International Schools Partnership Careers

ISP l Financial Controller - Portugal Role Profile

Purpose of Role

The ISP Financial Controller - Portugal position reports into the Regional Finance Director, Iberia.  The individual is responsible for ensuring all financial and tax information is controlled and accurately reported, in accordance with strict deadlines, to satisfy all internal and external reporting requirements for all legal entities in Portugal.

ISP Principles

Begin with our children and students. Our children and students are at the heart of what we do. Simply, their success is our success. Wellbeing and safety are both essential for learners and learning. Therefore, we are consistent in identifying potential safeguarding issues and acting and following up on all concerns appropriately.

Treat everyone with care and respect. We look after one another, embrace similarities and differences and promote the well-being of self and others.

Operate effectively. We focus relentlessly on the things that are most important and will make the most difference. We apply school policies and procedures and embody the shared ideas of our community.

Learn continuously. Getting better is what drives us. We positively engage with personal and professional development and school improvement.

ISP Financial Controller – Portugal

Key Responsibilities

• Month                                Month Close and Statutory Reporting
  • Coordinate the monthly close process, for all schools in Portugal, ensuring reporting deadlines are met, in accordance with the ISP Group requirements.
  • Review and control to ensure financial transactions are recorded accurately in the ISP Group transactional and consolidation system Netsuite, in accordance with IFRS reporting standards
  • Produce timely financial statements, P&L, Balance sheet and cash flows, in a statutory format, including regular reconciliation to internal management reporting and local accounts.
  • Conduct semiannual reviews of balance sheet movements, providing useful explanations for significant variances.
  • Review intercompany and intracompany balances, to ensure full counterparty elimination on regional and group consolidation.  

Control and C                                     Financial Control and Compliance

• Establish and maintain an adequate internal control and compliance environment to ensure external and internal reporting is free of material misstatement
• Conduct and coordinate quarterly reviews of balance sheet reconciliations and movements, providing useful explanations for significant variances
• Establish, report and maintain strong control around credit collections for the schools.
• Be the first point of contact with ISP Group and local auditors and coordinate the completion of prepared information for the Year end audits for the ISP Group and for the local accounts.
• Ensuring that there is a clearly documented reconciliation of statutory accounts to management accounts for EBITDA and retained profit.
• Monitor and follow up on external audit issues and implement recommended improvements

• Ensure accounting treatment is consistent and aligned with Group accounting policies. Where there are local differences, maintain a reconciliation of locally reported figures to Group reported
• Ensure all external statutory, financial and tax filings are made in accordance with required deadlines
• Ensure that internal audits are fulfilled with the required deadlines.
• Ensuring that all payments to suppliers and the payroll have been properly reviewed, posted correctly and executed in line with the group authorization limits.
• Ensuring that group authorization limits are always followed.
• Ensuring that there is adequate segregation of duty controls in place to prevent fraud.
• Ensuring that all legal documents are properly fulfilled, signed and archived.

Cash Flow, Debtors and Capex

• Responsible for ensuring that local cash management is optimised
• Record and report local bank balances regularly
• Cash pooling is in place where possible
• Prepare an annual cash flow budget and maintain monthly cash flows, comparing and explaining significant monthly variances.
• Review and control the debtors reports under the Group requirements and report monthly
• Review and control to ensure that the process of debtors collections are aligned with the debtors policy of the Group
• Ensure Capex expenditure is recorded correctly in the Fixed Asset Module of Netsuite

Tax

• Ensuring that the Portuguese companies comply with tax regulations (SII reporting, payments of tax, statutory returns etc).
• Prepare the calculations of Corporation Tax (annual and payments in advance)
• Ensuring that the Portuguese companies comply with all non-tax statutory requirements (company secretarial etc).
• Work with Region tax on group tax matters such as transfer pricing and to ensure that the tax profile of the Portugueses companies are optimised
• Ensure the policy, procedures and practices relating to taxation comply fully with all legal and regulatory requirements and codes of practice /conduct
• Liaising with Region and external tax advisors as appropriate
• Maintain a good technical knowledge of relevant tax policies and processes

Systems

• Assist in the implementation, administration and full adoption of the ISP core accounting platform, Netsuite, and supporting other key ISP core system implementations such as the ISAMs Billing module.
• Organise and coordinate training when required.
• Provide feedback, suggestions and input from the Portuguese schools, to help develop the systems and facilitate efficient and consistent finance processes and reporting across the region.

