Business Accountant

The job requirements are detailed below. Where applicable the skills, qualifications and memberships required for this job have also been included.

Business Accountant 2-year fixed term Business Accountant, Finance Office, Grade 4  

Working Pattern - This is a full-time post working 35 hours per week. We’re committed to supporting staff to achieve a healthy work-life balance and are happy to talk about flexible working. This is a hybrid role, working from Holyrood on two set days per week, and from home.  

About the Scottish Parliament Corporate Body 

The Scottish Parliament Corporate Body is responsible for providing the Parliament with the property, staff and services required for the Parliament’s purpose. We place high value on excellence, and we are continually looking to improve how we work to ensure that we can deliver the Parliaments core purpose of representing the people of Scotland by debating issues of national importance, passing legislation and holding the Scottish Government to account. For more information have a look at our organisation chart. 

About the role 

This is an excellent opportunity to join the Business Support team within the Finance office as a Business Accountant. Working closely with the Senior Business Accountant, you will deliver high-quality financial reporting, information and insight to budget managers and their teams, as well as to the Director and Head of Finance. The purpose of this fixed-term role is to support month end processes following the move to Oracle and assist the Senior Management Accountant in exploring and developing reporting solutions; therefore, a strong grasp of financial systems is essential.  

Our Financial Office comprises 11 staff and provides comprehensive financial support across the organisation, including: 

• Budget management, forecasting and phasing 
• Financial management information at office, project and corporate levels 
• Preparation and publication of the SPCB Annual Report and Accounts  
• Payments, receipts and cash control 
• Maintenance of accounting, purchasing, budgeting and fixed asset systems 
• Maintenance of financial policy and control frameworks 
• Provision of guidance on financial processes and procedures

As Business Accountant, you’ll support specific Office Heads through the budget setting, forecasting and monitoring processes, engaging regularly through formal and informal discussions. You’ll be responsible for month end reporting and analysis, identifying budget pressures and surpluses, and supporting informed decision making.  

You’ll also have financial input to business cases for projects, new services and workforce planning.  

Following the recent move to Oracle Fusion, reporting, forecasting and workforce planning functionality is evolving therefore a key aspect of this role will be supporting the organisation through this transition and helping to develop reporting solutions.  

You’ll promote a culture of collaboration and high-quality service, championing positive and open communication across the Parliamentary Service, and supporting our commitment to diversity and inclusion.  

We particularly welcome applications from candidates from a Minority Ethnic background and Disabled candidates. All appointments will be made on merit. We have a values-based culture of respect and inclusion embedded in our organisation and everyone has the ability to make a difference.  

This appointment is also open to people looking to apply on a secondment basis.  

We offer a great range of benefits including: 41.5 leave days (including public holidays, flexible working, paid professional subscriptions, family-friendly policies, Season Ticket advance loans, an onsite gym, Health and Wellbeing Schemes including discounted gym membership, a confidential counselling and information service, and the Cycle to Work Scheme.  

You’ll also have the opportunity to join the Alpha Civil Service pension scheme, where we’ll offer you an employer contribution of 28.97% of your basic salary.  

We are a values-based organisation. Our values are a central part of our working culture and our people management processes. We use these to recruit, manage and develop our staff. For more information on our values and behaviours framework, please visit our values pages in our Employee Handbook.   

About you 

You’ll be a fully qualified CCAB Accountant or in the final stages of qualification. We’re seeking an individual with experience of building effective, constructive relationships with budget managers and support staff, and be confident in both challenging and advising colleagues at all levels, including senior management.  

You’ll be analytical in approach, able to interpret and challenge financial and non-financial data, identify anomalies, understand root causes and propose practical solutions. Strong management accounting and finance business partnering experience are essential. 

Experience of Oracle Fusion would be advantageous. You must have excellent IT skills with a high level of skill in Microsoft Office products, particularly Excel and be comfortable working within evolving systems environments.  

Strong communication skills are essential with the ability to present financial information clearly and accessibly to a range of stakeholders. You’ll enjoy working collaboratively within a busy team and supporting colleagues.  

A curiosity to understand the complexities of our organisation, it’s financial context and systems along with the ability to analyse, refine and communicate options for improvement, is highly valued.  

For further information about the role please see attached job description. You can also contact Isla Kidd, Senior Business Accountant, Isla.Kidd@parliament.scot 

How to apply 

Stage 1 

Please apply before 12:00 noon, Wednesday 20 May 2026. 

To find out how to apply and for further information about our recruitment process, please see our recruitment process pages on the website.   

Please note that only your statement will be submitting to Hiring Managers, without any personal details, Hiring Managers will then select candidates for further assessment or interview based on their statement which addresses the values within the job description.  

Stage 2 

If your application is successful, you’ll be invited to attend and interview which will include a presentation. Interviews will be held week commencing 15 June, although this is subject to change.  

Offers will be awarded based on merit. For this role, the following weighting is used to come to a final score on which offers will be based. Application 20%, Presentation 20%, Interview 60%.  

All new starts will be appointed to the first scale point of the grade for their role. For information on progression through the scale points, see our Pay and Reward Policy Statement.  

Feedback will only be provided on request to those who attend interview. If you have any questions about the recruitment process, please email: careers@parliament.scot