Finance Assistant - Manchester

Aimee Willow Connex Limited; Nottingham; On-site; GBP 28,000 - 52,000; Full time

Job summary

Greenwood Capital Group is seeking an experienced bookkeeping and accounting assistant to manage group-wide finance tasks, including invoicing, payroll, and regular month-end activities. You will maintain the cost register, process invoices, and support financial review and forecasting.

You will work with Xero, Dext, and Canopy CRM, ensuring accuracy, compliance and timely reporting across multiple entities. AAT studies or equivalent experience are advantageous.

Qualifications

• Experience using Xero and bank reconciliations.
• Experience preparing payroll and pension administration.
• Strong proficiency with spreadsheets for reconciliations and reports.
• Attention to detail and ability to manage recurring tasks with deadlines.

Responsibilities

• Handle bookkeeping across the group, keep cost register current, and reconcile bank and card accounts.
• Process invoices using Dext and Xero, allocate to correct company, account and tax code.
• Raise and send sales invoices, chase payables as needed, and resolve discrepancies with lenders.
• Process staff expense claims, obtain approvals, and manage routine purchasing within budgets.
• Prepare routine journals and month-end adjustments, including accruals and prepayments.
• Reconcile Canopy CRM records with Xero, and investigate variances; maintain audit trails.
• Process payroll and manage NEST pensions; answer routine payroll inquiries and protect confidential data.
• Produce monthly budget-versus-actual reports and analyze variances across the group.

Skills

Bookkeeping experience

Proficiency with Xero

Dext invoicing

Payroll administration

NEST pension knowledge

Intercompany reconciliations

Attention to detail

Education

AAT studies or equivalent

Tools

Xero

Dext

Canopy CRM

NEST

Job description

Take ownership of recurring finance administration and bookkeeping across Greenwood Capital Group, delivering complete, accurate and reconciled information to the Finance Director.

The role creates capacity for financial review, management information, budgets and forecasting. Finance responsibilities take priority. Once these are complete and deadlines are covered, support agreed operational tasks across the business.

01 Bookkeeping and cost register

Manage the accounts inbox, respond to routine queries and follow outstanding items through to completion. Process invoices through Dext and Xero, allocating them to the correct company, account and tax code. Keep bookkeeping current across the group and complete bank and card reconciliations to the agreed timetable. Obtain invoices and receipts that require manual collection, including weekly follow-up for missing documents. Maintain the cost register across all group companies, including recurring costs, commitments, renewals and changes, with correct company and department allocations. Use approved AI tools and established workflows, check their outputs and follow company requirements for handling sensitive information.

Sales invoicing and receipts

Raise and send sales invoices to lenders promptly, maintain expected payment dates and coordinate payment chasing with staff. Match receipts and remittances to invoices and records; investigate differences and follow up missing information. Handle routine lender queries about invoices, payments and remittances, referring matters requiring a decision to the Finance Director.

Expenses and purchasing

Process staff expense claims, check supporting documents and approvals, chase missing invoices and receipts, and resolve routine queries. Manage routine purchasing across the group within agreed budgets and approval limits: obtain quotes where needed, place authorised orders, follow up invoices and receipts, and support card administration.

4 02 ACCOUNTING AND PAYROLL

Accounting, payroll and reporting 04 Journals and month-end support Prepare and post routine manual journals, including revenue-share entries, using agreed calculations and approval processes. Prepare month-end adjustments, including accruals and prepayments, and supporting schedules for review. Reconcile balance sheet and control accounts; investigate differences and clearly flag unresolved items. Record intercompany transactions and reconcile balances across group companies. Maintain the fixed asset register and regular depreciation schedules, and prepare VAT returns for review.

05 Canopy and commission reconciliations

Reconcile Canopy CRM records against Xero, including remittances, commission income, introducer commissions and clawbacks. Correct routine finance data errors within agreed permissions, retain an audit trail and elevate system faults or unresolved differences promptly. The monthly handover

Payroll and NEST pensions

Collect and check payroll data, including starter and leaver changes, approved commissions, bonuses and other adjustments. Prepare and process payroll and complete submissions after the required Finance Director review and approval. Administer NEST pensions, including enrolments, employee letters, changes and contribution submissions. Handle routine payroll and pension queries, maintain accurate records and protect confidential information.

Variance analysis and reporting

Prepare monthly budget-versus-actual reports by company and department, showing pound and percentage variances against approved budgets. Investigate significant differences: check coding, missing costs, accruals and timing, and obtain explanations from relevant staff. Provide initial commentary and flag unresolved issues using agreed investigation and escalation thresholds. Prepare routine reports and supporting schedules to agreed daily, weekly and month-end deadlines, keeping an organised audit trail.

Essential experience and skills

Practical bookkeeping experience and confidence using Xero, bank reconciliations and routine journals. Experience preparing payroll and supporting pension administration, with a careful approach to checks and deadlines. Confidence using spreadsheets to reconcile data, prepare budget-versus-actual reports and investigate differences. Strong organisation and attention to detail, with the ability to manage recurring tasks and follow queries through to resolution. Clear, professional communication with colleagues and external contacts, and discretion with financial and payroll information. Useful additional experience Dext, NEST, multi-company bookkeeping, month-end adjustments and intercompany reconciliations. Commission-based income, revenue sharing, clawbacks or reconciling CRM and accounting records. Relevant bookkeeping or accounting training, including AAT studies or equivalent practical experience.