1. Job Description & Person Specification Costing Accountant February 2017

2. Job Title: Division: Department: Reporting To: Location: Pay Band:
Costing Accountant
Division:
Corporate
Department:
Finance
Reporting To:
Financial Management
Location:
Cheltenham General Hospital and/or Gloucester Royal Hospital
Pay Band: 8A
Hours:
37.5
Date:
February 2017
Job Purpose
The post holder will influence decision making at a strategic level through full membership of the Senior Financial Management team and through the provision of business and financial advice to Senior Clinical and Operational Managers.
You will participate fully in the corporate work of the Finance Department and to provide leadership to the team that supports both the Trust and the Divisions in achieving their respective financial objectives and in implementing national and local policies across the Trust.
Key duties include the development of reporting systems for the delivery of complex service line and patient level costing information to the Divisions on a quarterly (moving to monthly) basis in a concise and accessible format, using tables, graphs and other communication tools.

3. Key Dimensions
You will lead in providing high quality and timely;
Financial information through the development of Service Line and Patient Level income and expenditure reporting
Development of financial dashboards suitable for clinical and non clinical staff
Development of both internal and external benchmarking and comparative information
Delivery of the Trust’s annual Reference Costs return and Education & Training return
Delivery of an annual Private Patient price list to be used for Trust contracts with external Private Providers
Delivery and financial support for Overseas Visitors
The Trust has an annual income of circa £500m
The post holder will provide supervision including appraisals, day-to-day line management, performance, motivation, interview and appointment for 1 member of staff

4. Key Responsibilities
Service Line Reporting (SLR) and Patient Level Costing (PLICS)
Proactively manage and contribute to the provision of timely and accurate Patient Level Income and Costing Information.
Help coordinate the production of the timetable for completing SLR/PLICS information and communicate this to Trust Staff.
Continually review and update with finance and non-finance staff apportionment methods to reflect the most appropriate ways to allocate costs.
Assist with the development and further roll out of SLR/PLICS information.
Proactively contribute to the communication of SLR/PLICS information and to liaise with Divisional and Service Line Teams to enhance understanding and to help with clinical and management engagement in this important financial information tool.
Develop reporting systems for the delivery of complex service line reporting and patient level costing information to the Divisions on a monthly basis in a concise and accessible format, using tables, graphs and other communication tools.
To interpret Service Line Reporting outputs, working closely with Clinicians, Finance Staff and Operational Management teams, to investigate issues and highlight key variances.
In conjunction with the Head of Income and Costing ensure that the principles of Service Line Reporting and Patient Level Costing are understood by all key stakeholders.
Build relationships with both key clinical and operational stakeholders, and the information and contracting department, to ensure accurate information is collected for the apportionment of costs.
Develop the use of dashboards with Divisional Management Teams and Clinicians to improve the communication of income and expenditure at service line and patient level.
Ensure systems and practices are in place to generate and help complete the Trust’s Reference Costing return in accordance with the national deadline, and ensure that it reconciles with the Trust year-end accounts.
To benchmark Health Care Groups (HRG) returns and to investigate and report on substantial variances.
Help analyse costs within Reference Costs submissions working with clinicians and key personnel ensuring accuracy and a thorough understanding of the Trusts Costs.
To co-ordinate the production and distribution of regular Service Line Monitoring Reports in accordance with deadlines.

5. Key Responsibilities
Costing
Lead the production of the National Schedule of Reference Costs.
Lead the production of the national Education & Costing return.
Maintain and review internal costing systems to meet the changing requirements of the production of Reference Costs. Make recommendations and changes/upgrades to systems to reflect these changing requirements.
Continually review and update with finance and non-finance staff apportionment methods to reflect the most appropriate ways to allocate costs.
Explain to all staff the rationale behind improving Reference Cost data and identify areas for improvement in data collection and coding, and recommend appropriate solutions.
Audit final output to original source information to ensure consistency.
Keep up to date and ensure adherence with Monitor Approved Costing guidance, HFMA Costing Standards and Reference Cost guidance. Interpreting the guidance to establish information requirements for the Trust.   
Pricing Strategy
Lead in the production of an annual price list to support the Private Patient office in line with Trust strategy.
Lead on the production of non-PbR tariffs and other local prices as required for annual contracts with commissioners and other provider organisations.
Commercial Aspects
Lead on the financial support to the Private Patients Office.
Lead on financial support for Overseas Visitors.

