Shiran Hewathennage
Senior Accountant · UK accounts & tax · Akuressa, Sri Lanka · Open to remote work with UK & Irish practices
Summary
Senior accountant with four-plus years on UK client work: bookkeeping and VAT first, then year-end accounts and corporation tax, then personal tax, and since 2024 leading and reviewing a small team doing all of it. Every role has been inside UK-focused practices, in the standard UK toolkit — Xero, QuickBooks, Sage, TaxCalc, Capium, IRIS, Dext, Apron and Syft. What I bring is predictability: files that arrive when promised, working papers a reviewer can follow, and questions asked early.
Seven roles, one direction
From ledgers to returns to reviewing other people's returns — every step on UK client work.
- 2025 — now
Senior Accountant
EXEL Solutions · Dehiwala, Sri Lanka
Leading the team and owning the year-end.
- Reviews VAT returns, management accounts and year-end working papers prepared by the team
- Prepares and submits annual accounts and corporation tax returns; prepares personal tax returns
- 2024 — 2025
Semi Senior Accountant
OWCS Colombo (Pvt) Ltd · Colombo 04, Sri Lanka
First team-lead role.
- Allocated and reviewed the team's work; bookkeeping, VAT returns, annual accounts and CT returns, management accounts
- 2023 — 2024
Semi Senior Accounts Consultant
Smart Offshore (Pvt) Ltd · Colombo 04, Sri Lanka
Client-facing for the first time.
- Coordinated directly with UK clients by email and phone
- Prepared VAT returns, annual accounts and CT returns; liaised with HMRC to resolve client issues
- 2022 — 2023
Accounts Associate → Account Executive
The Apex Solution (Pvt) Ltd · Colombo 04, Sri Lanka
From ledgers to returns in twelve months.
- Invoice processing, bank reconciliations and ledger maintenance; monthly and quarterly management reports
- Promoted to prepare VAT returns, annual accounts and corporation tax returns
- 2020
Audit Associate
SCB Corporate · Colombo, Sri Lanka
Learning to check other people's numbers.
- Assurance engagement fieldwork and audit procedures
- 2018 — 2021
BBA (Hons) Accounting, Second Class Honours
University of Colombo · Sri Lanka
Completed while working.
- 2019
Customer Service Executive
Aegis Services Lanka (Pvt) Ltd · Colombo, Sri Lanka
Where the communication habit started.
What I do, and how often
Proficiency in words, not bars: daily, regular or occasional.
Compliance & reporting
- Statutory accounts (FRS 105, FRS 102 1A)daily
- Corporation tax computations & CT600daily
- VAT returns & MTD filingdaily
- Self-assessment (SA100)regular
- Management accountsregular
- Bookkeeping & reconciliationsdaily
- Purchase & sales ledgersregular
- Year-end working papers & reviewdaily
Practice & client
- HMRC liaison on client issuesregular
- Client communication (email & phone)daily
- Deadline management across entitiesdaily
- Audit & assurance proceduresoccasional
Leadership
- Work allocation & team reviewdaily
- Review notes & partner escalationregular
- Onboarding junior staffoccasional
Software
- Xerodaily
- QuickBooks Onlinedaily
- TaxCalcdaily
- Capiumregular
- IRISregular
- Sageregular
- Dextregular
- Apronoccasional
- Syft Analyticsoccasional
Education
BBA (Hons) in Accounting (Special)
Second Class Honours · University of Colombo · 2018–2021
Languages
- English · Fluent
- Sinhala · Native
References
References from managers and clients, in the UK and Sri Lanka, are available on request.
Let's talk about your year-end backlog.
One call is usually enough to know whether I can help. Pick a slot, send a message, or WhatsApp me — whichever is easier for you.