Finance Manager - BSS-Finance - EMEA

Job Description - Finance Manager - BSS-Finance - EMEA (240000XG)

Finance Manager - BSS-Finance - EMEA

Firm Summary

White & Case is an elite global law firm serving leading companies, financial institutions and governments worldwide. Our long history as an international firm means we are perfectly placed to help our clients resolve their most complex legal challenges wherever they may be.

With lawyers and staff operating from more than 47 locations, working in virtually every country of the world, we have invested heavily in building a high-quality full-service practice competing at the top of the market. We are distinguished by our on-the-ground presence in the world’s key financial markets and our strengths in handling complex cross-border work.

It’s not just about our global network of offices and shared services centers; it’s the global interconnectedness of the Firm that our people, and our clients, value most. We work well together across geographic and practice boundaries. It’s one of the reasons we attract and retain cross-border work. And why we attract a diverse group of people.

Our lawyers are globally minded, enterprising, collaborative and committed to excellence. Diversity is a core value of our Firm and it has been recognized with numerous awards and top rankings around the world. Our people represent 90 nationalities and speak 80 languages.

Position Summary

This is a key role responsible for the Inventory Management and Finance Operations for the Milan office. The Finance Manager has oversight and responsibility for the finance function and initiatives in Milan including:

• Financial and Statutory Accounting
• Inventory Management
• Analysis and Reporting
• Budgeting
• Actively promotes the finance coordination and integration between Finance and other Business Services functions and implements and maintains best working practices across the office
• Responsibility for operation and continuous improvement of the financial control environment of the Milan office.
• Ensure that partners are supported in all financial matters
• Expected to deliver a strong sense of client service to the function

Duties and Accountabilities

• Managing the AP & Expenses, Treasury, Payroll and Financial Accounting functions;
• Review and reconciliation of all balance sheet and P&L accounts on a monthly basis (cash vs accrual);
• Working closely with the Head of Accounting – EMEA to ensure local statutory requirements are met.
• Preparation of statutory accounts for all locally registered statutory entities;
• Managing the auditors including, planning meetings, supervising onsite work, sign-off reviews, through to statutory submission
• Preparing tax returns for filings with local tax authorities (corporation, VAT, payroll);
• Assist with detailed review of Milan expenditure against budget;
• Responsible for local treasury management including payment runs;
• Managing the payroll of the business and payment of salaries;
• Responsible for monthly billing and cash collections of the Milan office;
• Enhance current billing and collection forecasts, to value the pipeline of future billings and collections for the office;
• Regular review of inventory with the EMEA Revenue team and assisting with collections to ensure invoices are paid within agreed terms. This will involve direct liaison with our clients.
• Working closely with the Revenue Controllers in London to ensure that Partners are met on a monthly basis and WIP and AR is managed effectively.
• Liaising with the Shared Service Centre in Manila, Tampa and the EMEA finance teams, as appropriate;
• Maintaining a continuous open dialogue with Partners and clients;
• Working closely with the Director of Financial Management, and the Accounting & Finance Operations Director- EMEA to ensure obstacles to efficient matter management are identified and systems amended to ensure maximizing of revenue generation, e.g. reducing volume of write offs, increasing profitability and encouraging prompt/automated billing from partners as well as prompt payment from clients.
• Ensure effective collaboration with the reporting team to provide timely and accurate management information to assess matter performance both in terms of recoveries and in terms of profitability.
• Other reasonable duties as the business requires.

Knowledge Skills and Abilities Required

• Professional services experience, preferably law firm experience;
• Experience of team management;
• Good knowledge of UK gap and Italian Tax/accounting rules;
• Computer literate with strong Excel skills including pivot tables and look ups;
• Excellent interpersonal and team working skills, ability to work effectively at all levels within an organization;
• Excellent oral and written communication skills;
• Demonstrate the ability to deal with difficult situations and find solutions;
• A proven ability to work to tight deadlines, juggle multiple projects and deliver under pressure;
• Must be self-motivated, highly organized, accurate, with an attention to detail and be able to work with minimal supervision;
• Flexible and enthusiastic with the ability to manage own workload and priorities to meet deadlines;
• Experience of working in a global organization, particularly EMEA;
• Experience in using Elite or 3E required.

Degree, Certification, etc.

• University Degree in Economics or equivalent;
• 5 years of experience in a similar position;
• Exposure to senior managers or partners in a large multinational organization;
• Fluent Italian and English.

Location & Reporting

• This role is based in Milan, with potential for international travel;
• This role reports to the Director of Finance Operations & Systems.