Job Title: Finance Assistant
Level: Up to £28,000 - £30,000 depending on experience
Job Family: Primary Care Network
Hours: 37.5 hours per week (excluding breaks)
Employment Type: Permanent
Accountable to: Head of Finance
Responsible to: Head of Finance
Location: BHNC office
INTERVIEWS: Monday 7th and Wednesday 9th September in person
Job Summary
Reporting to the Head of Finance, the Finance Assistant will work closely with the Senior Finance Officer and the Finance Officer to support the delivery of an effective, accurate and responsive finance function across BHNC.
The responsibilities of the role will be as follows:
Accounts payable, invoice management, account set up, reconciliation and closure of accounts, chasing outstanding payments, timely query resolution, receivable, maintaining QuickBooks system, bank postings and reconciliation, general ad hoc support.
This role requires a flexible, organised and experienced administrator, with excellent communications skills, who is IT literate and who works to a proficient level in excel.
Organisation
Bexley Health Neighbourhood Care (BHNC) is a GP Federation supporting the 19 Bexley Practices / 4 PCNs, Erith Hospital and Queen Mary’s Urgent Treatment Centre who are working collaboratively to enhance the health and wellbeing of Bexley residents, covering over 260,000 patients.
Key Working Relationships
Key relationships include but are not limited to:
- Overall BHNC (inc Bank, Self Employed, ARRS) workforce
- BHNC Finance Provider
- External Stakeholders
Key Responsibilities
· Process and maintain day-to-day finance transactions, including sales invoices, supplier invoices, credit notes, purchase orders, expense claims and payment records.
· Log invoices accurately on QuickBooks, ensuring correct coding, VAT treatment, authorisation and supporting documentation are in place before processing.
· Post receipts, payments, bank transactions and other ledger entries on QuickBooks to support accurate and timely financial reporting.
· Prepare and process routine, urgent and ad hoc payments in line with BHNC procedures, ensuring suppliers and practices are paid accurately and on time.
· Maintain purchase and sales ledger records, including account set-up, reconciliations, account closure and investigation of discrepancies.
· Carry out bank, supplier statement and ledger reconciliations, escalating variances or unresolved issues to the appropriate member of the finance team.
· Monitor outstanding payments and follow up finance queries with suppliers, practices, budget holders and colleagues to support timely resolution.
· Raise sales invoices and follow up outstanding debtor invoices, liaising with practices, other customers, the ICB, NHS organisations and relevant stakeholders to ensure timely payment and resolution of queries.
· Liaise with budget holders, service leads and each service area to support accurate coding, timely approval of invoices, resolution of finance queries and effective budget monitoring.
· Maintain accurate finance records, systems, databases, filing and audit trails in accordance with BHNC policies, GDPR and information governance requirements.
· Support month-end and year-end processes by ensuring invoices, payments, reconciliations and supporting schedules are complete, accurate and up to date.
· Monitor the accounts inbox, respond to routine finance queries and act as a first point of contact for day-to-day internal and external finance queries.
· Work collaboratively with finance and operational colleagues to ensure accurate, timely and efficient financial processing.
· Identify and highlight opportunities to improve the accuracy, consistency and efficiency of finance processes.
· Support the introduction of agreed finance procedures, system updates and process improvements as required.
· Adhere to Infection Control standards and comply with Health & Safety, Corporate, Clinical and Information Governance requirements.
· To review current ways of working to reduce/eliminate repetition.
· Represent the organisation positively and professionally, behaving as an ambassador by displaying the organisation’s values and levels of expected professionalism at all times.
· Take responsibility for supporting own development learning and performance.
This list is not exhaustive, and additional tasks may be required.
Person Specification - Essential Criteria:
Experience
- Proven experience in finance administration, accounts, or bookkeeping.
Analytical & Judgement Skills
- Strong numerical and analytical skills.
- Excellent attention to detail and organisational skills
- Ability to assess a professional situation, determine the nature and severity of the problem and utilise knowledge and experience to deal with the problem,
- Recognise that they are personally responsible for decisions made and recognises when to refer patient care to more suitable care providers,
- Able to identify and raise risk management issues according to policy/protocol,
- Excellent attention to accuracy and detail within administrative tasks,
- Recognises priorities when problem solving, identifying deviations from normal patterns, and is able to refer these where required for resolution.
Communication & Relationships
- Excellent communication skills, with the ability to select, adjust and use appropriate forms of verbal and non-verbal communication with colleagues, including verbal and non-verbal communication forms;
- Excellent interpersonal skills, with the ability to establish and maintain effective relationships with others.
- Able to appropriately build relationships to gain the cooperation of relevant stakeholders (including, senior and peer colleagues, and other professionals);
Planning and Organisational Skills
- Can demonstrate a flexible approach to meet organisational needs and can adapt to cope with uncertainty and change,
- Excellent time keeping skills,
- Exceptional ability to effectively manage, plan and coordinate multiple activities, overcoming barriers and issues that would prevent seamless coordination of activities,
- Can demonstrate the ability to work in a busy environment dealing with both urgent and important tasks whilst also supporting others.
Qualities & Standards
- Commitment to reducing health inequalities and proactively working to reach people from all communities,
- Embraces equality, diversity and inclusivity at every opportunity and the NHS core principles; dignity and respect, compassion, be included, responsive care and support and wellbeing,
- Knowledge of and ability to work to policies and procedures, including confidentiality, safeguarding, lone working, information governance, and health and safety,
- Able to operate competently with regard to managing data and information in accordance with the Data Protection Act (DPA) (2018) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (2018), Access to Health Records Act (AHRA) (1990) and the Public Interest Disclosure Act (1998).
Personal Ability
- Proficient in Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, Outlook) and finance software.
- Knowledge of IT systems, including ability to use word processing systems and software, emails, and the internet to create simple plans and reports,
- Adaptable, self-motivated and able to work flexibly and enthusiastically as part of an integrated multi-skilled team, or on own initiative,
- Able to work effectively under pressure,
- Is able to recognise personal limitations and refer to more appropriate colleague(s) when necessary, and take accountability for own development needs,
- Is flexible in relation to work patterns.
- Independently mobile, with the ability to work across the different PCN sites, and travel to meet with stakeholders where required.
This job description is a broad reflection of current duties, but it is not exhaustive. It will be reviewed on no less than an annual basis to reflect priorities and developments during the on-going appraisal and performance review process and any organisational change arising.
Job Types: Full-time, Permanent
Pay: £28,000.00-£30,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Company pension
- Free parking
- On-site parking
Application question(s):
- Please confirm you are independently mobile, with the ability to work across the different PCN sites, and travel to meet with stakeholders where required.
Work Location: In person
