Culinary Collective | London (Hybrid) | Permanent | Reports to: Finance Director
About Culinary Collective
Culinary Collective is a London-based multi‑site hospitality group operating a portfolio of distinct food, drink and events venues, including Flat Iron Square, Pyro, Spring Street Pizza, Heard Borough and Rae’s, with further venues in development.
We are building a best‑in‑class finance function to support the group’s next phase of growth combining rigorous financial control with commercial insight, automation and scalable processes. This role sits at the operational heart of that function.
Role Purpose
The Accounting Manager is the engine room of the day‑to‑day finance function at Culinary Collective.
Working closely with the Finance Director, you will own the transactional finance processes across accounts payable and receivable, manage the relationship with key finance platforms (Lightyear, Moss, Xero/NetSuite), oversee the work delivered by our outsourced accounting provider Williams Stanley, and produce the weekly and monthly reporting that keeps the business informed.
This is a hands‑on role requiring someone who is process‑driven, highly organised and comfortable holding both internal teams and external providers accountable for accuracy and timeliness.
Key Responsibilities
Accounts Payable
- Own the Lightyear approval workflow — managing approvals, following up on outstanding items and ensuring the approval matrix is applied correctly.
- Maintain supplier master data including Lightyear supplier mapping to the chart of accounts.
- Complete supplier onboarding forms and coordinate director sign‑off in line with company policy.
- Manage the Moss corporate card platform — top‑ups, reimbursements and reporting.
- Oversee aged creditors with Williams Stanley, reviewing regularly and escalating issues to the Finance Director.
- Review and oversee payment run preparation (BACS/CHAPS) by Williams Stanley, ensuring supplier statements are reconciled and ledgers are kept clean.
Accounts Receivable
- Oversee sales invoice raising, Stripe/third‑party platform reconciliations, daily cash vs Toast reconciliations and events sales reconciliations against Tripleseat — all performed by Williams Stanley.
- Own aged debtors — review regularly, manage debt chasing and elevate material balances to the Finance Director.
- Ensure AR processes are accurate, timely and in line with agreed procedures.
Weekly Reporting
- Prepare and distribute the weekly Moss spending report and weekly Lightyear report for Finance Director review.
- Oversee and review the weekly COGS reconciliation and weekly payroll reconciliation produced by Williams Stanley.
- Produce GP margin and menu analysis to support commercial decision‑making.
- Support the Finance Director on the weekly cash flow forecast (4‑week rolling).
Monthly Reporting & Accounting
- Accountable for the monthly P&L production and reconciliation, with Williams Stanley responsible for preparation.
- Review and sign off the monthly/quarterly certificate for Heard Soho and SSL entities.
- Oversee balance sheet reconciliations prepared by Williams Stanley — reviewing for completeness and accuracy.
- Review VAT return preparation by Williams Stanley prior to submission.
- Support the Finance Director on month‑end close and management accounts delivery.
Systems & Platform Administration
- Administer and maintain the Moss platform — user access, spend limits and configuration.
- Oversee Lightyear workflow configuration in partnership with Williams Stanley.
- Maintain the Xero/NetSuite chart of accounts in partnership with Williams Stanley.
- Identify opportunities to improve and automate transactional finance processes across the group’s platform stack.
Essential — Qualifications & Experience
- Part‑qualified or qualified accountant (AAT, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent) with solid, hands‑on transactional and management accounting experience.
- Strong AP and AR background — comfortable owning end‑to‑end processes at a multi‑entity environment and experienced in producing and reviewing management reporting including P&L reconciliations, COGS analysis and balance sheet reviews.
- Confident using cloud‑based finance platforms — experience with Xero, NetSuite, Lightyear, Moss or similar strongly preferred.
- Experience working alongside an outsourced accounting provider or in a shared service.
- Demonstrable track record of managing competing deadlines with precision and without close supervision.
- Highly organised and detail‑oriented — you notice errors and take ownership of fixing them.
- Proactive communicator — comfortable chasing internal and external parties to keep processes moving.
- Process‑driven: you look for ways to improve and document what you do.
- Comfortable working in a lean, fast‑moving environment where priorities can shift.
- Strong Excel skills — able to build reconciliation models and reporting tools without relying on others.
- Experience in hospitality, food & beverage, events or a multi‑site consumer business.
- Familiarity with Toast (POS), Tripleseat (events), Nory or similar hospitality platforms.
- Experience with Agicap or similar cash flow management tools.
Reporting & Working Relationships
- Reports to: Finance Director.
- Direct reports: None at outset.
- Key internal relationships: Finance Director, CFO, venue General Managers, HR.
- Key external relationships: Williams Stanley (outsourced accounting provider), Lightyear, Moss.
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