Integration

• Working closely with the Onboarding Manager of Iberia Region to ensure that acquired schools are integrated into ISP processes and ISP reporting in a timely manner.
• Implementing ISP’s accounting policies and other group policies
• Assist in gathering sufficient information to support calculations and accounting entries for Group acquisition accounting for new acquisitions in Portugal.

Team Leadership

• A key finance representative for ISP in the Portugal Schools
• Develop a partnering approach with the school teams, providing guidance, training and technical accounting and advisory support
• Ensure that finance control capability in the Portugal schools is continually improved.
• Ensure that the Finance Managers, in the schools, are trained on all areas of their responsibilities and fully understand and are capable to perform their roles.
• Ensure that the Finance Managers have clear objectives and goals and are regularly appraised in line with Group policy

Qualifications and Experience

Financial Control

• Possesses an in-depth understanding, challenges reasons for variances, and can effectively challenge accounting principles and policies, statutory and management reporting and how it can be applied to optimize performance and controls risk.
• Sets strategy and financial targets for the Portuguese companies for reaching the optimum balance sheet in line with the group strategy. Understands and can effectively challenge the levers of effective balance sheet & cash positions.
• Takes ownership of reporting and disclosure processes and carrying out reviews to enable confident signoff of all relevant financial information.
• Knowledge of IFRS reporting standards

Managing Risk/Regulatory Compliance/Internal Control

• Actively searches for risks using internal and external data sources across all areas of financial control, regulatory, tax and internal controls. Monitors and ensures appropriate mitigation plans are in place.
• Interfaces with senior management and outside auditors on control issues and practices in geographical area and takes a lead in ensuring that robust processes are in place to capture, report on and resolve control weaknesses.

Tax Governance & Planning

• Understands and can effectively challenge the tax agenda for Iberia, has a good understanding of group structure and the potential impact of business decisions.
• Aware of the group’s historic tax planning principles and the constraints and opportunities this offer for future business decisions in area of responsibility.

Other

• Fluency in English and Portuguese is essential. Spanish would be advantageous.
• Regional Office is based in Madrid.
• Occasional travel within Spain and Portugal may be required.

ISP Leadership Competencies

You consistently demonstrate and role-model the ISP Leadership Competencies in all that you do.

1. Collaboration. Takes an active part in leading their school or region; is cooperative and a genuine team player, developing positive, supportive relationships with colleagues to solve problems and maximise opportunities.

1. Learning & Getting Better. Continually demonstrates personal commitment and passion for learning and getting better using evidence and feedback; supporting others in their continual learning, development and growth.

1. Innovation Leadership. Is good at creating an environment where ideas for learning initiatives and services are generated and is able to motivate and inspire others through the process of creation through to completion.

1. Outcome driven. Can be counted on to find solutions. Is consistently looking to exceed goals and is focused on KPIs.

1. Resilience. Can deal with setbacks and challenges calmly and effectively.

1. Community Focus. Is committed to meeting and exceeding the needs and expectations of our students and their families.

1. Integrity & Ethical Management. Has the ability to work ethically and with integrity; helps others feel valued; upholds and models the ISP Vision, Purpose and Principles.

ISP Commitment to Safeguarding Principles

ISP is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. All post holders are subject to appropriate vetting procedures and satisfactory Criminal Background Checks or equivalent covering the previous 10 years’ employment history.