Finance Officer

**Principal Accountabilities**:
**1.** **Financial Processing and Reporting**
- Keep the sales and purchase ledgers of the Sage accounts system up to date and accurate and reconciled to the Subscriber system and bank statements.
- Provide support, training and advice for other staff, as required, to ensure adherence to the charity’s financial processes and efficient operation.
- Enter invoices received for the supply of goods and services and allocate to appropriate cost centres, seek payment authorisation from designated budget holders and pay suppliers when due.
- Generate invoices as requested for the supply of goods and services supplied by Friends of the Lake District, allocating to appropriate cost centres.
- Complete regular and accurate Gift Aid claims and reconcile to Sage income nominals and restricted funds.
- Assist with the protection of Friends of the Lake District’s assets and maintenance of the Asset Register.
- Assist with the entry of Investment Values, Accruals, Prepayments and Depreciation information into Sage. Estimate the value of residuary legacies, keep this information updated in the accounts and support and advise the Fundraising Team by tracking and reporting progress on active legacies regarding income received and outstanding.
- Assist in the preparation of monthly management accounts and short-term cash flow information and provide updates to budget holders as required.
- Assist in the preparation of finance reports for the executive committee.
- Administrate the payroll and pensions system to ensure the payroll process is accurate and timely. Provide an additional contact with the charity’s pension provider and HMRC where necessary.
- Provide support for Fundraising, Project & Policy Officers with the financial administration of grants either given or received. Maintain data records of costs associated with the various grant funded programmes and aid Project Officers to complete timely and accurate claims.
- Assist with financial planning, including budget costing and development and transfer this information into Sage.
- Assist with the year-end accounts preparation including adjustment calculations and internal audit checks.
- Keep up to date filing of all invoices and accounts documents, confidential storage of payroll information and retention of historical accounting records as required.
- Deputise for the Finance & Central Resource Manager on occasion in staff meetings regarding FLD finance information or in communications with suppliers and other stakeholders.
- Support development and improvement of the Charity’s finance processes and procedures and assist in these being recorded, implemented and maintained.

**2.** **General**
- The post holder will be expected to make a constructive contribution to the development and maintenance of a positive team environment within Friends of the Lake District and to the development of Friends of the Lake District as an effective and responsive membership organisation._**Together we do amazing things**_

**Welcome**

We are an independent charity and the only membership organisation dedicated to protecting and enhancing Cumbria's landscapes. We believe that the Lake District offers some of the most spectacular and precious landscapes in England and that’s why we take action to protect and enhance the natural beauty of these landscapes for the benefit of local communities, visitors, wildlife and habitats.

**A bit about us**

We’ve been passionate about the Cumbrian landscape for many years, over 87 years to be precise and in that time we have seen lots of change. Our planning and policy team has developed over time to ensure that we not only campaign to protect our landscape but we pro-actively influence the key decision makers about the future of our landscape.

Our ownership of land and buildings has also grown over time and our ambition is to protect and enhance this important area of our work.

The Westmorland Dales Hidden Landscapes project has been a huge success to date and with 21 projects to deliver over 4 years this continues to be a massive project for us.

Our Dark Skies project is another example of our ambition to not only look to the here and now but also to influence the future.

And that’s just some of what we do..

We couldn’t do all this amazing work without our fantastic fundraising and communications team which shouts loud and proud about our work and raises the funds we need to support our ambitions. Our central resources team is an integral part of our organisation and is made up of administration, finance and volunteering. We know that we need to have the right infrastructure within our growing organisation which is why we are recruiting to new and exciting opportunities.

It really is a great time to join Friends of the Lake District to build on our successes and help shape our future.

**What about you?**

We want you to have a passion for what we do and be committed to do your very best f