Jillian Thorpe

• Managed responsibilities for two critical workstreams within Sector Annual Report and Accounts (SARA).
• Directed overall consolidation and production of accounts, guaranteeing stakeholder engagement with commissioning and negotiation with the NAO.
• Ensured all necessary information was incorporated into SARA report through meticulous coordination.
• Implemented IFRS 16 into 2022/23 accounts, significantly enhancing asset recognition protocols and no material findings identified.
• Supervised Land and Buildings recognition process amidst FRS102 and IFRS discrepancies for over 16,000 occupancies to ensure accurate assessments made.
• Coordinated responses to inquiries with NAO, maintaining effective communication throughout project.

• Led a team of three to develop and collect financial data from Academy sector.
• Handled queries from developers and academy trust staff at various levels.
• Oversaw PESA and SUPPS submissions into the department of over 2,400 Academy Trusts.
• Key achievements was managing the team after the line manager had left. New in role and drove process to ensure all targets were met and the online form went line on time.
• Collaborated with knowledgeable staff member to navigate form development challenges.

Led finance team of eight, producing accurate financial accounts and budgets.

Implemented annual timetables, coordinating staff responsibilities and deadlines effectively.

Closed relevant ledgers and reconciled holding accounts for final accounts preparation.

• Reviewed working papers to ensure alignment with financial information analysis.
• Facilitated audits by addressing queries from auditors, clarifying processes and documentation.
• Achieved timely submission of accounts to authorities and WGA to HMT.
• Integrated IFRS accounting standards into accounts, restating prior figures without extra resources.
• Eliminated balancing figure in accounts, enhancing efficiency and streamlining processes.

• Assisted Capital and Technical accountant, leading VAT and insurance management.
• Oversaw completion of WGA upon introduction, ensuring compliance with regulations.
• Managed grants reconciliation while supporting several budget managers.
• Facilitated final accounts process and contributed to production of annual accounts.
• Assisted in the streamlining of budget setting and monitoring processes for enhanced accuracy.
• Introduced robust grant application and monitoring process, establishing clear controls.
• Developed training for staff, resulting in comprehensive grants register for council.

• Finance Officer – working in the Council’s central finance office. Responsibility for reconciling payroll accounts and dealing with queries on unallocated items, completing the authorities VAT return and assisting the councils VAT officer both with queries and providing training to officers. Feeding relevant reconciliations into the council’s accounts at the year end and ensuring all deadlines were met.

• Auditor – Accouting Assistant Technicain. Progressed to now leading the audits at schools and training new staff on the school’s audit programme. With the introduction of the new audit software Gaileo, I was also given the responsibility for training staff up and keeping staff informed of best practice and new features.

• Trainee Accounting Assistant – working in the council’s internal audit section. Responsible for assisting on audits both for the county’s schools and internal finance offices.

• Income Officer – responsibility of allocating the income received by the Council daily to the correct invoices or account codes and reconciling the income statement. Key achievement here was reducing the unallocated holding accounts from £10,000 to £70 before I moved roles.

• Held various different customer service roles
• From starting on the counter as a cashier handling day to day customer transactions
• Progressing to interviewing and opening new accounts and applying for loans
• To supporting the counter manager as a supervisor, responsible for ordering the daily cash and ensuring that the ATM’s had sufficient money in.

• Dealing with customers, queries, till transactions
• Balancing the till on a night and invoice input