Senior Accountant, Client Accounting

Purpose of the Role:
To lead and manage a team within the Client Accounting function, ensuring the accurate and timely delivery of financial reporting and accounting services across a portfolio of trust, corporate and fund relationships. The Senior Manager will play a key role in maintaining Fairway’s high standards of client service, mentoring staff and contributing to strategic initiatives to enhance operational efficiency and regulatory compliance.


Principle Responsibilities

• ​Prepare financial statements, management accounts and cash flows in compliance with applicable law and Fairway policies for trust, corporate and fund relationships.
• ​Oversee the preparation and review of financial statements, management accounts, cash flows and regulatory filings for trust, corporate and fund relationships prepared by Client Accounting team;
• ​Oversee the delivery of fund accounting services across a portfolio of private equity, real estate and alternative fund structures, including preparation and review of NAV calculations, investor allocations and capital account statements;
• ​Review and approve equalisation calculations on subsequent closings, including equalisation interest and rebalancing of investor commitments and drawn capital;
• ​Oversee the capital call and distribution cycle end-to-end, drawdown calculations, investor notices, receipt reconciliation, distribution waterfalls and carried interest allocations;
• ​Act as the primary point of contact for key clients, auditors, and internal stakeholders;
• ​Maintain user access rights and role-based permissions with accounting systems; ensuring segregation of duties and compliance with internal controls;
• ​Lead accounting system migrations, upgrades and implementations — scoping data requirements, mapping and cleansing legacy data, overseeing data conversion, reconciling opening balances and managing parallel-run and post-migration validation;
• ​Configure and update system parameters, chart of accounts, and reporting templates to reflect evolving business and regulatory requirements;
• ​Drive process efficiency across the bookkeeping function — standardising chart of accounts and posting conventions, streamlining month-end and year-end close routines, and reducing manual re-keying through automation of bank feeds, transaction imports and recurring journals;
• ​Lead, coach and develop a team of accountants, enhancing the culture of accountability, collaboration and continuous improvement
• ​Ensure compliance with relevant accounting standards, internal policies and regulatory requirements;
• ​Support business development efforts by contributing to proposals and onboarding new clients for financial reporting; 
• ​Complete ad-hoc projects, as required.

General Responsibilities

• ​Develop and maintain good relations with team members and other staff;  
• ​Ensure all work is conducted in accordance with internal procedures and recognised accounting principles; 
• ​Maintain the highest standards of confidentiality and security in terms of client affairs and records and all sensitive and personal data for Company affairs and its employee’s; 
• ​Monitor performance against personal and developmental targets; 
• ​Identify areas where further training for staff would be beneficial, assist in the arrangement of training and accounting education; 
• ​Maintain an awareness of all regulatory and fiscal obligations, providing guidance to the business as required; 
• ​Ensure accurate maintenance of records; and 
• ​Achievement of client deadlines and KPI’s.

People Management Responsibilities:

• ​To effectively supervise the management of the Client Accounting team to ensure a positive and proactive approach to all client work;
• ​Take a lead role in recruitment, Performance Development Reviews, manage absence and, with support and guidance from HR, handle disciplinary and performance issues, as required;
• ​To lead, develop and mentor other team members and provide technical advice and support, as required;
• ​To be a good role model and representative of the Fairway brand, values and ethos; and 
• ​To manage and set staff KPIs.
  

Competencies

• Excellent analytical, interpersonal, oral and written communication skills; 
• Strong leadership, training and mentoring skills; 
• Ability to thrive in a dynamic team environment; 
• Professionalism, dependability, integrity and trustworthiness combined with a cooperative attitude; 
•  Highly motivated self-starter with ability to multitask and complete assignments within time constraints and deadlines;
• Dedicated to superior client service; 
•  Strong organisational skill and attention to detail;
• Developed understanding of accounting theory;
• Proficiency with email and Microsoft Office applications; and
• Ability to work cooperatively and collaboratively with all levels of employees and management to maximise performance, creativity, problem solving and results. 

Professional Qualifications and Minimum Relevant Experience:

• Minimum 10 years' experience in an accounting role, including demonstrable fund accounting experience within a fiduciary or fund administration environment;
• ​Practical experience of equalisation, capital calls, drawdowns and distribution waterfalls;
• ​Experience working with NavOne, including system administration and configuration;
• ​Experience of accounting system migration or implementation projects, including data conversion and validation;
• ​Demonstrable track record of delivering process improvement or automation within a bookkeeping or accounting operations function;
• ​Professionally Qualified (ACCA, ACA or equivalent).
  

​IT Skills

• Advanced Excel skills, including large data set manipulation, lookups, pivot tables and reconciliation of migrated data;
• ​General competency in Microsoft Office e.g. Word, Excel, and Outlook; and  
• ​Experience of report writing.