Accountant – Real Estate

CLS Holdings plc is a property investment company which has been listed on the London Stock Exchange since 1994. CLS specializes in owning and managing office buildings, with a range of lease lengths, in order to achieve stable cash flows. 

CLS Holdings plc is recruiting an Accountant (AP/AR) who will be in charge of accounts receivable/payable, payments, cash management and VAT returns for the German property portfolio. Close liaison with the Asset Management / Property Management team in Germany.

Core Responsibilities for the Accountant position:

•  Entering / Coding of expense reports, supplier and inter-company invoices;
•  Follow up of reminder letters from suppliers;
•  Manage and create recurrent invoices in Gypsilon;
•  Follow up and clearing of aged creditors;
•  Monitoring collection of all rental income and service charge income;
•  Follow up on aged debtors and queries from tenants in relation to rent or service charge invoices;
•  Preparation of aged debtor report
•  Manage the dunning process and draft reminder letters in relation to outstanding rent and service charge balances;
•  Manage and reconcile the tenant deposit accounts
•  Prepare the monthly, quarterly and annual VAT returns for Germany and Luxembourg;
•  Resolve queries from tax authorities and tax advisors in relation to VAT;
•  Booking of daily cash transactions from bank statements and handling the tenant direct debit process;
•  Payment of service charge balances/debtor credit notes upon instruction of Property Manager;
•  Perform any kind of Indexations and secure they are performed in line with the HH team
•  Place monthly debit positions (Soll Stellungen) into the System and secure accuracy and monitoring of those
•  Perform weekly payment run of all expense reports, supplier and inter company invoices based on agreed      timelines
•  Preparation of monthly bank reconciliations and participation in cash management cycle;
•  Pro-active participation in the quarter-end / year-end close process in relation to AP/AR;
•  Liaison with internal & external auditors and all relevant banks;
•  Prepare ad-hoc and quarterly reports for London in relation to AP/AR;
•  Filing all relevant documents in the folders;
•  Participation and support actively the tax and accounting setup for new properties and companies
•  Act as backup for the rest of the team as required during holidays / absences

General tasks:

•  Recommend financial actions by analyzing accounting options
•  Maintains and implement accounting controls by preparing and recommending policies and procedures
•  Reconciles financial discrepancies by collecting and analyzing account information’s
•  Complies with federal, state, and local financial legal requirements by studying existing and new legislation, enforcing adherence to requirements, and advising management on needed actions
•  Maintains customer confidence and protects operations by keeping financial information’s confidential
•  Develop best practices, routines and innovative solutions to improve efficiency
•  Create and manage process documentation and operating instructions
•  Contributes to team effort by accomplishing related results as needed

Skills required

• Fluent English and German with excellent communication skills (verbal and written)
• Professional integrity and personal-responsibility attitude
• High attention to detail and accuracy
• Improvement driven and curious personality
• Stress resistant and a clear focus to get things done before the Deadline
• Proactive and strong dynamic team Player
• 2+ years’ experience in an accounting environment, preferably Accounts Payable or Accounts Receivable

Working for CLS

Our culture is entrepreneurial, professional, open and friendly. We have employees from 19 countries which helps to foster a diverse cosmopolitan environment with integrity and responsibility at the heart of our business. We have fewer than 100 employees looking after a property portfolio of £1.9 billion, and we recognise that they make CLS what it is and contribute significantly to its success. Therefore, we ensure that we consult regularly with our employees through various channels to understand their needs and ensure our culture evolves with the business and modern working practices.

Training and Development

Engagement and Wellbeing

We promote all aspects of employee engagement and promote an “open door” policy; we encourage all employees to share ideas and to get involved in challenging and developing our policies and practices.

If this is the company culture you are looking for, please apply via one of the buttons below.