Assistant Financial Accountant (Maternity Cover)

Job Description

Please note this role is a maternity cover contract for 12-15 months. Ideally full time hours but we would consider 30 hours as a minimum for the right candidate. Please refer to the attached Job Profile for full details of the role.

 

CAP celebrates the value of diversity and our aim is for our workforce to be as inclusive as possible as well as representing the communities we serve. With this in mind, we welcome and encourage job applications from people of all backgrounds. We particularly welcome applications from candidates from black and ethnic minority backgrounds. We are committed to continue building an environment that embraces diversity and includes all.

 

Context:

The Finance Department consists of two teams ¿ Finance Operations and Finance Business Partnering. The Finance Operations Team is responsible for the accounting of all income and expenditure related to the running of the charity and includes the Client Money Finance Team, which is responsible for managing the money that we hold on behalf of clients. The Finance Business Partnering Team is responsible for supporting and advising the different teams across CAP in their strategic and operational decision-making.

 

Purpose:

This role is located within the Finance Operations team, leading on Accounts Payable, Expenses, Accounts Receivable, and Income. The role has the responsibility of mentoring the Finance Assistant and the Finance intern. The post holder is responsible for identifying their own development needs.

 

 

Passion:

We are extremely passionate about providing excellent service to our multitude of internal and external stakeholders. 

 

 

Responsibilities

• Expenditure processes
• Month-end regular prepayment journals 
• Responsibility for the Purchase Ledger, including reconciling supplier accounts and responsible for coding/ budget allocation of all invoices and charge card statements
• Loading statements and reconciliation of the Expenses bank account 
• Responsibility for weekly payment runs for suppliers and employee expenses 
• Raising ad-hoc payments to suppliers and employees as required on Lloyds Commercial Banking
• Management and oversight of the online expenses system 
• Responsibility for maintenance of the Finance inbox
• Responsible for monthly charge card statements and checking they are correctly authorised and accounted for 
• Management of the Fixed Asset Register
• Preparation of monthly and year-end nominal account reconciliations 
• Set up and manage business accounts
• Processing of Smile pot and Smile Fund transactions
• Responsibility for petty cash system (cash tin and reconciliation on accounting system), ensuring cash ready for charity staff who request funds
• Income processes
• Loading statements and reconciliation of the Income bank account 
• Responsibility for the Sales Ledger, including reconciling customer accounts
• Banking of cheques and cash receipts prepared by Supporter care team
• Submission of Direct Debit & mandate set up (AUDDIS) reports onto BACS and resolution of any errors or rejections
• Daily download and upload to Inspire (CRM system) of BACS reports (unpaid Direct Debits and cancellations)
• Matching of all income transactions from daily bank statement on Inspire 
• Reconcile the income as listed on Inspire with the income in the bank each month, ensuring everything has been recorded accurately and amending any errors
• Using Inspire reports, ensure all restricted and general income transactions are correctly posted within the accounting system, and the income suspense account cleared at the end of the month
• Processing income refunds as necessary
• Preparation of quarterly international invoices and sundry invoices including for one-off company donations.  Ensure correct allocation on Finance and Inspire
• Responsibility for maintenance of the Income inbox
• Responsibility for processing Gift Aid run and posting to accounting system

 

Other

• Mentoring of the Finance Assistants
• Continuous improvement: ongoing review of own tasks to see if they can be made more efficient 
• Ensuring own tasks are documented and available to other team members in case cover needed 
• Loading statements and reconciliation of the Reserve bank account

 

Measurable outputs:

• Invoices, expenses, and charge cards correctly approved, coded, and added to the system by the 5th working day of the month 
• Invoices, expenses, and charge cards paid promptly by the individual due dates
• Delegating and ensuring emails are replied to within the Service Level Agreement (3 days)
• All month-end processes are carried out by timetable deadline
• Ensuring all cheques and cash are banked within three days of receipt in Finance, once checked by Supporter Care
• Direct Debit & AUDDIS reports submitted to BACS by the deadlines
• Process and allocate income on Inspire, reconciliation completed and previous month closed by third working day of the month
• Written procedures documented to enable cover when on leave or sick

 

Skills required

• Ability to work accurately, quickly and with attention to detail whilst under time pressure 
• Excellent administration skills 
• Excellent communication skills 
• Ability to prioritise time, tasks and attention effectively 
• Confident IT user including Excel and accounting software 
• Excellent numeracy skills 
• Confident and friendly telephone manner 
• Good problem solving skills 
• Ability to work independently and proactively 
• A love for detail and excellence 
• Ability to work well as part of a team

Experience:

 

Essential

Accounts Payable or Payroll experience within a finance team 

Experience of working to tight deadlines

Experience of working independently

2 years experience working in a finance/accountancy environment

 

Desirable

Experience of charity accounting

Experience of accountancy software

 

Educational requirements

AAT (Accounting Technician) or equivalent experience 

GCSE Maths and English 

 

Desirable: studying towards an accountancy qualification (ACCA, CIMA, etc)