks Like 

• Month‑end close is predictable, well‑controlled, and trusted. 

• SG&A results are clean, well‑explained, and distribution clearly owned by Finance. 

• HR and IS have clear visibility of actual and forecasted spend, with no surprises. 

• Accounting issues are identified early and resolved at source, not during audit. 

• Best practice is shared and embedded, not reliant on individuals. 

• FP&A operate as one coherent finance team. 

• The FP&A Analyst is well-supported, clear on priorities, and producing trusted Direct Marketing reporting.