Financial Accountant - Gross Margin Accounting

About the team 

Join the Finance team at Argos and help bring the numbers behind a fast-moving retail business to life. Working across Sales, Margin and Property Cost Accounting, you’ll partner with commercial finance and property colleagues, collaborate with our Accenture service team and provide clear insight to Finance Leadership. It’s a visible role at the heart of period-end reporting, where accurate information and well-explained performance help the business make better decisions. 

More about the role 

As Gross Margin Accountant, you’ll take ownership of consolidating period-end results for Sales and Margin adjustments, making sure outputs are complete, accurate, supported by evidence and delivered to deadline. You’ll investigate variances against the Latest view and budget, explain the key drivers, and help identify risks and opportunities that need to be reflected in future forecasts. 

Day to day, you’ll oversee period-end activities completed by Accenture, review margin, sales and property cost balance sheets, maintain reconciliations for more complex accounts and resolve outstanding items. You’ll work with commercial finance teams to prepare Latest views and budgets, support presentations to Finance Leadership, challenge expenditure and processes where appropriate, and contribute to half-year and year-end audit activity. 

More about you 

You’ll bring a recognised accountancy qualification and practical experience of period-end accounting, consolidation and balance sheet review. You can work confidently with large volumes of financial data, trace variances to their underlying drivers and translate your findings into concise explanations for finance and commercial stakeholders. 

You’ll be comfortable taking ownership of deadlines, reviewing work completed by a third-party provider and constructively challenging colleagues when information, controls or processes need to improve. You’ll adapt your priorities as trading conditions and reporting requirements change, while maintaining accurate records, clear evidence and effective financial control. Experience in retail and knowledge of Oracle, or an equivalent finance system, would be advantageous. 

Essential criteria 

• A completed ACA, ACCA or CIMA accountancy qualification. 

• Demonstrable experience of period-end accounting, including consolidation, reconciliations and balance sheet review. 

• Proven experience analysing actual financial performance against forecast or budget and explaining material variances to stakeholders. 

• Demonstrable ability to use Excel to consolidate and analyse large financial datasets and produce accurate reporting outputs. 

• Proven experience delivering financial outputs to fixed reporting deadlines while coordinating inputs from internal teams or an external service provider.

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