Finance Assistant

Charity People; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 29,000 - 32,000; Full time

Job summary

Living Streets is seeking a Finance Assistant to support the finance function, including maintaining purchase and sales ledgers, bank reconciliations, and responding to enquiries. The role requires hybrid working with a minimum in-office presence in London and a 35-hour week.

The post holder will assist with month-end procedures, support the annual audit and budgeting processes, and provide cover when needed. Experience in a not-for-profit setting is desirable.

Qualifications

• Demonstrated experience in a similar finance role.
• Ability to work in a hybrid role with the team.
• Experience with BACS payments and credit control.
• Experience using finance software and handling high volume transactions.

Responsibilities

• Maintain the purchase ledger and supplier payments.
• Maintain the sales ledger and invoicing, including credit control.
• Perform weekly bank reconciliations and allocate postings.
• Answer finance group queries and manage the finance inbox.

Skills

Numeracy

Attention to detail

Teamwork

Written and verbal communication

Finance system experience

Business Central

Education

ACCA/ACA/CIMA/ICAEW candidate or AAT

Tools

Business Central

Job description

Job Description

Job title: Finance Assistant LSS

Hours: 35 hours per week

Salary: Band A £29,387 to 32,433pa

Location: London office/Hybrid (min 2 days in office per week)

Reporting to: Finance Manager

Contract: 3 to 6 months temporary

Budget responsibility: No

Main Purpose of Job

To provide support to the finance function of the organisation, including maintenance of the purchase and sales ledgers, bank reconciliations. The Finance Assistant will maintain the finance information inbox and proactively assist with enquiries in a timely manner.

The post-holder will ensure that the finance processes run smoothly and that we meet high standards of customer service to our supporters and members of the public. They will be expected to provide cover and support to the fellow Finance Assistant and other staff members as and when necessary.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

Bookkeeping

• Maintain the purchase ledger(s) of Living Streets, including payment of suppliers and expenses using Business Central and ensuring Living Streets’ procurement policies are upheld.
• Maintain the sales ledger(s) of Living Streets, including billing and providing an effective credit control function.
• Assist with the debtors and creditors reconciliations and actively pursue outstanding debts weekly by chasing debtors and updating sales ledger reports for the Finance Manager.
• Conduct weekly bank reconciliations for company bank accounts using Business Central, along with daily allocations for vendor and customer ledgers.
• Manage the shared finance inbox and respond to internal and external queries within the agreed timeframe.
• Raise journals for approval as requested by senior team members.
• Regularly bank cheques received and make withdrawals when requested.
• Manage the organisation's credit card receipts, including coll a tion, reconciliation, and filing.
• Manage the finance post and forward mail to the relevant member of the team.
• Assist with answering finance group calls on designated days.
• Provide occasional cover for the Living Streets Services Finance Assistant during periods of leave.

Period end procedures

• Assist with the ledger close and process month end journals as directed by the Finance Manager.

Other

• Deal with general finance queries, both externally and from members of the team.
• Support the annual audit and budgeting process as required.

Other Duties

Department

• Be an active contributor to the Finance team and attend all team meetings.

Organisation

• Be an ambassador for Living Streets as required to external audiences, promoting the Living Streets brand and messages, including at public events, in interaction with stakeholders.
• Ensure our equal opportunities policy is understood and implemented at all levels.
• Adhere to Living Streets policies and procedures, maintaining good liaison across the organisation.
• To comply with Living Streets Data Protection Policy and Safeguarding policy.
• Undertake other duties which may arise from time to time as requested by the line manager, Head of Finance, and Chief Executive Officer.

Person Specification

Essential Criteria

• Demonstrable experience in a similar role.
• Ability to be administratively self-supporting and work in hybrid role with other team members.
• Ability to work effectively as part of a team, and independently as required.
• Experience in conducting the BACS payments.
• Experience of Credit control.
• The ability to prioritise workload and to meet strict deadlines as they arise.
• Ability to solve problems and deal with a range of complex issues simultaneously.
• Strong levels of numeracy.
• High level of attention to detail and organisation.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Experience using finance system.
• Positive, ‘can do’ approach to tasks and challenges.
• Commitment to equal opportunities and the ability to implement the Living Streets Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policy.
• Understanding and commitment to Living Street’s agenda.

Desirable Criteria

• Studying towards professional qualification (ACCA, ACA, CIMA, ICAEW) or an Accountancy Diploma such as AAT etc.
• Experience of working within the not-for-profit sector.
• Experience in handling confidential information.
• Experience using finance system – Business Central.
• Knowledge and skills.
• Experience of working with a high volume of transactions.
• Experience in credit control.
• Intermediate to a advanced Excel.