IFS - Finance - Business Unit Coordinator (BUC) - Associate

Job description / Role

Line of Service
Internal Firm Services

Specialism
IFS - Finance

Management Level
Associate

Job Description & Summary
A career within Finance Consulting services, will provide the opportunity to work alongside CEOs, CFOs, controllers and treasurers to optimise the structure of their finance functions and improve their contribution to the business. We support our clients by addressing the challenges of achieving appropriate standards of control, efficient back office opportunities and support to the business through insight and challenge.

- Experienced BUC required, being responsible for supporting the business operations of one or more medium/large practices, for all processes from project kick-off to project closure. The role involves daily operations & processes, community building, support of sales and people processes.
- The right candidate will offer strategic support and handle operations for practice financials and account management in liaison with the BU's Partners, Directors and Business Unit Finance Analyst.  Candidate must be comfortable working with numerous internal support departments on projects relating to our people, marketing & knowledge management.
- Your local Finance Manager and Senior Associate will provide guidance regarding compliance with relevant territory policies and procedures.

Business acumen

- Provide a service directly to the Business Unit Leader in the provision of verified business unit data, information and reports and particularly KPIs. Support the BUL as required in addressing business opportunities and development. Through observation and understanding of the operation of the BU, contribute improvement and development ideas and proposals as appropriate. Support BU growth by the organisation of various internal and external business unit activities as agreed with the BUL. Help plan and prepare quarterly business review meetings, practice meetings, and monthly team meetings to include: logistics, agenda creation, meeting support, and report creation.
- Ensure that all compliance requirements for new engagements and contracts are met fully and exceptions reported.
- Help set up new opportunities, engagements and contracts and maintain existing ones using the firms iPower CRM (no longer ClientStream) and finance systems. Obtain new job codes and ensure correct use throughout the life of engagements. New jobs are to be scheduled in Retain and resourcing issues reported/resolved. Update status as needed.
 
Relationships

- Work closely with peers and team members at all levels, sharing knowledge and providing support where needed.
 
Technical capabilities

- On a monthly basis, analyse and report (vs budget) project revenue across territories for each partner and for the BU. Maintain billing, provisions and adjustments as necessary and to contract/policy. Maintain a dialogue with the Finance team in order to reconcile and verify reported data. Maintain accurate records of backlog, reconcile and report to Finance monthly. Reconcile the backlog against actual data after each rollover.
- Enter own time and expenses in accordance with firm's policy and monitor BU staff/partner performance reporting any issues to the relevant partners particularly drawing attention to backlogs and potential consequences.
- Monitor and review net investment with the partner(s) across the portfolio monthly, taking action as directed.
- Ensure that all compliance requirements for new engagements and contracts are met fully and exceptions reported.
- Assist with the creation of annual budgets for the BU, together with regular forecasts and reviews. Particularly monitor changes to headcount and maintain accurate records reporting variances against budget and guidelines.
- Assist with monitoring engagements and contracts to ensure accurate and timely recording of time and expenses to correct codes and billing in accordance with the letters of engagement. Monitor net investment and specifically WIP and debtors and report issues and risks accordingly. Monitor older WIP and confirm the billing plan. Monitor older debts and ensure that relevant partners are aware of unpaid debts and potential/actual provisions. Ensure that there is activity to chase overdue debts.
- Ensure coordination of Inter-territory engagements/ projects monitoring WIP and billing and overall engagement performance, raising issues with the partner where appropriate.
- Plan and manage events/ conferences providing a complete hosting service as required such that all objectives are met.

Whole leadership

Deal proactively with incoming calls and correspondence providing correct responses and solutions. Prepare and format documents according to the firms standards using the correct branding. Manage documentation in an orderly and systematic way so that related documents and communications can be easily retrieved in future.
 
Essential skills & attributes

- Has the competencies to perform the BUCs role effectively
- Excellent oral and written communication skills as well as basic presentation skills
- Affinity to work with quantitative data, good analytics
- Organizational talent: Ability to work within a fast-paced & unstructured environment.  Must be able to multi-task and effectively and continually prioritise
- Service-oriented attitude, proactive thinker, networker, information seeker, team player
- Excellent time management, communication and organizational skills
- Extensive knowledge of relevant computer software (e.g. Microsoft Office), Excel, PowerPoint, Lotus Notes and Power BI.
- Willingness and interest to frequently interact with and reach out to Partners, Principals and the team and to engage in limited travel for team meetings, training, etc.
- Ability to interact efficiently with senior members of the firm across multiple time zones

Requirements

Desirable skills / experience

- 1-3 years relevant experience
- Background in finance or accounting
- Experience in consulting preferred
- Understanding of the Firm's marketing and business development and the Firm's Service Offerings

Education

- University Degree

About the Company

At PwC Middle East, we've set out an ambitious purpose and strive to live it everyday: to solve important problems and build trust in society.

We're a community of solvers that come together in unexpected ways to build trust and create sustained outcomes. We solve important problems, support one another as we grow, develop and build fulfilling careers.

PwC provides industry-focused services for public and private clients across Assurance and Audit, Deals, Consulting, Tax and Legal. We draw on our development legacy that brings together the collective experience of over 7,000 people in our region with offices across 12 countries to solve for tomorrow.

We're striving to consistently deliver innovative work that builds trust and delivers sustained outcomes. And we're proud of the strength that comes from all our different backgrounds and experiences and we value everyone's uniqueness. We thrive in uncertainty, operate with integrity and leverage the diverse perspectives of our teams.

If you're looking for a place that fuels your ambition to make a difference, that matches your curiosity with continuous learning opportunities and reimagines ways of working to enable you to lead a more balanced life, then you're a future PwCer.