Assistant Accountant

Assistant Accountant
Department: Finance and Services
Responsible to: Finance Manager
Location: South Kensington, London SW7
Working Pattern: 35 hours a week (2 days in the office)
Terms: Permanent, Full-time
Salary: £34,000 - £36,000

The Society

The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) is the learned society and professional body for geography and geographers. It is also a charity and a membership organisation. The Society was founded in 1830 and has been one of the most active of the learned societies ever since. It was pivotal in establishing geography as a teaching and research discipline in British universities and continues to play a key role in geographical and environmental education.

The Society is a leading world centre for geographical learning – supporting education, teaching, research, professional practice and scientific expeditions, as well as promoting public understanding and enjoyment of geography and providing advice to policymakers.

The Society offers professional accreditation to members through Chartered Geographer status. The Society is based in a listed building in its own grounds in Kensington opposite Hyde Park, and operates nine regional branches in the UK and two overseas.

The Position

We are seeking a full time Assistant Accountant to support timely processing of financial transactions, accurate accounting, consistency of financial records, supporting the year-end close.

As the Assistant Accountant, you will become an integral part of our dedicated team, ensuring the smooth functioning of financial operations.

Duties and responsibilities

• Maintain and improve accounts receivable processes – review and issue of sales invoices, and debt recovery, and follow-up invoicing queries.
• Recording receipts – subscriptions, legacies, grants, gift aid and investment income.
• Manage and reconcile payments, including direct debits, credit card expenses, and PDQ receipts.
• Perform accurate cash and bank reconciliations and updates of bank and deposit balances.
• Reconciliation of receipts in the financial system and the CRM system.
• Perform monthly reconciliations of balance sheet accounts, including prepayments, accruals, and other key ledger accounts.
• Assist with VAT returns, ensuring compliance with accurate coding and reporting.
• Support the Finance Manager with the month-end process, including posting month-end journals and assisting with the preparation of month-end reports.
• Assist with year-end processes, including preparing schedules and supporting documentation for auditors.
• Oversee and manage multiple shared finance mailboxes.
• Support internal stakeholders with finance queries.
• Undertake ad hoc general accounting tasks as required.

Salary and Benefits

This is a permanent, full-time post subject to successful completion of a probationary period of three months. The salary range for this post is £34,000-£36,000 per annum depending on experience and qualifications. The post is based in Kensington, London.

There are a range of benefits at the Society which include the following:

• 35-hour working week with core working hours between 10.00am and 4.00pm.
• Flexible working arrangements are available with a mix of office based and home working.
• 25 days annual leave per annum, pro rata, plus public bank holidays.
• Society closure between Christmas and New Year, in addition to the basic annual leave allowance.
• Pension scheme - 3% employee, 7.5% employer.
• Group Life Assurance at four-times basic annual salary.
• Corporate eye care vouchers.
• Cycle to work scheme.
• Free 24-hour Employee Assistance helpline with available counselling support.

Closing date: 5.00pm on 31 October 2025.
Interviews are planned to take place on 3 November 2025.

Interested?

If you would like to find out more, please click the apply button. You will be directed to our website to complete your application for this position.

The Society aims to be an equal opportunities employer.

Applicants must have the right to work in the UK. The Society is unable to offer work visa sponsorships.

We thank, in advance, all candidates for applying and regret we are unable to write separately to those who are not selected for interview.

No agencies please.