Support Accountant/ Client Manager

Why we're hiring

Reign is an independent accountancy practice in the North East. We've grown organically, one client and one relationship at a time, and we're only just getting started. We run on four values: Keep it Real. Don't be an Ass. Leave an Impression. Growth over Stunt.

So, keeping it real: this isn't a role for someone looking for an easy life. It's for someone who wants to work hard, take real ownership, and be part of building something bigger.

What the role actually is

As our Support Accountant/ Client Manager, you'll start hands-on. You'll roll your sleeves up and do the work yourself, getting to know our clients and how we operate from the ground up. As the practice grows, so does the role. We'll review its shape at six months, and you'll have people to manage within your first several months.

To begin with, you're in the work. Accounts, tax, queries, deadlines, the lot. You'll get to know our clients properly and see exactly how we operate, because there's no way to lead delivery here without first understanding how it's really done.

Here's why that's worth your time. You'll be doing it alongside the directors, not tucked away in a corner of a large firm. You'll see how a practice is actually run, how the decisions get made, and why we've chosen to pause growth and rebuild rather than keep taking on clients. That's a level of access you don't often get at this stage.

We'll review the shape of the role at six months. We'll look at how you're managing the portfolio, where you're strongest and what you're ready to pick up. From there, the balance shifts towards reviews and sign-offs, the technical work that needs a more experienced head, advisory conversations, and managing people rather than only managing work.

On that last point, you won't be waiting years. We're growing the team, so there will be people to support and develop within your first several months. Beyond that, there's real room to build a career here as the practice grows. We'd far rather promote someone who helped build the thing than recruit over the top of them.

Day to day, you'll be

• Managing a portfolio of owner-managed business clients and being their main point of contact
• Preparing and reviewing year-end accounts, corporation tax, personal tax and management information
• One minute you're reviewing, the next you're sorting the bookkeeping, or filing
• Keeping on top of deadlines across the portfolio so nothing creeps up on anybody
• Handling client queries properly, quickly and in plain English
• Spotting where clients need more than compliance and flagging the opportunity
• Helping us tighten up processes, templates and workflows as we rebuild them
• Reviewing work and supporting colleagues as the team grows around you

What we need from you

• Qualified or part-qualified (ACCA, ACA, ATT, AAT or similar)
• Solid all-round experience in practice across annual accounts, Personal Tax, Corporation Tax and VAT
• Confident managing your own workload and deadlines
• Ambitious, with an interest in leading and developing people
• Someone who takes ownership and wants to be trusted, not micromanaged

What would be a bonus

• Experience managing or mentoring someone
• Having been through a systems rebuild, a software migration or an acquisition integration before
• Any advisory, forecasting or management accounts background

The bit that matters most

We're a small team and we spend a lot of our week together, so the fit has to work both ways. Our four values aren't wall art, they're how we actually operate:

Keep it Real. No jargon, no posturing, no pretending a job is fine when it isn't. If something's gone wrong we want to hear it early.

Don't be an Ass. Be someone people want to work with. Pick things up, help out, don't make life harder for the person next to you.

Leave an Impression. Clients should finish a call with you feeling better than when they started it.

Growth over Stunt. We're building something properly rather than chasing the quick win. That applies to the practice and to your career here.

If you're after somewhere quiet where you can keep your head down for the next ten years, we're probably not it. If you want a say in how a practice is built, you'll enjoy it here.

What we invest in you

The money and the hours

• Up to £40,000 FTE, pro rata for a 30-hour week
• 30 hours a week, worked flexibly around core hours of 9:30 to 3:30, moving to 37.5 hours when the team builds out
• Hybrid working. If the work is done and your clients are looked after, we're not counting who's at a desk. Our office will be open for people to be in at least 3 times a week for collaboration and team building.

Time off

• 32 days off a year, rising to 37 with service. That's 31 days including bank holidays, plus your birthday on top, pro rata for a 30-hour week
• We close between Christmas and New Year, and the days for that are already built into your allowance rather than taken out of it.

Your career

• A role that's built to grow. We'll review its shape at six months, and there will be people to manage within your first several months
• Real progression as the practice grows, with no artificial ceiling on where you take it
• Study leave and support if you're still working towards qualification
• We cover your CPD and your professional body membership, so keeping your qualification current costs you nothing
• Direct access to the directors from day one, which is the fastest way to learn how a practice is actually run

How to apply

Send your CV and a few lines about yourself to [email protected]. You don't need a formal covering letter. Tell us :

• What you're good at
• What you'd rather never do again
• What you're looking for next

We'll come back to everyone who applies.

Pay: £35,000.00-£40,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• Casual dress
• Company events
• Company pension
• Free parking
• On-site parking
• Work from home

Work Location: Hybrid remote in Stockton-on-Tees