The Role
Founded in 2008, Blu Sky employs over 20 people across two teams: our delivery team of accountants and tax experts (who are based from home across the North East of England) and our client relationship directors (who are located wherever the client needs them!).
At Blu Sky, our vision is ‘to be pioneers in the future of accounting for SMEs’. Our team combined with our cloud accounting technology enables us to inspire the future story of client businesses through numbers.
In 2018 we won the prestigious Xero UK mid-sized firm of the year award. And over the last few years our ambition to grow nationally from our base in the North East has gathered momentum, with, at the end of 2020, 20% of clients based in London. We are looking to hire talented individuals that will help continue our growth and contribute towards our growing reputation.
As a technician within our Year End team, reporting to the Year End Team Leader (who reports directly to the CEO), it will be your responsibility to deliver and help others drive quality, delivery and expertise in your area and for specific clients. Using your skills effectively, you’ll be able to identify and solve problems, whilst supporting the client relationship directors to deliver a five star service to our clients, and our wider company goals and objectives.
The successful candidate should have the ability to effectively deliver high quality output for clients, and to communicate across the business to both technical and non-technical stakeholders both commercial and accounting topics.
Purpose
The purpose of the Year End Account (YEA) role is to ensure statutory year end products – including statutory accounts, corporation tax returns, R&D tax claims, and sole trader accounts are delivered according to defined timescales and quality thresholds.
There is also scope to be involved in other one-off activities such as grant audit claims, and occasional secondment into our Audit function.
Responsibilities
The key responsibilities and duties of the YEA role are:
- Delivery of year end products to desired quality thresholds and timescales.
- Technical and commercial expertise in producing and analysing output for clients.
- Supporting other team members.
Skills
Essential
- There is a strong preference for this candidate to be ACA or ACCA qualified.
- The ideal candidate would have spent time within a similar team in an accounting practice.
- Good practical knowledge and experience of FRS105 and FRS102 Reporting standards.
- Good understanding of the commercial impact of deliverables on the client and communicating such to the relevant Client Relationship Director.
- A natural ability to consistently demonstrate precision and attention to detail.
- Organised, with excellent personal time management skills.
- Excellent oral, written, presentation, and interpersonal communication. Good team player.
- A desire to self-research (supported by CPD) to continue to be on top of the game technically.
As a bonus
It would be great if you had:
- Experience using Xero and/or Digita products.
- Experience in mentoring and coaching junior team members.
Key Performance Indicators
The role is measured against the following KPI’s:
- Delivery of output according to plan
- Quality Scores
- Adherence to core values
Salary
Competitive.
We can be flexible for the right person; the offer made will be dependent on experience.
The Holidays and Benefits
- Competitive Salary and 25 days of annual leave, plus a ‘special occasions day’.
- Commitment to growing your professional development and a training budget to support that commitment.
- Eligibility for our flexible working arrangement, giving you the power to manage your time and place of work.
Hiring Process
If you pass one stage, you will proceed to the next. We try to give feedback to you if your application is unsuccessful but this is not always possible. Phase 2 is as much about giving you the opportunity to find out as much as possible about us and our company as it is about us finding out about you and your capabilities. We want you to be as excited about joining Blu Sky as we are about being here! With that philosophy in mind, we will be running the following selection process to ensure that each candidate is given a comprehensive view of what we are all about:
- Screening – We will review your application
- Stage One – Initial interview with two senior team members
- If Stage One is successful – Completion of an online behavioural competency questionnaire
- Stage Two – Second Interview with the senior team where we can discuss the output of the questionnaire and you can ask any further questions
- Stage Three – ‘fireside chat’ interview with one of our founders.
Offer and References
Where appropriate, we initially make a verbal offer. Upon verbal acceptance we will make a formal written offer, subject to references.
Diversity and Inclusion
We believe that the best workplaces celebrate and promote diversity. We are committed to ensuring that Blu Sky is an equal opportunity employer. And we think it’s right to build a company where everybody is welcome, with an open culture that thrives on not just our similarities but also our differences.
Part of this commitment is our promise that every team member and job applicant is treated equally, regardless of protected characteristics such as race, sexuality, religion or age.
Our company values of ownership, trust, no surprises, bigger than me, and doing it right, capture the essence of this statement, but we’re now being clear that this is key to our mission.
Sound like you? Drop us an email with your CV!
