Financial Controller

FINANCIAL CONTROLLER Reporting to: Co-Founders Contract: Full-time / 4–5 days per week Leadership Team: Yes   THE ROLE Freshly Squeezed Events is recruiting for a hands-on Financial Controller role within a lean finance function. You will be supported by a Bookkeeper and external accountants, but you will personally own and deliver management accounts, forecasting, budgeting, cash-flow management, WIP, project profitability and commercial financial analysis. This role would suit someone who enjoys being close to the numbers and operating within an entrepreneurial SME, rather than managing a large finance team.   This is not simply an accounting role. You will ensure we have accurate numbers, strong financial control, clear forward visibility and a deep understanding of the commercial performance of our clients and projects.   You will provide clear visibility of revenue, gross margin, overheads, EBITDA, project and client profitability, cash, costs and future financial performance: identifying risks, opportunities and margin leakage early enough for us to act.   You will be a key contributor to our weekly Level 10 meeting, ensuring our Business Scorecard gives the leadership team a clear and trusted view of whether the business is on track.   We are looking for someone who doesn't simply tell us what happened but helps us understand what is happening next and what we need to do about it.    FIVE CORE ACCOUNTABILITIES

1. Financial Integrity & Control ·      Ensure FSE's financial information is accurate, current and trusted. ·      Ensure monthly management reporting provides clear visibility of Revenue, Gross profit, Gross Margin %, Overheads, EBITDA and EBITDA % with actual performance shown against budget, prior year and latest full-year forecast ·      Ensure management information is accurate, concise and commercially useful with material variances clearly explained and actions or decision identified ·      Own the monthly financial close, management accounts, balance sheet, WIP, revenue recognition, accruals, payroll and VAT oversight, debtor/creditor management and financial controls. ·      Oversee transactional finance support and work effectively with our external accountants and advisers. Outcome: We trust the numbers and there are no avoidable financial surprises.  
2. Forecasting, Profitability & Forward Visibility ·      Give the Co-Founders and leadership team a clear view of where the business is heading, not simply where it has been. ·      Own the annual budget, rolling 12-month P&L forecast and 13-week cash-flow forecast. Maintain visibility of secured revenue and pipeline against targets and model the impact of changes in revenue, margin, people, freelancer costs and overheads. ·      Maintain a continuously updated full-year forecast of Revenue, Gross Profit, Gross Margin %, Overheads, EBITDA and EBITDA %, clearly showing actual performance versus budget and latest forecast. ·      Continuously assess whether the company's people costs, freelancer costs and overall overhead base remain appropriate for forecast revenue and gross profit, identifying any misalignment early enough for corrective action to be taken. ·      Model the impact of material changes in revenue, margin or costs on EBITDA and cash, providing clear recommendations to the Co-Founders and leadership team where intervention is required. ·      Identify emerging risks and opportunities early enough for the business to respond. ·      Continuously assess whether the company's overhead and people cost base remains appropriate for forecast revenue and gross profit, highlighting misalignment early and recommending corrective action. Outcome: We can see what is coming, understand its impact on profitability and EBITDA, and have time to act.  
3. Project Economics & Commercial Performance ·      Create strong commercial visibility across our clients, projects and services. ·      Own reporting and insight around revenue, gross profit and margin by client/project, budget versus actual project costs, freelancer expenditure, committed costs and revenue concentration. ·      Work with project and account teams to identify margin leakage, overspend, scope creep and opportunities to improve profitability. ·      Build commercial awareness so that financial accountability sits with the people making decisions, not solely with Finance. Outcome: We understand where we make money, where we lose it and why.  
4. Cash & Commercial Discipline ·      Maintain strong visibility and discipline around cash and working capital. ·      Own cash forecasting, debtor management and credit control oversight, supplier commitments and payment requirements. ·      Own reporting and insight around revenue, gross profit and margin by client, project and business/service area, budget versus actual project costs, freelancer expenditure, committed costs and revenue concentration. ·      - Develop visibility of the relative financial contribution of FSE's different services and areas of the business, enabling the leadership team to understand where revenue, gross profit and ultimately EBITDA are being generated. ·      Own visibility of the company's overhead base, with clear monthly reporting of actual overheads versus budget and latest forecast. ·      Monitor permanent people costs, freelancer expenditure and other significant overhead categories, identifying overspend and emerging cost pressures early. ·      Constructively challenge expenditure, hiring, freelancer commitments and other cost decisions where appropriate, ensuring the company's cost base remains aligned with forecast revenue, gross profit and EBITDA objectives. ·      You should be comfortable saying: “This is what the numbers are telling us. This is the risk. This is what I recommend we do.” Outcome: Cash is actively managed and financial discipline supports sustainable growth.  
5. Leadership Insight, EOS & Decision Support ·      Act as a key financial and commercial voice within the leadership team. ·      Participate actively in weekly EOS Level 10 meetings and own the integrity and evolution of the financial and commercial measures within our Scorecard. ·      Where measures move off track, help the leadership team understand: What is happening? → Why? → Does it need to enter IDS? → What decision or action is required? ·      Help us identify the small number of leading and lagging indicators that tell us whether the business is on track, including secured revenue, forecast revenue, forecast GP and GP%, forecast EBITDA and EBITDA%, overheads versus budget, project performance, freelancer/people costs, cash, WIP and overdue debt. ·      Finance owns the integrity of the numbers; individual leaders remain accountable for performance within their areas. Outcome: Financial insight leads to better conversations, earlier intervention and better decisions.

