Bookkeeper

The Role Are you an experienced bookkeeper looking for a role where your skills, professionalism, and attention to detail are truly valued? Whether you’ve built a career in a practice environment or have successfully managed your own portfolio as a self-employed bookkeeper, we want to hear from you. Why this bookkeeper role is different You’ll be joining a well-established, traditional, and highly respected top 10 accountancy practice in Guildford with a long-standing, loyal client base. The close-knit team takes pride in delivering a personal and professional service, building genuine relationships, and supporting clients who see us as a trusted part of their business. This is an environment where you can really get to know your clients, work with a steady and varied portfolio, and become part of a business that values its people just as much as its clients. Core Skills Client Focus Makes best efforts to meet budgets and escalates potential budget overruns to senior members of the team Demonstrates an understanding of the concept of job recovery and efficiencies Is able to communicate professionally with clients to request missing information/deal with basic queries arising Communicates in a professional and confident manner Puts client service delivery at the forefront, ensuring timely acknowledgement of client queries and escalates as required Able to identify and escalate, to senior team members, areas of improvement for the future from current working practices. Technical Excellence Clears review queries with reduced assistance and with thought and attention to detail Ability to use key performance software independently with reduced support (Dext, Xero, Sage, QuickBooks, Microsoft Office) Involved in less complex compliance, beginning to take more responsibility for sections of the work Continues to develop sector specific professional knowledge Increased awareness of upcoming and existing changes in relevant legislation and standards applicable to role Able to spot issues/areas of possible contention or increased risk early in the process and escalate to senior colleagues Reduce recurrence of similar or same review points Able to spot where previous solutions and experience can be applied. Commitment Complies with all departmental and Group wide processes Ensures that work is in line with our vision and values and the overall people strategy Completes own chargeable time budget Supports others through coaching and sharing knowledge. Living Our Values Shows good understanding of our company values, and making good progress towards consistently demonstrating required behaviours. Technical Skills Bookkeeping Expertise: Managing bookkeeping for a variety of clients (sole traders, partnerships, and limited companies). Maintaining accurate financial records and reconciling accounts. Handling bank reconciliations and posting transactions. Maintaining Sales and Purchase Ledgers and the nominal ledger up to trial balance. VAT & Compliance: Preparing VAT returns accurately and on time. Assisting with other finance-related compliance tasks as needed. Client Communication & Relationship Management: Liaising with clients to answer queries and provide guidance. Communicating regularly with clients to request accounting records. Managing client bank accounts and processing payments on their behalf. Processing & Operational Tasks: Processing purchase and sales invoices accurately and efficiently. Managing supplier payments, reconciliations, and statement reviews. Invoicing on behalf of clients. Support: Supporting the wider team with ad-hoc accounting duties. Qualifications Prepare bank reconciliations of UK & foreign bank accounts Prepare a standard accruals based VAT reconciliation Can reconcile turnover per VAT returns to turnover in accounts Reconcile payroll control accounts and reflect adjustments in accounts Ability to prepare a gross wages reconciliation to agree the balance in the accounts Has knowledge of common VAT schemes such as cash accounting, flat rate and partial exemption Is able to prepare a VAT return under flat rate accounting for review Can reconcile balance owed per VAT return to VAT ledger Is able to explain to clients payment and submission dates for VAT Identify and manage bank rules in Xero Ability to communicate payment dates, amounts and reference numbers accurately Demonstrate ability to confidently communicate with HMRC via telephone Aware of key information sources available internally. Reconcile intercompany loan accounts Qualifications A relevant bookkeeping/accountancy qualification or qualified by experience (e.g. AAT). Essential Experience It is expected that the above core and technical skills will have been developed through study alongside work experience in an accountancy practice or similar role.