Finance Officer

Location: Edinburgh Office / hybrid

Salary: £30,768.10 - £35,542.15

Hours: 35 hours per week (full time), permanent

Reports To: Head of Finance

Disclosure & Barring Check: Basic Disclosure (Level 1)

About the Project/Service

The Finance team is a small, friendly team led by the Director of Finance, working alongside a Head of Finance and Finance Assistant. We provide the financial processing, payroll, reporting and insight that enables our services across Scotland to deliver high-quality support to the people we work with. This is an exciting time to join us: we use Xero and are actively reviewing and strengthening our finance systems, processes and reporting, so you will have the opportunity to shape how the team works and to grow with it.

Purpose of the Role

The Finance Officer plays a central role in the day-to-day running of the finance function. You will be responsible for month-end journals, payroll and pension processing, the sales ledger and the accounting for our trading subsidiary, and you will support the Director of Finance with budgets, management accounts, the annual audit and grant reporting. We are looking for an experienced and proactive finance professional who takes ownership of their work, enjoys improving processes, and has the ambition to develop and take on greater responsibility as the team evolves.

Key Responsibilities:

·         Month-end journals: Prepare and post month-end journals, including payroll journals and staff cost re-allocations, cost recharges (property, IT, insurance and full cost recovery), prepayments and accruals.

·         Income recognition: Prepare deferred and accrued income journals, ensuring income is recognised in the correct period.

·         Sales ledger: Maintain the sales ledger, raising monthly invoices, reviewing contracts and applying contractual uplifts to invoices.

·         Trading subsidiary: Take responsibility for all accounting for the charity’s trading subsidiary.

·         Payroll: Process payroll data for our external payroll provider, including new starters, leavers and changes, and calculate holiday and sickness data for payroll.

·         Pensions: Administer the staff pension scheme and assist staff with payroll and pension queries.

·         Budgets: Support the annual budget process, updating budget templates with pay rates and prior year data.

·         Management accounts: Assist with the production of monthly management accounts, preparing departmental reports for regular (six-weekly) budget meetings.

·         Audit: Support the annual external audit, extracting information and preparing supporting schedules.

·         Funding and grants: Support the Fundraising team with grant applications and funder reporting by providing data on rates, averages and staffing requirements.

·         Team cover: Provide holiday and absence cover for the Finance Assistant, including purchase ledger processing, payment runs, bank reconciliations and reconciliation of Pleo pre-paid cards.

·         Continuous improvement: Contribute to the ongoing review and improvement of finance systems, processes and internal controls.

General Responsibilities

·         Work in line with Change Mental Health’s values, policies and procedures, including financial regulations and internal controls.

·         Maintain confidentiality at all times and handle personal and financial data in line with data protection legislation (UK GDPR).

·         Contribute to a supportive, inclusive team culture that promotes wellbeing at work.

·         Comply with health and safety requirements and undertake any other reasonable duties commensurate with the role.

Essential Criteria 

·         AAT qualified, or equivalent practical experience in a finance role.

·         Significant experience of month-end processes, including journals, accruals, prepayments and income recognition.

·         Experience of processing payroll data (including through an external payroll provider) and pension administration.

·         Experience of maintaining a sales ledger and invoicing against contracts.

·         Strong Excel skills (e.g. lookups and pivot tables) and experience of using a computerised accounting system.

·         Excellent accuracy and attention to detail, with the ability to manage competing deadlines and prioritise workload.

·         Good communication skills, with the ability to explain financial information clearly to non-finance colleagues.

·         A commitment to confidentiality and to Change Mental Health’s values.

Desirable Criteria 

·         Part-qualified, or studying towards, a professional accountancy qualification

·         Experience in the charity or not-for-profit sector, including restricted funds, grant reporting and the Charities SORP.

·         Experience of accounting for a trading subsidiary.

·         Experience of using Xero.

·         Experience of supporting budgets, management accounts and external audits.

This job profile and list of duties is not exhaustive and serves only to highlight the main requirements.