Finance Officer

Change Mental Health; City of Edinburgh; Hybrid; GBP 31,000 - 36,000; Full time

Job summary

Change Mental Health is seeking a Finance Officer to join the Edinburgh-based national office. You will handle month-end journals, payroll processing, the sales ledger and accounting for the trading subsidiary, while supporting budgets and audits.

The role offers opportunities to shape finance processes within a growing charity. The successful candidate will have significant month-end experience, payroll/pension administration, and strong Excel skills, with a background in the not-for-profit

Qualifications

• AAT qualified or equivalent practical experience in a finance role.
• Month-end experience including journals, accruals and prepayments.
• Experience processing payroll data and pension administration.
• Experience maintaining a sales ledger and invoicing against contracts.
• Strong Excel skills including lookups and pivot tables.
• Experience using a computerised accounting system.
• Experience in charity or not-for-profit sector, including restricted funds.

Responsibilities

• Prepare and post month-end journals, including payroll journals and staff cost re-allocations.
• Prepare deferred and accrued income journals.
• Maintain the sales ledger and raise invoices.
• Take responsibility for accounting for the charity’s trading subsidiary.
• Process payroll data for external payroll provider.
• Administer staff pension scheme and assist with payroll queries.
• Support annual budgeting process with updated templates.
• Assist production of monthly management accounts and regular budget meetings.
• Support annual external audit with data and schedules.
• Support fundraising team with grant reporting and data for rates and staffing.

Skills

Payroll processing

Sales ledger

Month-end

Communication

Attention to detail

Confidentiality

Education

AAT qualification

Professional accountancy qualification (in progress)

Tools

Xero

Excel

Job description

Post: Finance Officer
Location: National Office, Edinburgh
Salary: £30,768.10 – £35,542.15
Hours: Full time, 35 hours per week
Contract: Permanent
Reports To: Head of Finance
Disclosure & Barring Check: Basic Disclosure (Level 1)
Closing date: 12th November 2026

We welcome and encourage job applications from people of all backgrounds.

If you consider yourself to have a disability, please complete the relevant section within the application pack to inform us of any arrangements that we may make to the interview process.

We reserve the right to close this advert earlier or later than stated, so please don’t delay your application to avoid any disappointment.

About the role

The Finance team is a small, friendly team led by the Director of Finance, working alongside a Head of Finance and Finance Assistant. We provide the financial processing, payroll, reporting and insight that enables our services across Scotland to deliver high-quality support to the people we work with. This is an exciting time to join us: we use Xero and are actively reviewing and strengthening our finance systems, processes and reporting, so you will have the opportunity to shape how the team works and to grow with it.

The Finance Officer plays a central role in the day-to-day running of the finance function. You will be responsible for month-end journals, payroll and pension processing, the sales ledger and the accounting for our trading subsidiary, and you will support the Director of Finance with budgets, management accounts, the annual audit and grant reporting. We are looking for an experienced and proactive finance professional who takes ownership of their work, enjoys improving processes, and has the ambition to develop and take on greater responsibility as the team evolves.

Key responsbilities

• Month-end journals: Prepare and post month-end journals, including payroll journals and staff cost re-allocations, cost recharges (property, IT, insurance and full cost recovery), prepayments and accruals.
• Income recognition: Prepare deferred and accrued income journals, ensuring income is recognised in the correct period.
• Sales ledger: Maintain the sales ledger, raising monthly invoices, reviewing contracts and applying contractual uplifts to invoices.
• Trading subsidiary: Take responsibility for all accounting for the charity’s trading subsidiary.
• Payroll: Process payroll data for our external payroll provider, including new starters, leavers and changes, and calculate holiday and sickness data for payroll.
• Pensions: Administer the staff pension scheme and assist staff with payroll and pension queries.
• Budgets: Support the annual budget process, updating budget templates with pay rates and prior year data.
• Management accounts: Assist with the production of monthly management accounts, preparing departmental reports for regular (six-weekly) budget meetings.
• Audit: Support the annual external audit, extracting information and preparing supporting schedules.
• Funding and grants: Support the Fundraising team with grant applications and funder reporting by providing data on rates, averages and staffing requirements.
• Team cover: Provide holiday and absence cover for the Finance Assistant, including purchase ledger processing, payment runs, bank reconciliations and reconciliation of Pleo pre-paid cards.
• Continuous improvement: Contribute to the ongoing review and improvement of finance systems, processes and internal controls.
• AAT qualified, or equivalent practical experience in a finance role.
• Significant experience of month-end processes, including journals, accruals, prepayments and income recognition.
• Experience of processing payroll data (including through an external payroll provider) and pension administration.
• Experience of maintaining a sales ledger and invoicing against contracts.
• Strong Excel skills (e.g. lookups and pivot tables) and experience of using a computerised accounting system.
• Excellent accuracy and attention to detail, with the ability to manage competing deadlines and prioritise workload.
• Good communication skills, with the ability to explain financial information clearly to non-finance colleagues.
• A commitment to confidentiality and to Change Mental Health’s values.
• Part-qualified, or studying towards, a professional accountancy qualification
• Experience in the charity or not-for-profit sector, including restricted funds, grant reporting and the Charities SORP.
• Experience of accounting for a trading subsidiary.
• Experience of using Xero.
• Experience of supporting budgets, management accounts and external audits.

This job profile and list of duties is not exhaustive and serves only to highlight the main requirements.

We are committed to exploring flexible working opportunities which benefit the individual and the charity and are a “Happy to Talk Flexible” employer.

• Professional development including funded opportunities.
• A 35-hour working week, enhanced sick pay & season ticket loan.
• A great work life balance with flexible and blended working environment.
• 24/7 access to an award-winning Employee Assistance Programme providing free legal, financial and medical advice as well as support with life’s challenges.
• Enhanced sick pay and leave entitlements