Accounts Payable and Ledger Control Manager

Accounts Payable and Ledger Control Manager

About the Role

We are seeking an experienced and proactive Accounts Payable and Ledger Control Manager to oversee our Accounts Payable function and ensure the accuracy, integrity and control of our financial ledgers. The role combines hands-on purchase ledger management, month-end accounting, reconciliations and cost control, alongside team supervision and continuous process improvement. The successful candidate will play a key role in maintaining robust financial controls, ensuring accurate and timely reporting, resolving supplier and business queries, and supporting effective financial management across the business.

Key Accountabilities

• Oversee end-to-end Accounts Payable processes, including supplier onboarding, invoice processing, approval workflows, supplier queries, statement reconciliations and payment runs; supervise AP workload and backlogs.
• Ensure invoices have valid purchase orders, appropriate authorisation and supporting documentation; resolve pricing, quantity and coding discrepancies, escalating exceptions where necessary.
• Monitor late, unposted, unmatched and recurring invoices to ensure timely processing and accurate period allocation.
• Review nominal ledger cost accounts for mis postings, duplicate entries, unusual balances and missing costs, investigating discrepancies and maintaining a clear audit trail.
• Ensure accurate nominal code, company, site, department and cost-centre allocation, reconciling departmental cost reports to the general ledger.
• Prepare and reconcile month-end accruals and prepayments, including departmental apportionments, supporting evidence and reversals.
• Maintain purchase ledger, balance sheet and control account reconciliations, resolving aged differences within month-end deadlines.
• Ensure intercompany charges, recharges and balances are accurately recorded, supported and reconciled across group entities.
• Prepare supplier payment proposals, verify bank detail changes, prevent duplicate payments and maintain segregation of duties and independent payment approval.
• Provide cost schedules, variance analysis, reconciliations and corrective journals to support monthly management reporting and departmental P&Ls.
• Improve invoice automation, PO matching, coding, workflows and reporting; maintain procedures and train team members.
• Ensure compliance with VAT requirements and financial controls, maintaining audit-ready records and escalating unusual transactions or control breaches.

Person Specification

Essential

• Proven experience managing or supervising Accounts Payable / purchase ledger processes, with hands-on nominal ledger reconciliations and month-end cost accounting.
• Strong knowledge of accruals, prepayments, GRNI, intercompany accounting, VAT invoice controls, purchase ledger controls and cost-centre accounting.
• Experience with invoice automation, purchase order workflows and accounting systems.
• Strong Excel skills, including lookups, pivot tables and reconciliations.
• Ability to supervise a team, manage competing priorities, meet deadlines and work effectively under pressure.
• Proactive, solutions-focused approach to resolving business and supplier issues, with strong attention to detail.
• Confident communicator, able to challenge coding decisions and explain accounting issues to non-finance managers.
• AAT qualified or at level 4 or equivalent practical experience.

Desirable

• Experience in a multi-entity, multi-site or multi-department environment.
• Experience with Sage 200, Intact, Xero and/or QuickBooks.
• ACCA or CIMA part qualified.
• Experience improving financial processes, controls and management reporting.