Apply: WGSN/Ascential Events - Financial Analyst - Hong Kong

Ascential plc is a global business-to-business media company listed on the London Stock Exchange. We are a business-to-business media company connecting leading professionals in more than 150 countries from our UK, US and UAE operation locations through insightful market-leading Exhibitions, inspiring Festivals, and precise Informational Services. Within Ascential plc, the core business brands include WGSN, Ascential Events, Plexus and EMAP.
 
Ascential Events bring communities together to be inspired, to trade, to network and to learn. From the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity to Money 20/20 to Spring/Autumn Fair, we work hard for our customers to produce valuable events that make a meaningful impact on people, brands and businesses across the world.
 
WGSN gives creative-led businesses the solution to make better decisions. Its strategic-level news and reporting cover all aspects of business and retail, from executive interviews to buyers briefings, retail store analysis and marketing best practice. Specific and accurate trend forecasts from five years ahead spark ideas and confidence to design the right product at the right time for our customers in fashion, technology, hospitality, branding and automotive sectors.
 
The Financial Analyst is a contributor for producing accurate and timely financial and management accounting information in relation to the various departments sitting within WGSN and Ascential Events (including actuals, forecasts and budgets).
 
The role holder will have confidence to communicate financial information with both Finance and non-Finance teams to ratify and deepen their understanding of the financial performance in APAC. The role will have a special emphasis on China operations. Being able to produce accurate work against tight deadlines is critical for this roles success in a supporting growing and changing business. 
 
The Financial Analyst will support the head office budget holders in determining and executing future strategy and decision making.
 
Role Responsibilities:
 
Strategic Accounting (weighting 25%):

• Use management information to track progress against an aggressive 3 year plan and to identify new trends and opportunities.
• Create and produce the key success KPI’s for your budget holders.
• Support the budget holders in cost analysis and business case appraisals to support future commercial decisions.
• Liaise closely with your budget holders to improve information available, make it more efficient, easier to produce and streamline reporting to ensure one version of the truth.
• Management Accounting (weighting 50%): 
• The person will be responsible for dealing with china billings with the support from our accounting agent BDO.
• Produce accurate and timely monthly management accounting (including billings, revenue, accruals, prepayments, accurate monthly flash reporting, monthly commentary and full year outlook)
• Maintain tight cost control against budgets.
• Produce clear cost trackers each month with clearly visible fixed costs and discretionary costs.
• In the event of any cost mitigation plans, understand which cost lines can be immediately pulled in order to achieve a better EBITDA.
• Detailed understanding and tracking of headcount, listed by employee with knowledge of all open roles and the operational impact of these.
• Production of monthly KPI’s for your budget holders.
• Weekly and monthly review of cost trackers with budget holders as required ensuring that they full own and are accountable for their areas.
• Reporting excellence for the marketing, content and other functions, ensuring the on-going improvement of the reporting in these areas.
• Produce accurate forecasting and budgeting as required (detailed workings bottom up for each department, posting to accounting systems and budget presentations and strategy).
• Assist in any business change projects and ad hoc projects (recording and monitoring costs against plans, governance around project status and delivery, system implementation, internal control policy implementation, etc).
• Financial Accounting and Governance (weighting 25%): 
  • Maintain tight balance sheet control and provide assistance in any internal and external audits required.
  • Create monthly robust accounting processes for tracking costs and therefore support for monthly accruals.
  • Governance for processes around new employees, leavers, pay/role changes and expense claims.
  • Support on finance operations including sales commissions, accounts payable, treasury.
  • Ensure compliance with local statutory requirements.
  • Skills and experience:
  • Qualified accountant with commercial experience
  • Experience in handling full set of accounts, budget and forecast
  • Experience in dealing with external audit requirements and profits tax filing, PRC audit and PRC tax
  • Experience in Oracle and Hyperion
  • Excellent at Microsoft Excel
  • Ideally with experience in dashboard and Salesforce.
  • Experience of working in a fast paced environment with continuous change and improvement.
  • Experience of maintaining tight cost control and introducing processes in order to achieve this
  • Good communication skills, essential for daily, weekly and monthly liaison with budget holders in English, Chinese and Mandarin
  • Enjoy working in multinational environment
  • Mature, reliable, hands on, proactive, collaborative and be able to meet deadline