Client Manager
Location: Greater Manchester, accessible from Stockport and Warrington
Salary: £50,000 to £60,000, depending on experience
Working Pattern: Four-day working week available
Job Type: Permanent
Sector: UK Accountancy Practice
The Opportunity
A progressive, technology-led Accountancy Practice is seeking an exceptional Client Manager to take responsibility for an established portfolio of entrepreneurial and growing businesses.
The client base primarily includes owner-managed businesses generating turnover of approximately £500,000 to £2 million. The service extends beyond annual compliance, with the practice providing commercially focused guidance similar to an outsourced Finance Director or CFO relationship.
You will oversee accounts and tax delivery, review work prepared by the team, lead annual client meetings and help business owners understand their financial position and make informed decisions.
The successful candidate must be technically credible, confident with people and able to communicate accounting and tax matters in a practical, commercially relevant way.
This is a long-term opportunity with genuine scope to contribute to the future leadership and potential employee ownership of the practice.
Key Responsibilities
You will be responsible for:
- Managing a portfolio of growing SME and owner-managed business clients
- Acting as a trusted point of contact for accounting, tax and commercial queries
- Overseeing annual accounts, Corporation Tax and Personal Tax compliance
- Reviewing working papers and annual accounts prepared by the team
- Reviewing Corporation Tax Returns
- Reviewing Personal Tax Returns
- Identifying technical errors and ensuring corrective action is taken
- Leading annual accounts and tax-review meetings
- Explaining financial results and tax liabilities clearly to clients
- Providing practical tax-planning guidance
- Liaising with HMRC regarding client queries and investigations
- Supporting the onboarding of new clients
- Implementing Xero and improving clients’ accounting systems
- Resolving inaccurate or incomplete Xero records
- Supporting management accounts and Fathom reporting
- Advising clients on financial performance and commercial decisions
- Managing workflow and deadlines
- Allocating and reviewing work completed by team members
- Managing the work of an overseas team member
- Providing technical support and coaching to colleagues
- Contributing to the development of systems, processes and service delivery
- Identifying opportunities to provide additional support to clients
- Building trusted, long-term client relationships
The detailed role requirements confirm that the Client Manager must be capable of reviewing accounts, Corporation Tax and Personal Tax work, supporting colleagues and leading client-review meetings. [QA What we...have Oct26 | Word]
Essential Technical Experience
Annual Accounts
You must be able to:
- Manage annual accounts assignments
- Understand and review detailed working papers
- Review reconciled Balance Sheets
- Identify inconsistencies and technical errors
- Explain annual results clearly to business owners
Corporation Tax
Strong practical knowledge is required across:
- Corporation Tax rates and thresholds
- Preparation, review and filing of returns
- Disallowable expenditure
- Capital Allowances
- Section 455 Tax
- Loss relief
- Associated companies
Experience with Research and Development claims, Group Relief, investment companies and tax reclaims would be advantageous.
Personal Tax
You should be confident preparing, reviewing and explaining Personal Tax Returns involving:
- Employment income and benefits
- Pensions
- Dividends
- Self-employment
- Interest
- Donations and pension contributions
- Rental property
- Payments on Account
- Capital Gains Tax
- SEIS or EIS where relevant
Experience providing dividend, remuneration or winding-up tax planning would be particularly valuable.
VAT
You must possess:
- Good knowledge of VAT rates and thresholds
- Strong understanding of recoverable and non-recoverable VAT
- Experience preparing, reviewing and filing VAT returns
- The ability to answer practical client VAT queries
Additional Tax Knowledge
Experience involving the following would be advantageous:
- Inheritance Tax
- CIS and gross-payment status
- Construction-industry reverse charge
- Foreign income
- Partnerships
- Corporation Tax and Section 455 reclaims
The mandatory and desirable tax requirements are detailed in the supplied client brief.
Commercial Client Support
This practice wants its Client Managers to contribute more than technical compliance.