MONTHLY FINANCE RHYTHM ·      Alongside the weekly EOS rhythm, you will maintain a disciplined monthly financial cycle, with management accounts and updated forecasts. By working day 7–10, provide the Co-Founders with a concise monthly management pack giving clear visibility of, at minimum: Revenue, Gross Profit, GP%, Overheads, EBITDA, EBITDA%, Cash, Debtors, Creditors, WIP, Client/Project Profitability, People & Freelancer Costs ·      You will lead a concise monthly Finance Review with the Co-Founders focused on: Performance → Forecast → Risks → Opportunities → Decisions → Actions. The objective is not more reporting. It is clarity and action. The management pack should enable the Co-Founders to understand quickly: Where are we now? Where are we heading? What has moved off track? Why? What action is required?

THE PERSON WE'RE LOOKING FOR You may currently be a Finance Manager, Senior Finance Manager, Financial Controller, Management Accountant or Financial Controller. We are more interested in your capability and commercial judgement than your current title.   You will bring:

• Strong management accounting, budgeting and forecasting experience. ·      Strong understanding of profitability, EBITDA, overhead management and the relationship between revenue, gross margin, cost base and bottom-line performance. ·      Experience of financial modelling and scenario planning, with the ability to translate changes in revenue, margin or costs into their impact on profit, EBITDA and cash.
• Excellent understanding of P&L, balance sheet and cash flow.
• Experience of project accounting, WIP and revenue recognition.
• Strong financial-control capability.
• Confidence with Xero or comparable systems and strong Excel capability.
• The ability to turn financial information into straightforward commercial insight.
• Confidence to challenge founders and senior colleagues constructively.
• The ability to take genuine ownership of the finance function.
• A proactive, pragmatic approach suited to an entrepreneurial SME. Experience within and agency or project-based business would be particularly valuable. ACCA, CIMA or ACA qualification, part-qualification or strong equivalent experience would be welcome.     HOW WE WILL MEASURE SUCCESS We will know you are succeeding when:
• The leadership team trusts the numbers and understands where the business is heading. Revenue, Gross Profit, Gross Margin, Overheads, EBITDA and EBITDA margin are clearly understood and forecast throughout the year. ·   The company's cost base remains aligned with forecast revenue and gross profit, with emerging gaps identified and addressed early. ·   The leadership team can see the likely full-year EBITDA outcome early enough to influence it.
• The EOS Scorecard gives us early visibility of changes in performance.
• Cash, revenue and profitability risks are identified early.
• Client and project profitability is clearly understood.
• Margin leakage and overspend are acted on quickly.
• Forecasting is reliable enough to support confident decisions.
• Financial accountability is strengthening across the business.
• Financial insight consistently results in clear decisions and actions.