Finance Officer - Service Charge

Together Housing; Blackburn; Hybrid; GBP 30,000 - 41,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Starting salary £35,164

27 days holiday + 8 BH

Flexible working environment

LGPS pension

Health and wellbeing benefits

Cycle to work

Disability support networks

Job summary

Together Housing Group is seeking a Finance Officer (Service Charge) to support budgeting, forecasting, and reporting across service charges. The role involves delivering timely financial information, KPI analysis, and ensuring strong financial controls within a collaborative environment.

Key duties include preparing management information, assisting with Financial Statements, and liaising with auditors. The position offers a hybrid working pattern and a competitive starting salary.

Qualifications

• Experience in a Finance/Accounts environment.
• Experience producing financial information in spreadsheets.
• Producing accurate and timely management accounts.
• Experience completing monthly reconciliations including nominal & bank reconciliations.
• Ability to liaise with stakeholders and present information clearly.

Responsibilities

• Assist the Service Charge Business Partner with budgeting/forecasting and capacity planning.
• Provide accurate monthly management information on Group Service Charges.
• Prepare working papers, notes to accounts, and variance analysis for Financial Statements.
• Liaise with External and Internal Auditors and respond to queries promptly.
• Prepare monthly Service Charges performance schedules for budget holders.

Skills

Finance experience

Spreadsheet proficiency

Management accounts

Reconciliations

Stakeholder liaison

Tools

Excel

Job description

We are currently looking for a Finance Officer (Service Charge) to join our team. In this key role, you will support the Service Charge Business Partner in delivering accurate and timely financial information, including management and financial accounts, KPI analysis, and performance reporting related to service charges across the Group. You’ll play a crucial part in ensuring compliance with legal and regulatory requirements and will regularly liaise with internal teams to provide advice, guidance, and support on budgets and investment decisions. Your responsibilities will also include handling queries, maintaining strong financial controls, and completing reconciliations within set timeframes. This is a fantastic opportunity to contribute to high-quality financial management in a collaborative and service-driven environment.

Together Housing Group:

We are one of the largest housing associations in the North of England, managing over 38,000 homes across the North of England. We are a non-profit organisation, meaning any money we make is invested back into the company for the benefit of our residents and local communities.

Diversity & Inclusion:

As an organisation we are committed to having a Diverse and Inclusive workforce. We would therefore welcome applications from candidates with any of the nine protected characteristics. We are also proud to be a Disability Confident employer. Further information can be found at this link - Equality and diversity - Together Housing Group

Outline of key responsibilities for the Finance Officer (Service Charge)…

• To assist the Service Charge Business Partner with business & capacity planning, budgeting/forecasting. Ensure budgets and performance targets are properly owned, and mechanisms in place to ensure they are effectively managed.
• To assist in the provision of accurate and timely monthly management information relating to Group Service Charges including investment work, housing property costs (including components), investment property in readiness to be included in the management accounts, performance analysis and narrative on performance. This should suit the Group’s different audiences including but not exclusively the THG Board, Operations Committee, the Senior Management Team and the Heads of Service.
• Assist in the provision of the information required for the Financial Statements. This includes preparing relevant working papers, notes to accounts, and variance analysis of significant differences when comparing with comparative data. Providing assistance to other Finance Colleagues where required.
• Liaise with the Groups External and Internal Auditors, providing the required supporting schedules and responding to queries in a timely manner.
• To complete monthly Service Charges performance schedules for budget holders to understand performance and provide advice and guidance on this and forward action planning in order to provide efficiency and value for money.
• To ensure that key income and expenditure and balance sheet accounts are reconciled on a monthly basis, dealing with any variances effectively and in a timely manner.
• To undertake analysis and interrogation of accounts in order to support the Service Charge Business Partner in providing more meaningful information on reports.
• Assist the Service Charge Business Partner in delivering a high quality, cost effective and accessible finance service to support the business objectives and customers’ needs.

We are looking for someone who has…

• Experience of working in a Finance / Accounts environment
• Experience of producing financial information in a spreadsheet format
• Producing accurate and timely management accounts and financial information
• Experience of completing monthly reconciliations including nominal and bank account reconciliations
• Working knowledge in the preparation and submission of financial information to stakeholders

In return, we are offering the successful candidate in the Finance Officer (Service Charge) role…

• Starting salary of £35,164
• 27 days holiday (rising to 32 over 5 years’ service) + bank holidays
• A flexible working environment, with a range of family friendly policies

• Your typical working hours will be 37 hours per week, from Monday to Friday.
• This is a hybrid position where the team collaborates flexibly and meets in the office once every two weeks.

• Working arrangements are flexible in line with our Smart Working culture so that we deliver an excellent and accessible service for customers.
• Wide range of technical, professional, and personal development training opportunities
• Attractive pension schemes - including Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS)
• Health and wellbeing benefits including access to GPs
• A range of financial and lifestyle benefits including cycle to work, vehicle leasing and financial advice
• We have a range of staff support networks, including menopause, culturally diverse, LGBTQ+ and disability.
• To view the full range of our award winning benefits click on the Employee Benefits Link