You will help business owners understand:
- Revenue and profitability
- Cash flow
- Financial trends
- Tax liabilities
- Remuneration choices
- Management information
- Business risks
- Accounting-system weaknesses
- Opportunities to improve financial control
You should be able to turn technical accounting information into clear, practical and commercially useful conversations.
Experience providing outsourced Finance Director, CFO-style or broader business-advisory support would be particularly attractive.
Team Leadership
You will play an important role in developing the team and maintaining technical quality.
Responsibilities will include:
- Reviewing accounts and tax work
- Allocating and monitoring assignments
- Providing technical support
- Coaching team members
- Managing the work of an overseas colleague
- Giving clear and constructive feedback
- Supporting professional development
- Maintaining deadlines and service standards
- Improving consistency across the team
- Encouraging accountable and proactive working
The successful candidate should be approachable and supportive while being willing to maintain clear technical and professional standards.
About You
To be considered, you should have:
- Substantial recent UK Accountancy Practice experience
- Strong accounts and tax technical knowledge
- Demonstrable review experience
- Experience managing a client portfolio
- Confidence leading client meetings
- The ability to answer technical accounting and tax queries
- Strong Corporation Tax, Personal Tax and VAT capability
- Experience supervising or managing colleagues
- Excellent communication and client-relationship skills
- A positive, professional and approachable manner
- Commercial awareness
- Confidence using Xero and cloud-accounting systems
- The ability to work independently and take ownership
- A proactive approach to Continuing Professional Development
- An interest in helping entrepreneurial businesses grow
- The ambition to contribute to the longer-term development of the practice
ACA, ACCA or equivalent qualification would be advantageous. Strong qualified-by-experience candidates with the required technical and leadership capability may also be considered.
Personal Development and Curiosity
The practice is seeking someone who takes ownership of learning and professional development.
You should be someone who:
- Keeps technical knowledge current
- Undertakes relevant CPD without continual prompting
- Reads and researches around accounting, tax and business topics
- Uses webinars, books, podcasts and professional resources proactively
- Shares useful information with colleagues
- Asks informed questions
- Looks for better ways to serve clients
- Takes responsibility for personal and professional growth
The practice will provide support, investment and guidance, but expects senior colleagues to bring curiosity, motivation and initiative.
Four-Day Working Week
Most of the UK team works a four-day week, providing a three-day weekend.
A five-day arrangement can also be considered, with the office remaining staffed throughout the standard working week.
The exact working pattern, hours and office arrangements will be discussed during the recruitment process.
Salary and Benefits
The practice offers:
- Salary of £50,000 to £60,000, depending on experience
- Four-day working week available
- A three-day weekend for colleagues following the four-day pattern
- An established portfolio of entrepreneurial businesses
- Genuine commercial and advisory responsibility
- A modern, technology-led working environment
- Xero and Fathom exposure
- Team-management responsibility
- Scope to influence systems, service and strategy
- A possible future Employee Ownership Trust structure
- Support for professional and personal development
- A visible long-term role within the practice
Full benefits and contractual working arrangements will be confirmed during the recruitment process.
Why Consider This Opportunity?
This role may appeal if you want to:
- Move beyond compliance-led portfolio management
- Work closely with entrepreneurial clients
- Provide commercially useful financial guidance
- Lead and develop colleagues
- Use modern accounting and reporting technology
- Work a four-day week
- Influence the future development of a growing Practice
- Build towards a meaningful leadership position
- Potentially participate in a future employee-owned business
Apply in Confidence
To discuss this Client Manager opportunity confidentially, contact:
David Hawthorne-Finch
Managing Director
Hawthorne-Finch Talent Solutions
Email: d.hawthorne-finch@h-fts.com
Hawthorne-Finch Talent Solutions is acting as an employment agency in relation to this vacancy.
No CV or identifying information will be shared with the hiring practice without informed written consent for this specific opportunity.