R&D Financial Analyst

Join Sumer Ni’s growing Innovation Tax team and play a key role in helping innovative businesses access valuable R&D Tax incentives. As part of a collaborative and highly experience team, you will support clients across a diverse range of industries by preparing the financial aspects of R&D tax relief claims, contributing to work that helps businesses invest in innovation and growth. Working closely with our R&D Managers, you will be responsible for the financial preparation of RDEC, ERIS and NI-ERIS R&D Tax Relief claims, focusing on the collation, analysis, reconciliation and presentation of qualifying expenditure. This is an excellent opportunity to develop specialist expertise in a niche and growing area of tax, with ongoing support, exposure to a broad client portfolio, and clear opportunities for career progression within the Innovation Tax team. This is a specialist finance support role and is not study-related or academic in nature. It is ideally suited to someone with experience managing financial data, preparing claim schedules and supporting evidence for R&D tax claims.

Responsibilities

Collating financial information from client Companies, including payroll reports, general ledger data, purchase ledger reports, invoices, contractor schedules and project cost records; Preparing R&D claim cost schedules across relevant expenditure categories, including staff costs, externally provided workers, subcontractors where applicable, consumables, software, cloud computing and data costs; Reconciling claim figures to the client Company’s accounting records, including management accounts, payroll records, nominal ledger and Corporation Tax schedules; Supporting apportionment calculations where costs relate partly to qualifying R&D activities and partly to non-qualifying activities; Documenting assumptions, methodologies and evidence used to support the financial values included in each claim; Identifying gaps, inconsistencies or unsupported costs in client data and raising queries with R&D Managers or client finance teams; Supporting the preparation of financial inputs for the R&D additional information form and claim reports; Maintaining clear working papers and evidence packs to support internal review and potential HMRC enquiry responses; Working across multiple client files, ensuring claim costings are accurate, consistent and completed within agreed deadlines

Requirements

Proven experience in finance, accounting, audit, tax, R&D tax support or financial analysis; Strong Excel skills, including reconciliations, pivot tables, data analysis and structured working papers; Ability to interpret payroll, ledger, invoice and project cost data; Strong attention to detail and ability to identify anomalies in financial information; Understanding of R&D Tax Relief qualifying cost categories, or the ability to develop this knowledge quickly; Ability to work with internal R&D Managers and client finance teams; Strong organisational skills and ability to manage multiple deadlines; Clear written communication for documenting assumptions, queries and claim methodologies; Awareness of the importance of evidence, audit trails and HMRC compliance in R&D claims; Proactive and inquisitive approach, with the confidence to question and challenge financial data; Strong problem-solving skills and ability to work with incomplete or ambiguous information; Ability to communicate financial concepts clearly to non-specialist stakeholders

Benefits

Ongoing support; Exposure to a broad client portfolio; Clear opportunities for career progression