Outsourcing Accountant

LGS Vision Recruitment are supporting a forward-thinking growing firm of accountants who are based in the City of London with a Outsourcing Accountant position.

The Outsourced Accountant is a senior member of our clients outsourcing team and the day-to-day owner of a portfolio of clients. You’ll be the trusted finance lead our clients turn to first reviewing the underlying bookkeeping, producing and presenting management accounts, signing off VAT returns, and using your judgement to keep their numbers reliable and their finance function running smoothly.

It’s a role with real ownership. You’ll plan and prioritise the workflow across your portfolio, support and develop the bookkeepers working with you, and act as the bridge between the technical detail and the commercial conversation with the client.

Responsibilities

Client Ownership and Relationship Management

Act as the primary point of contact and relationship owner for a portfolio of outsourced clients

Lead monthly and quarterly review meetings, presenting performance, walking through key variances, and capturing client priorities.

Build long-term, trust-based relationships with client stakeholders — typically Finance Directors, owner-managers and operational leads.

Identify advisory needs and upselling opportunities across the portfolio and work with senior leadership to scope and deliver them.

Review of Bookkeeping and Day-to-Day Work

Review and approve bookkeeping work prepared by Assistant Accountants and bookkeepers, including transaction processing, reconciliations and ledger maintenance.

Provide clear, constructive review points that improve both the output and the person preparing it.

Ensure clients’ records are kept clean, accurate and audit-ready, intervening early when standards drift.

VAT Returns

Review and submit VAT returns across the client portfolio, ensuring accuracy and compliance with current legislation.

Provide technical oversight on VAT treatments — including partial exemption, reverse charge, and other complex scenarios where they apply.

Work with bookkeepers to resolve queries and ensure underlying data supports the return.

Management Accounts

Prepare and review monthly and quarterly management accounts, ensuring schedules, accruals, prepayments and journals are complete and supportable.

Conduct variance analysis (vs. budget, prior period and forecast) and write clear, commercial commentary tailored to each client.

Use the management accounts as a platform for advisory conversations — surfacing trends, risks and opportunities the client should act on.

Workflow Planning and Team Oversight

Plan and prioritise the workflow across your portfolio, balancing recurring deadlines (VAT, month-end) with ad-hoc client requests.

Allocate work to bookkeepers and Assistant Accountants, set clear expectations, and track progress through to delivery.

Coach and develop the team through regular feedback, review-point discussions, and on-the-job mentoring.

Escalate risks, capacity issues or scope creep to senior leadership early.

Skills & Experience

Experience and Qualifications

Solid experience in an outsourced finance, practice or in-house management accounting environment, with proven ownership of a client or business unit portfolio.

Part-qualified or qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent), or qualified by experience with a strong technical track record.

Demonstrable experience reviewing the work of more junior team members and providing developmental feedback.

Technical Skills

Strong working knowledge of VAT, including more complex scenarios beyond standard quarterly returns.

Confident producing and reviewing management accounts, including journals, reconciliations and supporting schedules.

Hands-on experience with cloud-based accounting platforms such as Xero, QuickBooks, Sage or similar, and add-ons (e.g. Dext, Hubdoc, Approval Max).

Strong Excel skills — lookups, pivot tables, modelling and clean financial layouts.

Client and Commercial Skills

Comfortable leading client meetings and presenting numbers to non-finance audiences.

Commercially aware — able to read the story behind the numbers and turn it into useful advice.

Track record of identifying and progressing advisory or service-extension opportunities.

Package

Starting Salary £40,000 - £47,500

25 days holiday + Bank Holidays

Hybrid working - 1 day per week

Company bonuses

Private medical cover

Season ticket loan

For more information, please contact Liam Snell at LGS Vision Recruitment.