Finance Manager

Finance Manager

Salary: £55,000 to £65,000, depending on experience and qualifications Location: Remote within the UK, with quarterly and occasional meetings in Shoreditch, London Contract: Full-time, permanent Reporting to: CEO, with regular reporting to the CFO Works closely with: Head of Compliance and Regulatory Affairs, Head of Operations, external accountants and payroll provider

The role

Take ownership of day-to-day finance within a small, fast-moving regulated payments business.

Finance forms the largest part of the role. You will produce clear management information, complete VAT returns and maintain reliable financial controls. You will work directly with the CFO and CEO, giving them accurate information and confident commentary to support decisions.

You will also support two important areas of the business. You will help the compliance team complete merchant and partner onboarding, and you will provide structured executive support to the CEO.

The work is varied and visible. You will need to move comfortably between scheduled finance deadlines, detailed onboarding checks and changing executive priorities.

What you will do

Finance and management information

• Coordinate the month-end close and maintain accurate, reconciled accounting records.
• Produce monthly management information for the CFO and CEO, including profit and loss, balance sheet, cash flow, budgets, forecasts, variances and relevant business measures.
• Explain financial performance clearly, identify material issues and recommend practical follow-up.
• Prepare and submit accurate VAT returns for the relevant companies, maintaining complete Making Tax Digital records and supporting evidence.
• Maintain bank, balance sheet, supplier, customer and control-account reconciliations.
• Support cash-flow planning, invoicing, credit control, expenses and supplier-payment processes within the agreed approval controls.
• Keep Xero accurate and well organised after the transfer.
• Coordinate payroll inputs with the external payroll provider and review outputs before approval.
• Work with external accountants and advisers on year-end accounts, corporation tax, audits and other statutory requirements.
• Coordinate the financial records and evidence required for R&D tax relief work.
• Maintain clear finance procedures, calendars and control records so recurring work is completed accurately and on time.
• Improve reporting and finance processes where a simpler, more reliable approach is available.

Compliance onboarding support

• Support the Head of Compliance and Regulatory Affairs with merchant, partner and other regulated onboarding work.
• Gather and review company, ownership, banking, trading and operational information.
• Complete assigned due-diligence checks using approved procedures and record the evidence clearly.
• Identify missing, inconsistent or higher-risk information and escalate it promptly.
• Maintain complete, audit-ready onboarding files, trackers and review dates.
• Request further information from applicants in clear, professional language.
• Help produce onboarding management information and evidence for regulatory reporting.
• Track actions and deadlines through to completion.
• The Head of Compliance and Regulatory Affairs retains final risk, approval and regulatory-submission decisions.

Executive support

• Coordinate diary priorities, meetings and occasional travel for SMT.
• Prepare agendas, papers, briefings and supporting information.
• Record decisions and actions, then follow up with the relevant people.
• Draft clear emails, reports and internal documents.
• Coordinate with colleagues and external advisers on confidential or time-sensitive work.
• Handle commercially sensitive, personal and regulatory information with care and discretion.

What success looks like

Within your first six months:

• Monthly finance reporting is accurate, timely and useful to the CFO and CEO.
• VAT, payroll and other recurring finance deadlines have clear owners, evidence and controls.
• Cash-flow information and financial exceptions are visible early enough for the business to act.
• Compliance onboarding files are complete, organised and easy to review.
• The CEO has reliable support across priorities, meetings, preparation and follow-up.
• External accountants, payroll providers and advisers receive accurate information on time.

Person specificationEssential experience and skills

• Practical experience owning day-to-day finance in a small or medium-sized organisation.
• Experience preparing monthly management accounts or management information for senior leaders.
• Hands-on experience preparing and submitting UK VAT returns.
• Strong working knowledge of Xero and experience using Sage.
• Experience completing month-end reconciliations and maintaining accurate ledgers.
• A sound understanding of UK accounting, payroll and tax processes.
• Excellent Excel or Google Sheets skills, including reconciliations, reporting and data analysis.
• The confidence to explain financial information and exceptions directly to a CFO and CEO.
• Excellent organisation and the ability to manage recurring deadlines alongside urgent work.
• Clear written and verbal communication.
• Strong attention to detail and a reliable approach to confidential information.
• The judgement to work independently, ask useful questions and escalate concerns promptly.
• Willingness and ability to attend quarterly and occasional meetings in Shoreditch.

You may be AAT qualified, part-qualified ACCA, CIMA or ACA, or qualified through substantial relevant experience. Practical competence and sound judgement matter most.

Useful additional experience

• Finance experience in fintech, payments, financial services or another regulated business.
• Merchant onboarding, KYB, customer due diligence or compliance administration.
• Working with outsourced accountants and payroll providers.
• Preparing information for R&D tax relief work.
• Supporting a CEO, founder or senior executive.
• Experience in a small team where responsibilities are broad and priorities can change quickly.

Working arrangements

This is a UK-based remote role. You will attend a planned quarterly meeting in the Shoreditch office and occasional, but infrequent additional meetings when required. Additional meetings will be arranged with reasonable notice.

The role involves regular contact with the CEO, CFO, Head of Operations and Head of Compliance, so you will need to be accessible and responsive during agreed working hours.

About Wonderful

Wonderful Payments Limited is an FCA-authorised payment institution providing Pay by Bank services. Its products support businesses, charities and enterprise customers through Wonderful, One, Asima and the regulated payment service used by Wonderful.org.

Your work will give a small, busy team accurate financial information, dependable controls and the practical support needed to keep important work moving.

Application

Please apply with your CV and a short note covering:

• your experience preparing VAT returns and management information;
• your experience with Sage and Xero, including any system transfer work;
• an example of working directly with senior leaders in a small organisation; and
• your interest in combining finance ownership with compliance onboarding and executive support.

Reasonable adjustments are available throughout the recruitment process.

Pay: £55,000.00-£65,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• Health & wellbeing programme
• Work from home

Work Location: Hybrid remote in London EC2A