6. Key Responsibilities
Communications and Working Relationships
The post holder will require excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
The post holder will be required to present highly complex and highly sensitive financial information to large audiences of varying experience. This will require highly developed presentation and influencing skills.
The post holder will require negotiation and persuasive skills when communicating contentious information to staff and directorates where there may be significant barriers to acceptance.
Attend meetings in the role of key finance lead for costing, SLR and PLICS and providing responses both written and verbal on costing issues. This will often include complex issues, which are open to interpretation and will require a multi layered communication and influencing skills.
Staff Management and Training
Supervision of 1 member of staff, including appraisals, day to day line management, performance, motivation, interview and appointment; delegating work to them and monitoring their performance.
Participate in the provision of Finance training programmes to Budget Holders and other non-finance staff.
Most Challenging Part of the Job
Frequent concentration on complex issues where complete accuracy is imperative within tight deadlines, despite regular interruptions
Manage own workload within a complex and pressurised environment, maintaining a professional attitude and sound judgement in the face of constantly changing demands and priorities.
Provide specialist financial advice, recommendations and options to Senior Clinicians and Managers often in the context of conflicting demands and limited resources, having regard to Department of Health guidance, professional accounting standards and the needs of the Trust.
Make independent decisions based on judgement and experience when presented with large volumes of complex financial information.

7. Physical, Mental & Emotional Effort & Working Conditions
Physical Effort
Light or occasionally moderate physical work such as carrying equipment for workshop presentations, committee meetings etc. The role is primarily office and computer based in a sitting position. Physical effort beyond this and walking between various areas of the site is not required.
Mental Effort
The role will require periods of intense concentration and mental agility, with numerical and non-numerical information in electronic and written form. Interaction is required with colleagues in a variety of situations. Strong influencing skills and mental resilience are required to maintain focus and deliver the main requirements of the role. The workload will be varied and possibly unpredictable so initiative is required to prioritise, resolve problems, undertake enquiries and obtaining information from other members of staff.
Emotional effort
The role will require line management and interaction with colleagues in a variety of situations, including tight deadlines, performance management, and prolonged periods of concentration. The post holder will be required to maintain emotional strength and integrity in these situations to deliver an appropriate professional outcome.
Working Conditions
The role is largely office based and is not expected to be exposed to excessive noise or other environmental hazards. The post holder is likely to spend a significant amount of time with divisional colleagues, some of which may be in clinical areas, but this will always be appropriately supervised and the post has no direct clinical responsibility or exposure.

8. Knowledge, Skills & Experience Required
Knowledge and Work Experience:
Minimum of 3 years post qualification experience
Experience of financial management within a large organisation
Experience of working at a senior managerial level
At least 5 year’s experience of using computerised financial systems
Ability to demonstrate knowledge and experience of control systems and procedures
Ability to interpret financial information in conjunction with workload and other data and advise accordingly
Experience of staff management and leadership
A good technical working knowledge of the NHS financial regime
Experience of financial management within an NHS organisation (desirable)
A sound appreciation of accounting techniques, technical issues and costing
Qualifications and Training:
Qualified Accountant (CCAB / CIMA)
Track record of continuous professional development
Full driving licence and access to a car during working hours
Communication and Interpersonal Skills:
Strong communication skills, both orally and in writing
The ability to interpret highly complex numerical data and to communicate effectively with non financial professionals
Able to influence and persuade others and inspire and motivate staff
Excellent negotiation skills
Organisational Skills:
Project management skills
Excellent organisational and time management skills
Personal Qualities:
Consistent professionalism and objectivity
Confident and approachable
Good listener
Able to work independently
Physical Skills:
IT literate with practical computer application skills covering Microsoft products, including an advanced level of Excel spreadsheet and pivot tables.
Ability to move between GHFT sites. This is largely an office based post but requires the post holder to visit sites within and external to GHFT.

9. I confirm that this is an accurate reflection of my current responsibilities :
Signed by post holder:………………………………………………………………………………..
Name of post holder:……………………………………………………………………………….....
Date:…………………………………………………………………………………………………………...