Forensic Accountant
HM Revenue and Customs
Apply before 11:55 pm on Monday 11th November 2024
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About the job
Job summary
Discover a career in your hands at HMRC. Whether you're seeking purpose, growth, or a workplace that gives you a true sense of belonging, hear from some of our employees as they share their story about what it’s really like to work at HMRC.
Visit our YouTube channel to watch the full series and come and discover your potential.
We have approximately 140 Advisory and Forensic Accountants within HMRC and by joining us you will be able to support HMRC’s drive to tackle fraud and tax evasion, whilst making a positive difference to the nation’s finances. You will play an active role in high-profile issues and ultimately your work will touch the lives of everyone in the UK.
These are accountancy roles with your work principally supporting the Fraud Investigation Service (FIS) directorate which is responsible for both civil and criminal investigations in tackling the most serious tax evasion and fraud.
New Entrants to the Civil Service will join on the entry point stated, transferees from OGD need to read the guidance on how their pay will be calculated.
See what it’s like to work at HMRC: find out more about us or ask our colleagues a question. Questions relating to an individual application must be emailed as detailed later in this advert
Job description
You will utilise your accounting knowledge and commercial experience to review and analyse the available financial evidence on each case, and summarise your findings to aid the lead accountant in reaching their expert opinion.
You will communicate with the lead accountant to ensure Court deadlines are met, and act as a point of contact to case teams in providing objective and independent accounting advice, tailored appropriately to your audience.
You will use strong report writing skills to drafting sections of the case output and might be called upon to act as a witness of fact in court to address such sections.
As you gain experience, you will be expected to take on the role of lead accountant for smaller cases to further your own growth and development.
We will support you in your role with high quality Continuous Professional Development, including accountancy, Criminal Procedure Rules, and court room skills.
Our team is passionate about career development and presently offers a “Grade SO Talent Programme” to inspire, support and recognise talented individuals who wish to progress to a Grade 7 role within HMRC’s Advisory and Forensic Accountants’ profession.
We embrace flexible working and enabling our forensic accountants to maintain a work-life balance.
Person specification
The candidate will have financial accounting experience gained in either practice, industry, public sector, or private sector and specifically including:
Analysing and interpreting a range of financial records.
Preparing or reviewing financial statements.
Considering the appropriate accounting treatment of a variety of specific transactions; and
Delivering high quality written and verbal accountancy outputs to key stakeholders.
Responsibilities:
Communicate with the lead accountant on a timely basis and regularly liaise with case teams to provide independent and objective accounting advice.
Perform a complete, accurate and reliable analysis of the available financial information to an evidential standard for each case.
With the lead accountant, consider, discuss, and interpret your analysis.
Succinctly present your findings to the lead accountant. Where required, draft sections within a Forensic Accountant case output ensuring your findings are clear and can be easily understood by case teams, a judge, or a jury.
Be a visible leader in your regional centre, including being a specific point of contact for case teams.
Demonstrate strong organisational skills to adhere to criminal disclosure requirements.
Prioritise and manage the workload of multiple cases at once.
Complete independent learning for case specific topics and engage with CPD events.
Develop and deliver bespoke training to help up skill accountancy colleagues as well as case workers and investigators.
Develop a strong rapport with colleagues and share knowledge and skills.
Adhere to your accountancy body’s code of ethics, showing integrity, objectivity, confidentiality, professional competence and due care, and professional behaviour on a continual basis.
Essential Criteria:
You must already have full and complete qualification from, and continuing membership of, one of the following professional accounting bodies:
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS).
Chartered Accountants Ireland (CAI).
The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).
The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA).
The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA).
The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW)
Please Note: Part qualified accountants are not eligible to apply for these posts.
Qualifications
Chartered Accountants Ireland (CAI).
The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).
The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA).
The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA).
The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW)
Please Note: Part qualified accountants are not eligible to apply for these posts.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Delivering at Pace
- Communicating and Influencing
Technical skills
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
- If you are successful at sift, you will be invited to a technical interview which involves:
Benefits
HMRC operates both Flexible and Hybrid Working policies, allowing you to balance your work and personal commitments. We welcome applications from those who need to work a more flexible arrangement and will agree to requests where possible, considering our operational and customer service needs.
We offer a generous leave allowance, starting at 25 days and increasing by a day for every year of qualifying service up to a maximum of 30 days.
- Pension - We make contributions to our colleagues’ Alpha pension equal to at least 27% of their salary.
- Family friendly policies.
- Personal support.
- Coaching and development.
To find out more about HMRC benefits and find out what it’s really like to work for HMRC hear from our insiders or visit Thinking of joining the Civil Service.
Things you need to know
Selection process details
How to Apply
As part of the application process, you will be asked to provide the following:
- A CV including your job history. Your CV will be scored.
- A 500-word personal statement.
Your CV will be tailored to the role advertised, detailing your job history, skills and experience. Your CV should be clear, concise and easily digestible to the reader. For each role please include:
Dates in role (MM/YY – MM/YY).
Employer.
Job Title.
A description of your responsibilities and relevant achievements detailing the ‘what you did’ and ‘how you did it’.
Detail any key achievements and the impact your work has had, tailor this to showcase how your experience aligns with the advertised role and essential criteria.
Qualifications: List all relevant qualifications required for the role as outlined in the job advert and essential criteria.
Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.
Your Personal Statement should be used to explain why you want the role and what you will bring to the role. This should include examples of how you meet the person specification and how your experience matches the roles and responsibilities outlined in the job description.
Sift
A sift will be carried out on your CV and Personal Statement, with the successful candidates being invited to interview.
We may also raise the score required at any stage of the process if we receive a high number of applications.
Interview
If invited to interview, you will need access to the financial accounting standards in order to sit the presentation part of the technical test. These are available online.
