Location: Frognall, near Stamford
Hours: 15-20 hours per week
Job Type: Permanent, Part-Time, Salaried
Salary: £17,000–£19,000 per annum, depending on experience
Working arrangement: Office based
About the Role
We are a growing international product and e-commerce business looking for an experienced, practical and well-organised Accounts & Finance Assistant to take responsibility for the day-to-day accounting records of our UK company.
This is a hands-on role based at our Frognall office.
Our accounts are maintained in Xero, with the chart of accounts, nominal structure and management reporting framework established. The successful candidate will be responsible for ensuring that the underlying accounting information is complete, accurate, reconciled and kept fully up to date.
The role is approximately 15-20 hours per week and would suit an experienced bookkeeper or accounts assistant looking for a permanent part-time position.
As the routine accounting work becomes established, the role will also provide support with stock, e-commerce, purchasing, costs and other commercial administration.
Main ResponsibilitiesDay-to-Day Accounts
- Enter and process purchase invoices and supplier credit notes.
- Enter, check and reconcile sales invoices and receipts.
- Ensure transactions are allocated to the correct nominal accounts.
- Maintain accurate purchase and sales ledgers.
- Maintain supporting documentation for accounting transactions.
- Investigate missing invoices, unidentified transactions and discrepancies.
- Maintain accurate and current accounting records in Xero.
Bank & Account Reconciliations
- Reconcile company bank accounts regularly.
- Reconcile card and other payment accounts.
- Allocate receipts and payments correctly.
- Investigate and resolve unreconciled transactions.
- Ensure the accounting records agree with the underlying bank and payment records.
Suppliers & Customers
- Maintain accurate supplier accounts.
- Reconcile supplier statements.
- Prepare supplier payment schedules for approval.
- Monitor aged creditors.
- Allocate customer receipts.
- Maintain aged debtor information and assist with credit control where required.
E-commerce & Marketplace Accounting
- Reconcile Amazon and other marketplace sales and settlements.
- Ensure sales, VAT, fees, refunds and other marketplace deductions are correctly recorded.
- Reconcile marketplace settlements to amounts received into the bank.
- Investigate discrepancies between sales records, marketplace reports and accounting records.
Stock & Cost of Sales
Stock accuracy is an important part of this position.
Responsibilities will include:
- Maintain accounting records relating to stock purchases and stock movements.
- Assist with regular stock reconciliation and valuation.
- Maintain records of goods in transit.
- Ensure stock purchases are correctly accounted for.
- Assist with landed-cost calculations.
- Allocate freight, import duty and associated purchasing costs appropriately.
- Reconcile stock information against purchases and sales.
- Investigate stock and cost discrepancies.
Accruals, Prepayments & Month End
- Maintain schedules for accruals and prepayments.
- Post regular accounting adjustments where appropriate.
- Complete bank and balance-sheet reconciliations.
- Review debtors and creditors.
- Reconcile stock and intercompany balances.
- Identify unusual, duplicated or incorrectly coded transactions.
- Ensure Xero is complete and ready to produce reliable monthly management reports, including Profit & Loss and Balance Sheet reports.
VAT
- Ensure purchases and sales are correctly coded for VAT.
- Maintain appropriate supporting VAT documentation.
- Assist with preparation and reconciliation of VAT returns.
- Maintain a clear audit trail for marketplace and e-commerce VAT transactions.
- Liaise with the company’s external accountant where technical advice is required.
Payroll
- Provide and check information required for payroll.
- Record payroll journals.
- Reconcile salary payments and payroll liabilities.
- Maintain records relating to PAYE, National Insurance and pensions.
Intercompany Accounts
The business trades with associated international companies.
The successful candidate will:
- Correctly identify and record intercompany transactions.
- Maintain clear intercompany ledgers.
- Regularly reconcile balances between group companies.
- Investigate differences and ensure supporting invoices/documentation are maintained.
Commercial & Business Support
Once the routine accounting work is up to date, the role will also assist management with commercial and administrative tasks connected with the financial operation of the business.
These may include:
- Maintaining stock and purchasing information.
- Checking supplier invoices against agreed pricing.
- Maintaining product cost and landed-cost calculations.
- Reviewing freight and logistics charges.
- Monitoring Amazon and marketplace fees and costs.
- Assisting with product margin calculations.
- Preparing basic sales, customer and product analysis.
- Maintaining pricing and cost spreadsheets.
- Assisting with purchasing and supplier records.
- Producing simple weekly cash, debtor and creditor information for management.
- General finance and commercial administration appropriate to the role.
External Accountant
The company retains external professional accounting support.
The Accounts & Finance Assistant will maintain the company’s day-to-day accounting records and provide the information required by the external accountant.
The external accountant will remain responsible for areas such as statutory accounts, corporation tax and specialist tax advice.
What We Are Looking For
We are looking for someone who takes ownership of the accounts rather than simply processing transactions.
You should be comfortable investigating something when it does not reconcile or make sense and following it through until the reason is understood.
Accuracy, organisation and attention to detail are extremely important.
Essential Experience
- Previous bookkeeping or accounts experience.
- Good practical experience using Xero.
- Purchase and sales ledger experience.
- Bank reconciliation experience.
- Understanding of VAT.
- Experience with accruals and prepayments.
- Good Excel or spreadsheet skills.
- Ability to reconcile accounts and investigate discrepancies.
- Good organisational skills and attention to detail.
- Comfortable working independently and taking responsibility for completing tasks.
Desirable Experience
Experience in any of the following would be particularly useful:
- Stock or inventory accounting.
- E-commerce businesses.
- Amazon or other online marketplaces.
- Import/export businesses.
- Freight, duty and landed-cost calculations.
- Foreign currency transactions.
- Intercompany accounting.
- Product costing and margin analysis.
Formal accounting qualifications such as AAT would be useful but are not essential. Relevant practical experience and the ability to maintain accurate accounting records are more important.
Person Profile
The right person will be:
- Accurate – takes pride in getting the numbers right.
- Inquisitive – asks why something does not reconcile rather than simply posting it somewhere.
- Organised – keeps accounting records and supporting documents in order.
- Reliable – completes agreed work without constant supervision.
- Commercially aware – understands that accounts are there to help management understand the business.
- Comfortable with detail – happy working through invoices, settlements, stock movements and reconciliations.
- Proactive – identifies missing information and asks for it.
- Confident enough to question things – raises transactions or costs that appear unusual.
- Practical – willing to help with wider finance and commercial administration when the accounting work is complete.
- Interested in a growing business – comfortable with a role that can develop as the company grows.
What Success Looks Like
The objective is straightforward:
At any point during the month, management should be able to rely on Xero as an accurate representation of the company’s financial position.
Banks should be reconciled, invoices entered, creditors and debtors understood, stock accounted for, marketplace transactions reconciled and unusual items investigated promptly.
This is an opportunity for the right person to take ownership of the day-to-day finance function within a growing international and e-commerce business and develop the position as the company expands.
Pay: £17,000.00-£20,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Casual dress
- Free parking
- On-site parking
Work Location: In person
