Assistant Accountant

Watson Farley & Williams is an international law firm advising on complex disputes and transactions through local knowledge and an integrated international network.  We have a strong sector focus, combining our technical excellence with deep industry knowledge across Energy, Transport and associated Infrastructure.

The firm has achieved rapid expansion and year-on-year growth owed almost entirely to a focused strategy, strong leadership and the quality of its people.  The next stage in the firm’s growth plan is to achieve full-service strength within core sectors across the global platform.

We strive for excellence in all that we do and view investment in our people as key to achieving our business goals and values, which rest on developing deep and long-lasting relationships externally and internally through respect, sharing, communication and integrity.

Our global practice is integrated across our offices in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australia and North America delivering consistently high levels of service across borders and locally through a deep understanding of local business customs and culture.

We are committed to creating an inclusive workplace to attract and retain the most talented people from all backgrounds and cultures.  We believe in celebrating difference and that people from any background can rise to the top, ensuring opportunities to develop and progress are available for all.

The role

This temporary position at the Athens Finance Team working closely with the wider Global Finance Team and Athens based Business Function team members.

The team

The successful candidate will be part of the Athens cashiering team with the following responsibilities, but will also be expected to provide cover for other members of the team during periods of absence:

Key Activities

Duties include but may not be limited to the following:

• Processing of all financial transactions for both office and client account in accordance with the firms’ rules correctly on a daily basis to the global finance system, the local finance system and uploaded to myDATA.
• Performing daily/monthly reconciliations of the firms’ office and client accounts (Unicredit/Citibank/RBS) - ensuring all transactions have been processed in a timely manner and in accordance with the firms’ rules regarding client money.
• Performing transfers from client to office or office to client account
• Performing regular reviews of the firms’ online banking system to ensure that all receipts have been processed and fee earners have been notified.
• Calculate and apply all interest calculations on the client account as necessary.
• Assist/liaise with the firms’ bankers, advisors and auditors.
• Liaise with Partners to ensure residual client balances are regularly reviewed and cleared.
• Liaising with Partners to ensure that annual statements are sent to clients for client balances held as necessary.
• Processing of Supplier and Professional Disbursement Invoices and daily control of Sportello, cloud system
• Ensuring the timely payment of invoices in accordance with supplier payment terms and/or in accordance with the firms’ rules regarding client money Reconciliation and maintenance of Supplier Accounts.
• Collating and processing of corporate credit card transactions/statements.
• Posting weekly expense claims from fee earners and business function staff.
• Ordering, reconciliation and distribution of foreign currency requests if necessary
• Regular review of the firms’ exception reports.
• Liaising with the revenue team to ensure office credit balances are investigated and cleared as necessary.
• Assisting with additional ad hoc duties as agreed with the Cashiers Supervisor.

Skills Required

• Previous experience as a Legal Cashier preferred including client accounting.
• Full working knowledge of Aderant, SoftOne, myDATA and Emburse systems.
• Attention to detail and the ability to prioritise workloads.  
• Good level of IT skills, including Word and Excel PowerBI.
• Good knowledge of English

We offer a competitive benefits and wellbeing package for all employees.

The Firm promotes a culture of agility and flexibility and is fully supportive of flexible working arrangements where these can be accommodated.

Respect for different backgrounds and perspectives is at the heart of our firm’s core values and we recognise the importance of fostering an inclusive environment that allows everyone to reach their full potential. This is a key feature of our Global Code of Conduct, which places diversity and inclusion at the centre of our firm’s ways of working.

We believe that exceptional client service can only be delivered by exceptional people. For this reason, we aim to attract, retain and develop the best talent from a wide range of backgrounds. All decisions relating to employment will be objective and based on merit and ability.

We are committed to ensuring that our recruitment processes are as inclusive and barrier-free as possible. This includes making adjustments for candidates with a disability or long-term health condition.  If you require adjustments to be made at any stage of the recruitment process, we’d encourage you to get in touch with a member of our team who would be happy to discuss options with you.