Please make sure you can access the following links:
UK GAAP accounting standard FRS102
https://www.frc.org.uk/getattachment/0fba8b6a-ff2b-46e2-8c3f-adfc174d300b/FRS-102-(January-2022)(2).pdf
International Accounting Standards, register for free to gain access.
https://www.ifrs.org/issued-standards/list-of-standards/
Full details will be provided to those candidates invited to interview.
Candidates successful at sift will be invited to a preliminary technical interview which involves an accountancy based technical test (to include both a presentation and a written output) – unless you have an exemption. Details of the exemption are mentioned at the bottom of the selection process.
Successful candidates will then be invited to a final interview where you will be asked strength based questions to also explore what you enjoy and your motivations relevant to the job role.
This is an example of a strengths-based question:
“It is often said that the customer's needs should come first. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?”
There is no expectation or requirement for you to prepare for the strengths-based questions in advance of the interview, though you may find it helpful to spend some time reflecting on what you enjoy doing and what you do well.
You will also be asked questions based on the behaviours listed in the advert to explore in detail what you are capable of.
Please note that we are also currently recruiting for other HMRC Advisory and Forensic Accountancy roles – if you choose to apply for other roles, you are only required to sit the technical test once.
Technical test exemption:
You may be eligible for an exemption from sitting a technical test as part of the interview process for this post if you demonstrate you fulfil one of the following criteria:
1) You are a current member of the Advisory and Forensic Accountant's Profession and previously passed the technical test at Grade 7 level or any AFA Profession technical test post 1st January 2024.
2) You were, within the last 3 years (from the closing date of the advert you are applying for) a member of the Advisory and Forensic Accountants Profession and previously passed the technical test at Grade 7 level or any AFA Profession technical test post 1st January 2024.
3) You successfully passed the Grade 7 technical test in the last 3 years as part of a previous HMRC Advisory and Forensic Accountants recruitment campaign or the SO Talent Programme. You should submit proof that you previously passed the technical test, this may be in the form of written interview feedback you received or confirmation information from Civil Service Jobs.
If you are seeking an exemption under criteria 2 or 3 above, you are also required to demonstrate that 20 hours of accountancy-related CPD has been undertaken on an annual basis (since you left the AFA Profession, or since you passed the Grade 7 technical test)
If you pass sift, and believe you have a technical test exemption, you will be asked to send the details to a central mailbox at that time.
We reserve the right to raise the score required at any stage of the process in order to manage numbers.
Interviews will take place via video call.
Sift and interview dates to be confirmed.
Eligibility
Please take extra care to tick the correct boxes in the eligibility sections of your application form. We understand mistakes sometimes happen but if you contact us later than two working days (Monday-Friday) before the vacancy closes, we will not be able to reopen your application for you. If you do make a mistake, please contact us via: unitybusinessservicesrecruitmentresults@hmrc.gov.uk – Use the subject line to insert appropriate wording for example – ‘Please re-open my application – [insert vacancy ref] & vacancy closing date [insert date]’
To check that you are eligible to apply for this role, please review the eligibility information before submitting your application.
Reserve List
A reserve list may be held for up to 6 months from which further appointments may be made for the same or similar roles – if this applies to you, we’ll let you know via your Civil Service Jobs account.
Criminal Record Check
Applications received from candidates with a criminal record are considered fairly in accordance with the DBS Code of Practice and the Recruitment of ex-offenders Policy.
Merit List
After interview, merit lists will be created for each location advertised within the vacancy. If you are successful at interview, you will be placed on the merit list for any locations you have expressed an interest for. Appointments from each merit list will be made in strict merit order.
Reasonable Adjustments
We want to make sure no one is put at a disadvantage during our recruitment process. To assist you with this, we will reduce or remove any barriers where possible and provide additional support where appropriate.
If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:
- Contact the UBS Recruitment Excellence Team via unitybusinessservicesrecruitmentresults@hmrc.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.
Complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.
Additional Security Information
Please note: in addition to the standard pre-employment checks for appointment into the Civil Service, all candidates must also obtain National Security Vetting at Security Check (SC) clearance level for this vacancy. You will normally need to meet the minimum UK residency period as determined by the level of vetting being undertaken, which for SC is 5 years UK residency prior to your vetting application. If you have any questions about this residency requirement, please speak to the vacancy holder for this post.
Important information for existing HMRC contractual homeworkers
This role may be suitable for existing HMRC employees who are contractual homeworkers. Occasional attendance to the office will be required where there is a business need. Please consider the advertised office locations for this role when applying and only select locations from the ‘location preferences’ section that you can travel to.
Terms and Conditions
Customer facing roles in HMRC require the ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English and/or Welsh where required. Where this is an essential requirement, this will be tested as part of the selection process.
HMRC has a presence in every region of the UK. For more information on where you might be working, review this information on our locations.
The Civil Service values honesty and integrity and expects all candidates to abide by these principles. The evidence you provide in your application must relate to your own experiences.
Any instances of plagiarism or other forms of cheating will be investigated and, if proven, the relevant application(s) will be withdrawn from the process.
Recording of interviews is prohibited unless explicit agreement is sought in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulations.
Questions relating to an individual application must be emailed as detailed later in this advert.
Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment.
A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.
New entrants will join on the minimum of the pay band.
If you experience accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
Nationality requirements
Working for the Civil Service
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).
Diversity and Inclusion
Apply and further information
Contact point for applicants
Job contact :
- Name : Rachel Poole
- Email : rachel.poole@hmrc.gov.uk
Recruitment team
- Email : unitybusinessservicesrecruitmentresults@hmrc.gov.uk
Further information
In the first instance, you should raise the matter directly via unitybusinessservicesrecruitmentresults@hmrc.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response, you may bring your complaint to the Commission. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their website.
