Finance Officer

A medium sized health education charity is seeking a Finance Officer on a full-time, permanent basis.

The organisation is an established charity that provides information and guidance on various aspects of veganism. Services range from general advice on vegan lifestyle – diet, travel, shopping etc, campaigning activities, additional services to charity members, and the certification and labelling of products based on their internationally recognised Vegan Trademark.

The organisation has around 65 staff with a turnover of around £4 million annually. Their central offices are in Birmingham, however this role can be taken on almost exclusively remotely – it is anticipated that there will be approximately 6 journeys per year required either to the Birmingham office or another mutually agreeable location – for staff events and meetings.

The role sits within a small finance team of 3, and will be highly varied covering most aspects of transactional finance. The starting salary is between £29,413 - £31,508, however they have regular salary reviews and growth in the role is possible. They also have an excellent benefits package including a pension scheme, employee assistance programme, 28 days leave + bank holidays, plus additional leave available as part of a sustainable transportation climate perks policy.

The ideal candidate will be AAT part-qualified with experience in a similar Finance Officer level role. Exposure to double-entry bookkeeping and an understanding of charity finance would be an advantage. Experience with Sage accounting is also useful. The organisation is a flexible employer and although the role is ultimately permanent they welcome applicants wishing to be considered on a part-time basis as part of a job share, and will also consider candidates on a shorter term fixed term contract basis if this is preferable to a permanent contract initially.

Please note, it is expected that staff adhere to a vegan lifestyle as much as possible.

Typical duties will include:

-Work closely with the sales team and raise invoices in accordance with the sales process.

-Support the credit control function and chase outstanding payments for renewals and new business.

-Provide up-to-date debtor ledger reports as required.

-Process invoices and expenses for payment ensuring adherence to internal purchase policies and procedures.

-Provide support and guidance to staff members and chase outstanding documentation to ensure correct processes are always followed.

-On a weekly basis, process supplier payments and staff expenses online ready for authorisation.

-Support the reconciliation of bank accounts, credit cards, merchant platforms and aggregators.

-Maintain responsibility of designated balance sheet codes and assist with the preparation of month-end reporting.

-Ensure balance sheets are kept up to date in readiness for year-end and annual audit.

-Work closely with the Finance Manager and support the Auditor during the annual financial audit.

-Assist with the development of financial policies, streamline processes, production of working instructions and training materials.

-Support the development of financial business critical systems and processes to increase efficiency and improve user journeys.

-Investigate, report and where necessary make improvements to minimise non-compliance to ensure robust policies and procedures.

-Support the Finance Manager and make suggestions for continuous improvement of systems and processes to support business requirements.

-Support the management of the finance mailboxes and respond to emails in a timely manner.

-Act as the first point of contact and provide timely responses to internal and external stakeholders, customers and suppliers by email and over the telephone.

Candidate requirements:

-AAT part or fully-qualified

-Minimum of 2 years’ experience in a customer service environment.

-Good working knowledge of day-to-day transactional finance, including all aspects of purchase and sales ledger, credit control, bank reconciliation, balance sheet reconciliation and journal entries.

-A working knowledge of VAT.

-Excellent customer service skills.

-Experience of using accounting software – Sage Cloud /Sage Intact desirable

-Knowledge and experience of working with databases and CRM systems.

-An understanding of charity finance is desirable but not essential

Closing date: Thursday 25th April

Interviews: W/c 29th April

Please send your CV for further consideration.