Bookkeeper

Vertex Associates - Accountancy and Finance Recruitment; Farringdon; On-site; GBP 26,000 - 38,000; Full time

Job summary

Vertex Associates is seeking a Finance Assistant/Assistant Accountant/Bookkeeper for a hands-on role in a growing professional services consultancy. The role covers transactional processing, month-end tasks, VAT and project accounting within a wider finance function.

You will work closely with the team, taking ownership of a broad range of accounting responsibilities and supporting the wider business with disciplined, accurate bookkeeping and reporting.

Qualifications

• Demonstrable experience as a Bookkeeper, Finance Assistant or Assistant Accountant in a professional services setting.
• Strong knowledge of UK VAT and month-end processes with accurate reconciliations.
• Proficient in double-entry bookkeeping and managing ledgers and reconciliations.

Responsibilities

• Process bank transactions, reconciliations and maintain the cash book.
• Manage purchase ledger including invoices, coding and payment runs.
• Prepare month-end journals, prepayments and accruals; assist with year-end tasks.
• Support project accounting, including WIP and milestone billing.
• Assist VAT returns and maintain audit trails for year-end accounts.

Skills

Bookkeeping

Double-entry

Month-end close

VAT knowledge

Excel

ERP system

Project accounting

WIP reporting

Audit support

Attention to detail

Education

AAT qualified

ICB/IAB certified

Tools

Deltek Vantagepoint

Microsoft Excel

ERP software

Job description

Vertex Associates are representing a growing professional services consultancy in their search for a Finance Assistant / Assistant Accountant/Bookkeeper. The business delivers specialist consultancy services to a range of clients and operates across a project-led environment. This is a hands-on finance role, ideal for someone who is comfortable taking ownership of a transactional finance function while also supporting month-end, VAT, project accounting and wider finance requirements.

The successful candidate will be working closely with the wider business and will have the opportunity to take ownership of a broad range of accounting responsibilities.

Transactional Processing

• Process bank transactions, including receipts, payments and regular bank reconciliations.


• Manage the purchase ledger, including purchase orders, supplier invoices, invoice matching, coding and payment runs.


• Process employee expenses and company credit card transactions, including receipt chasing, VAT and nominal coding, and reconciliations.


• Maintain the supplier ledger, including supplier set-up, statement reconciliations and resolving queries and discrepancies.

Project Support

• Raise and issue sales invoices in line with agreed billing cycles, including milestone and stage-based billing.


• Monitor timesheet completion and ensure time is correctly allocated to projects ahead of billing and month-end.


• Escalate persistent timesheet non-compliance where required.

Credit Control

• Support the Credit Controller with collections and customer queries as required.

Month-End

• Prepare and post month-end journals, including prepayments, accruals and recurring journals.


• Complete balance sheet reconciliations, investigate discrepancies and clear unreconciled items.


• Carry out month-on-month cost analysis, investigate variances and highlight material movements.


• Maintain the fixed asset register and post depreciation.

VAT & Year-End

• Prepare quarterly VAT returns for review, including reconciliation of VAT control accounts.


• Submit VAT returns under Making Tax Digital following review and approval.


• Maintain accurate supporting records and audit trails for VAT and year-end accounts.


• Assist with accountant and auditor queries and sample requests.

Finance Administration

• Monitor shared finance mailboxes and respond to or appropriately route queries.


• Produce reports and data extracts to support ad-hoc information requests.


• Act as a first point of contact for finance-related queries across the wider business.


• Demonstrable experience as a Bookkeeper, Finance Assistant or Assistant Accountant, running a transactional finance function largely unsupervised, including reconciling through to trial balance.


• Strong working knowledge of double-entry bookkeeping, control accounts and the month-end close cycle.


• Practical, up-to-date UK VAT knowledge, with hands-on experience preparing and reconciling quarterly VAT returns.


• Strong purchase and sales ledger experience, including invoice processing, payment run preparation and bank reconciliation.


• Confident Excel skills, including lookups, pivot tables, filtering and reconciling large data extracts.


• Experience working within an accounting or ERP system, with the ability to become productive quickly in an unfamiliar platform.


• A self-starter who can manage a defined workload, prioritise independently, work to a fixed monthly timetable and raise issues early.


• Excellent accuracy and attention to detail, with the discipline to reconcile rather than assume.


• Clear and professional written and verbal communication skills, with the confidence to chase colleagues, clients and suppliers persistently but constructively.


• Discretion and sound judgement when handling confidential client and commercial information.


• Experience using Deltek Vantagepoint or another Professional Services Automation/project-based ERP platform.


• Understanding of project accounting, including WIP, unbilled revenue, stage/milestone billing and project profitability reporting.


• Background within professional services, consultancy, engineering, architecture or construction.


• Experience supporting year-end accounts preparation or external audit.


• AAT qualified or part-qualified, ICB/IAB certified, or qualified by experience with an equivalent track record.

The Opportunity

This is a great opportunity for an experienced finance professional looking for a broad, hands-on role where they can take ownership of the day-to-day finance function while developing their exposure to project accounting, month-end and wider commercial finance.

Vertex Associates are managing the search exclusively on behalf of our client.

Vertex Associates Limited acts as an employment business for temporary positions and an employment agency for permanent positions. Vertex Associates is committed to equal opportunity and diversity. Suitable candidates with equivalent qualifications and more or less experience can apply. Rates of pay and salary ranges are dependent upon your experience, qualifications and training.