Temp / Contract Financial Accountant - &;350-&;420 Per Day (circa 2-3 months)

Immediate Start. Own the Numbers. Keep the Close on Track.

Are you a hands-on Financial Accountant who can land in a business, pick up the accounting cycle quickly and run a clean month-end without a long run-up?

Are you available now, or within a couple of weeks?

Aldenham Estate needs an experienced pair of hands to take ownership of operational accounting across a varied, multi-entity family-owned business for the next two to three months. It's a practical brief: monthly close, reconciliations, VAT, payroll administration, banking controls and cash flow.

Full qualification isn't essential. If you're part-qualified or qualified by experience and you've done this work properly before, we want to hear from you.

Experience within property, estates, rural businesses or another family-owned organisation would be useful, but isn't a requirement.

The Role at a Glance

Financial Accountant - Interim

Aldenham Estate Elstree, Hertfordshire

Predominantly onsite with flex

c.£350 per day outside IR35 / £400 - £420 per day inside IR35

2-3 month contract Immediate or short-notice start

Full Time

Reporting to: Head of Finance

Direct Reports: Bookkeeper / Finance Administration Support as appropriate

Your Background / Skills: Financial Accounting, Month-End, Management Accounts, Balance Sheet Reconciliations, VAT, Payroll, Cash Flow, Financial Controls, Multi-Entity Accounting, Finance Systems, Excel. ACA, ACCA, CIMA - qualified, part-qualified or QBE.

About Aldenham Estate

Aldenham Estate is a diversified family-owned estate based in Elstree, Hertfordshire, with activities spanning residential and commercial property, London Elstree Aerodrome, Home Farm Glamping, farming and environmental land management.

Operating through a number of companies, partnerships and trusts, the Estate is currently strengthening its financial systems, reporting and controls.

The Assignment

We need a hands-on, technically strong Financial Accountant to provide operational stability and robust financial control.

Reporting to the Head of Finance, you'll own the monthly close, reconciliations, VAT, payroll administration, banking controls, cash-flow preparation and finance systems across multiple entities.

You'll bridge the internal bookkeeping function and external accountants, ensuring financial information is accurate and complete, while supporting the replacement of Sage 50, integration with Re-Leased and the documentation of clear, consistent finance procedures.

About You

You're a practical, hands-on accountant who enjoys doing rather than reviewing - and you're used to arriving somewhere new and getting productive inside a week.

You like getting beneath the numbers: making sure balance sheets reconcile, controls work and financial information can be trusted. Curious and pragmatic, you're comfortable with multi-entity complexity, investigating issues and finding workable solutions when things don't fit neatly into a standard box.

You'll be confident taking ownership within a small finance team, balancing competing deadlines and working independently while building good relationships with finance colleagues, operational teams and external advisers.

You'll likely bring

• Strong technical accounting capability - ACA, ACCA or CIMA qualified, part-qualified or qualified by experience.

• Solid financial accounting, month-end and balance sheet reconciliation experience.

• Experience preparing management accounts and supporting year-end schedules.

• A good understanding of financial controls, banking processes, VAT and payroll administration.

• Excellent Excel skills and confidence picking up unfamiliar accounting systems quickly.

• The ability to manage your own priorities and deadlines in a hands-on environment.

• Availability to start immediately or at short notice.

Experience of multi-entity accounting would be particularly valuable. Previous interim or contract work, and knowledge of Sage 50, Re-Leased, partial exemption VAT or finance systems implementation, would also be beneficial.

What Success Looks Like

• Accurate, on-time monthly close across all entities from your first cycle.

• Fully reconciled balance sheets supported by appropriate schedules every month.

• Accurate and timely VAT returns.

• Reliable short-term cash flow visibility for the Head of Finance and Directors.

• Accurate monthly payroll administration and reconciliation.

• Clear, documented finance procedures that remain useful after you've gone.

• Solid groundwork laid for the finance system replacement and Re-Leased integration.

• Reduced key-person dependency across critical finance processes.

Why Take This Contract?

Plenty of interim work is one ledger, one trading company, one very long month. This isn't that.

You'll be across property, aviation, hospitality, farming and sustainable land management inside a single organisation, with genuine ownership of the accounting cycle rather than a narrow slice of it - and a Head of Finance who wants the function left in better shape, not just held steady.

• Genuine ownership of the accounting cycle from day one.

• Exposure to a varied, multi-entity family-owned organisation.

• Direct working relationship with the Head of Finance, Directors and operational teams.

• Involvement in finance system replacement and process improvement.

• Elstree base with onsite parking and good access from north London and Herts.

Apply Now

If you're an experienced Financial Accountant available at short notice and looking for a varied, hands-on interim role where you'll own the accounting and controls across a genuinely unusual business, we'd love to hear from you.

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