Finance Assistant

**Job Description and Person Specification**

**Job Title**: Finance Assistant

**Salary Range**:£24,397 - £25,824

**Band**:7,8,9

**Hours**:16 - 30 hours / week

**Department**:Finance

**Location**: St Michael’s Hospice, Bartestree

**Reports to**:Finance Director

**Responsible for**:Supervising volunteers

**Job Purpose**:
Responsible for ensuring that all charity and subsidiary income streams are received in full, safeguarded, recorded and banked. Responsible for undertaking the day-to-day administration of the purchase ledger, liaising with external suppliers and internal colleagues at all levels within the organisation.

**Responsibility Areas**

**Income Management**
- Ensure the timely processing of multiple income streams, ensuring transactions are appropriately coded and that necessary action is taken for restricted fund income.
- Ensure the safe storage and banking of all cash, ensuring sufficient track and trace through the system, allocation in to the appropriate bank accounts and reconciliation of same, liaising with external cash collection providers as appropriate.
- Issue and receive petty cash and cash floats.
- Maintain records and procedures to safeguard income.
- Raise sales invoices e.g. for grant funding, training courses, fundraising events, merchandise, and commissioned income etc.
- Ensure all debts are recovered, liaising with debtors professionally and promptly.
- Liaise directly and regularly with fundraising colleagues to maintain awareness of income generating plans and activities to ensure appropriate recognition of income.
- Ensure adherence to month end deadlines.

**Financial Management**
- Reconcile on a daily basis bank statements to computer records.
- On a monthly basis reconcile:

- bank accounts
- sales ledger schedules

ensuring differences are investigated and resolved.
- Maintain internal controls and monitor financial checks and processes for accuracy, remedying mis-postings and addressing causes.
- Be conversant with all systems, processes and procedures relevant to the operation of the Finance department, assist with upgrades and support developments and provide cover in the absence of finance colleagues.
- Provide support to the Finance Director in the preparation of Statutory Accounts and reports, preparing lead schedules, reconciliations and other related tasks.
- Ensure the safeguarding of assets and data confidentiality.
- Produce and assist in the documentation of financial processes and procedures and contribute to projects to streamline the financial administrative procedures.
- Identify internal control issues and seek to address them, escalating to the Finance Director as appropriate.
- Report any instance or suspicion of fraud or irregularity to the Finance Director.
- Support all internal and external audits relating to income and purchase ledger management.

**Purchase Ledger**
- Maintain the purchase ledger invoice register.
- Match supplier invoices with purchase orders as appropriate.
- Process supplier invoices, credit notes, payments and any other purchase ledger transactions.
- Liaise directly and regularly with budget holders and managers at all levels throughout the organisation to ensure accurate invoice coding, appropriate authorisation and timely processing.
- Allocate payments to supplier accounts, preparing weekly supplier payment schedules for payment authorisation.
- Communicate with suppliers in respect of payments and remittance advices, resolving issues professionally and promptly.
- Actively chase supplier statements, reconciling to statements to supplier accounts, to ensure completeness of ledger.

**Management**
- Supervisory responsibility for relevant work of finance volunteers.
- Attend mandatory in-house training and updates on fire, health and safety etc.
- Maintain own professional knowledge, competency, development and accreditation as required.

**Person Specification**

**1 Specialist Knowledge and experience**

**Essential**

Knowledge and experience of:

- using financial accounting systems
- accounting principles and practices
- strong IT skills

**Desirable**
- Association of Accounting Technician’s (AAT) or equivalent experience
- Experience of supervision

**2 Skills and behaviours**

**Quality Orientation**Provides a quality service. Maintains high professional standards and gets work right first time.

**Resilience **Maintains effective work behaviour in the face of set-backs or pressure. Remains calm, stable and in control of themselves.

**Team Working **Fits in with the team. Develops effective and supportive relationships with colleagues. Is considerate towards them and creates a sense of team spirit.

**Relating to Others** Quickly builds rapport and easily establishes relationships with customers. Relates well to different types of customer, listens and gets on with them.

**Organisation**Organises own time effectively and creates own work schedules. Prioritises and prepares in advance. Sets reali