Overview
This is a family-owned, multi-brand group headquartered in Hertfordshire, the group runs a portfolio of successful restaurants across the country. The business is in a clear growth phase, with public commentary indicating plans to almost double its restaurant estate over the next five years through new openings and brand expansion. Finance is central to this growth, providing site-level profitability insight, capex appraisal, and group-wide reporting and controls across a complex, multi-entity franchise platform.
As a Management Accountant you will own the end-to-end management accounting function for one of their brands, delivering accurate monthly accounts, insightful site-level MI, and robust budgeting/forecasting that support operational decisions and estate expansion.
Please note that this role is office based, Monday to Friday
Key responsibilities
Monthly management accounts & reporting
- Prepare consolidated group P&L, balance sheet, and cash-flow statements to tight deadlines.
- Produce brand- and site-level P&L packs with clear variance analysis vs budget, forecast, and prior year.
- Develop and maintain KPI dashboards (sales mix, labour %, food cost %, delivery margins, EBITDA by site/brand).
Site profitability & commercial support
- Partner with operations to interpret trading performance and identify profit-improvement actions.
- Support pricing, promotional, and menu-mix analysis to optimise contribution and average transaction value.
- Model the financial impact of operational initiatives (e.g., labour scheduling changes, delivery strategy, equipment investment).
Budgeting, forecasting & capex
- Lead the annual budgeting process and maintain rolling forecasts for sales, labour, food, overheads, and capex.
- Build and maintain financial models for new-site openings, refits, and closure scenarios, including payback/IRR analysis.
- Track capex spend against budget and brand-mandated investment plans; monitor post-investment performance.
Working capital, cash & controls
- Own weekly cash forecasting and monitor the cash conversion cycle across entities.
- Review debtor/creditor ageing, card/acquirer settlement, VAT/PAYE, and key balance-sheet reconciliations.
- Ensure robust month-end processes, intercompany accounting, and compliance with group accounting policies.
Systems, process & audit
- Improve POS-to-GL data flows, automate routine reports, and enhance MI for operations and senior leadership.
- Act as a key liaison for external auditors; ensure audit-ready files and timely resolution of queries.
- Drive continuous improvement in processes, templates, and reporting tools.
Profile & experience
- ACCA/CIMA/ACA qualified (or part-qualified with strong, relevant experience).
- Proven management accounting experience in multi-site retail, hospitality, or franchise environments.
- Strong technical skills: advanced Excel (pivot tables, lookups, scenario modelling); experience with consolidation tools/ERP and POS data extraction.
- Solid understanding of UK GAAP/IFRS for management reporting, capex, leases, and provisions.
- Commercial mindset with the ability to translate numbers into clear operational actions.
- Confident stakeholder manager, able to influence site managers, brand leads, and senior leadership.
Job Tenure: Permanent
