Financial Accountant XL London Markets recruitment
Job Summary:
- Responsible for the quarterly accounting close of the Syndicate 1209 books with the assistance of the India staff, FC and the senior US GAAP reporting accountant.
- Responsible for reconciliations of balance sheet accounts with the assistance of Senior Syndicate accountant, Senior US GAAP accountant and India staff.
- Helping Senior US GAAP accountant with variance analysis and segmental analysis.
- Helping FC and FD identify system, interface and process improvements in advance of implementation of Solvency II reporting.
Development of Role:
It is anticipated that this role, which is a new one, will develop over time. Initial steps will include:
- Helping Senior US GAAP accountant close the books and report numbers to segment before the role develops, to take on responsibility for more of the close process, which will involve taking some responsibilities from the Syndicate accountants.
- Ultimately the control various close processes spread out through the teams will be consolidated under one person who has a clear understanding of the systems and processes and the business performance.
- Possible supervision of the India team.
- This role might be seen as a potential stepping stone to a FC type role.
Key Responsibilities:
US GAAP reporting aspect
- Analyse the numbers for XL’s US GAAP Specialty Operating Units’ reporting.
- Prepare and review the quarterly management reporting information and legal entity rreports and variance analysis in order to provide quantitative and qualitative analysis to Insurance Segment Management and Corporate Finance team. This includes both the Income Statement and Balance Sheet MDA commentaries.
- Communication with the local Underwriters assisting their understanding of results.
- Ensure all key internal control processes for the XLLM US GAAP team are completed each quarter to comply with Sarbanes Oxley rules.
- Prepare and review of audit files and supportive workings for interim and full year statutory audit reviews provided to the External and Internal Auditors.
A “closing the books” aspect
- Monitor the activities of XLLM financial close to ensure that Insurance Segment and Corporate Reporting deliverables are filed on time.
- Work closely with the XLLM FD and FC to ensure key XLLM reconciliations are completed in a timely manner.
- Work closely with the Insurance Systems team to ensure that the interface from Subscribe Underwriting System to the Room Financial System (RFS) (an earnings engine for Subscribe data) and then to PeopleSoft (General ledger system) is performed accurately and in a timely manner.
- Work closely with the XLLM Specialty Actuarial team to understand and improve the IBNR calculation process for XLLM to ensure control and understanding of the drivers and events impacting the results each quarter.
Personal Specification:
Education and Qualifications
- Good University degree in any discipline
- ACA/ACCA/CIMA qualified
Knowledge and Experience
- Experience in insurance industry
- Experience of reconciliations required
- Experience of large accounting systems e.g. PeopleSoft, Oracle preferred
Skills and Abilities
- Good interpersonal and communication skills
- Able to communicate effectively with others, both verbally and in writing, in a clear, concise, understandable manner and able to listen attentively to and work with other team and functions within XL
- Ability to manage time, meet tight deadlines, prioritise and adapt to changing requirements and dealing with distractions (e.g. questions from the business or XLLM FD)
- Good accountancy skills and general commercial knowledge
- Able to remain focused and proactive in working towards deliverables with the confidence to challenge managers and colleagues, both financial and non-financial, on accuracy of information
- Able to perform reconciliations, i.e. ensure ledger numbers are reconciled to external sources
- Strong analytical skills, with attention to detail and able to produce meaningful financial information
- Ability to “take a step back” i.e. to understand the results of their own work to ensure they make sense in a business sense and to ensure accuracy
- Computer skills – good working knowledge of MS Office, MS Access, advanced Excel and PeopleSoft skill is preferred but not essential
May 29, 2012
• Tags: Accounting & Finance careers in the UK, Financial Accountant XL London Markets recruitment • Posted in: Financial