Accountancy & Finance Vacancies

Accountancy and finance recruitment: the people who keep your business on track

Behind every well-run business is a finance team: the bookkeeper who keeps the ledgers straight, the accountant who closes the month, the finance manager who explains the numbers, and the finance director who steers the business. They are in demand and hard to replace.

Cathedral Appointments is a recruitment agency based in Exeter, with presence in Plymouth and Taunton. We have been finding finance people for South West organisations since 1988, and we take the time to understand the role first, so you meet people who fit the work and your business. Talk to Matt Wicks on 01392 575695.

What we recruit

Finance teams are built in layers. Cathedral Appointments recruits across all of them.

Senior and leadership roles

Finance leaders sit at the board table, and Cathedral Appointments recruits them, permanent or interim. These searches are often confidential.

• Finance Leadership. Financial Controllers, Heads of Finance, Finance Directors and CFOs to lead teams, develop expertise and deliver on strategy.
• Interim Leadership. Interim Finance Directors, Controllers and Heads of Finance, to cover a departure, a systems change or headcount freeze before a permanent hire can be signed off.
• Finance and Transformation. Finance and operational leaders, Group Financial Controllers and Heads of Financial Planning and Analysis.

Transactional and Specialist Finance roles

• Accounts and payroll. Assistant Accountants, Bookkeepers, Accounts Assistants, Finance Officers, Purchase and Sales Ledger staff, Credit Controllers and Payroll specialists right up to Credit Managers and Payroll Managers. The people who keep the processes moving.
• Management and reporting. Assistant Management and Financial Accountants, Project Accountants and Reporting Accountants and Finance Managers. The people who close the month, report on time and explain what the numbers mean.
• Systems and specialist finance. Finance Systems and ERP specialists, Finance Business Partners, Financial Analysts, and part-time or job-share finance roles.

Talk to Matt Wicks on 01392 575695.

What’s shaping finance hiring

Three things are shaping who finance teams need, and when.

Finance people are open to a move. ACCA’s Global Talent Trends 2026 survey of 11,389 finance professionals worldwide found that 52% expect their next career move to be outside their current organisation, and 55% are dissatisfied with their pay. A good finance hire is rarely short of options, and the same is true of the people already in your team.

Hiring is picking up. The KPMG and REC UK Report on Jobs for August 2026 recorded rising permanent vacancies in accounting and financial roles, one of only two job categories where they rose. When more employers hire at once, the best candidates are off the market sooner.

Making Tax Digital is widening. Sole traders and landlords with qualifying income over £50,000 are required to use Making Tax Digital for Income Tax from 6 April 2026. The threshold falls to £30,000 in April 2027 and £20,000 in April 2028. More clients on digital record-keeping is likely to mean more demand for bookkeepers and accountants who are comfortable with software.

Permanent, temporary or interim

Permanent. We search, screen and shortlist for the finance hire you want to keep, and you only meet people we would put forward ourselves.

Temporary. Ledger, payroll and finance support to cover absence, a busy period or a vacancy while you recruit, on terms agreed with you.

Interim and fixed-term. An experienced finance lead for a defined period: covering a departure, steering a systems change or bridging the gap before a permanent hire.

Who we recruit for

We work with:

• Care providers and healthcare organisations
• Charities and membership organisations
• Schools, academy trusts and student organisations
• Housing associations and housebuilders
• Manufacturers, engineering and aviation businesses
• Retail, leisure and hospitality businesses
• Technology and software companies
• Law practices and professional services firms

How we understand the role

In finance, the job title tells you very little. A finance manager can mean month-end and reporting in one business and systems and a team in another. We find out which.

• We start with the role, not the title. The systems you use, the level you need and what the role really involves, before we start looking.
• Cathedral Appointments knows the finance basics. We ask about reconciliations, month-end and your accounting system before a CV reaches you.
• We screen before we share. Every candidate you meet has been interviewed by us first.
• We stay with you to the start date. We advise on salary, manage the offer and keep in touch with your new starter, because the finance people worth hiring usually have more than one offer.

What moves pay

Pay in finance varies with the level of the role and the size and sector of the business. The big factors are qualification (AAT, part-qualified, or ACA, ACCA and CIMA), the systems and software the person has used, the size of the team and the scope of the role, and flexibility on working from home. If you are about to advertise, ask Matt for a benchmark for your role.

Questions we get asked

Should we hire a qualified accountant or someone part-qualified? It depends on what the role has to do. For technical reporting and anything an auditor will look at, a qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA or CIMA) is usually right. For ledger and process-heavy roles, an AAT or part-qualified hire who wants to develop can be the better fit, and often stays longer.

Do we need a financial controller or a finance manager? A financial controller owns the whole finance function and usually reports to the board; a finance manager runs the team and month-end day to day. In smaller businesses one person often does both, and the titles vary, so we start from the work rather than the label.

When does an interim finance director make sense? When you need experienced leadership for a set period: covering a departure, a systems change, a sale or funding round, or while you work out what permanent role you need.

How do we keep our finance people? Finance professionals are open to a move, so pay, progression and flexibility all count. Review pay against the market before someone resigns, and give people a clear next step. Talk to Matt about what comparable roles are paying.

Your contact

Matt Wicks, Recruitment Manager.

Matt leads our accountancy and finance team and works with finance leaders across Devon, Somerset & Cornwall.

Matt Wicks: 01392 575695 | matt@cathedralappointments.co.uk