Hours: Full-time | 40 hours per week
Employment type: Permanent
About the Role
Oak House Children’s Home Ltd is looking for an experienced and highly organised Finance & Payroll Officer to join our team.
This is a varied and important role within the business, with responsibility for the day-to-day administration of payroll, accounts payable, banking, staff expenses, pensions, purchasing and income, as well as providing wider administrative support to our children's homes.
The successful candidate will need to be confident working independently, have excellent attention to detail and be comfortable managing deadlines, particularly around monthly payroll, HMRC submissions, pension contributions and supplier payments.
You will work closely with management, home managers and staff across the organisation to ensure that financial and payroll processes are accurate, timely and properly recorded.
Key Responsibilities
Payroll
- Manage the monthly payroll process from start to finish using Deputy & Moneysoft.
- Set up new starters, including P45 information, annual leave and NEST pension enrolment.
- Process leavers, including P45s and accrued holiday calculations.
- Maintain accurate employee records, including pay changes and personal details.
- Process statutory payroll requirements including SSP, maternity documentation, tax code changes, National Minimum Wage increases and student loan deductions.
- Process annual leave, mileage, staff expenses, payroll adjustments and amended hours.
- Prepare monthly payroll spreadsheets and transfer payroll information into Moneysoft.
- Generate payslips and coordinate their distribution to employees.
- Prepare BACS payment batches and submit payments through the bank.
- Submit RTI reports to HMRC.
- Prepare monthly PAYE and National Insurance summaries and ensure payments are made within the required deadlines.
- Process attachment of earnings payments where applicable.
- Manage NEST pension contributions and ensure pension records are kept up to date.
- Prepare the annual payroll timetable covering pay periods, submission deadlines and payment dates.
- Prepare annual payroll documentation, including P60s.
Accounts Payable & Banking
- Input and process supplier invoices using ClearBooks.
- Process supplier payments and ensure payments are properly authorised.
- Manage higher-value payments and obtain appropriate authorisation where required.
- Download and upload bank statements into ClearBooks.
- Reconcile bank accounts and investigate discrepancies.
- Ensure BACS payments are correctly matched to invoices and recorded accurately in ClearBooks and Excel.
Staff Expenses & Expend
- Monitor transactions across staff and children's home Expend cards.
- Check transactions against uploaded receipts.
- Identify and follow up missing receipts or discrepancies.
- Categorise expenditure accurately for reconciliation.
- Approve verified transactions.
- Monitor expenditure to ensure compliance with internal procedures.
- Top up main Expend accounts and staff cards.
- Manage weekly young people's allowance payments in accordance with information provided by managers.
- Manage petty cash payments, records and reconciliations.
Purchasing & Operational Support
- Arrange the purchase and delivery of supplies for children's homes.
- Process weekly food shop orders for all homes.
- Upload and maintain supporting receipts and records.
- Arrange transportation for staff travelling between homes and staff accompanying young people on contact visits.
- Arrange bookings for young people's activities.
- Manage other routine purchasing and administrative requirements.
Income & Invoicing
- Raise and issue invoices for private residents.
- Record council payments and other income accurately.
- Maintain income spreadsheets and financial records.
- Ensure payments received are correctly allocated to the relevant invoices.
- Process pocket money and donations and transfer funds to the appropriate managers.
General Administration
- Send training links and information to new starters.
- Manage annual DBS Update Service renewals.
- Manage parking permits through the Newham Council portal, including renewals and visitor permits.
- Prepare and place recruitment adverts through Indeed.
- Provide staff references when requested.
- Provide general administrative and financial support to management and the children's homes.
About You
We are looking for someone who is organised, reliable, discreet and highly detail-oriented, with previous experience in payroll and accounts administration.
You should be comfortable taking responsibility for your own workload and working to strict deadlines, particularly when processing payroll and making statutory submissions.
Essential Skills & Experience
- Previous experience in a payroll and/or accounts role.
- Good understanding of payroll processes and statutory deductions.
- Experience using payroll software, ideally Moneysoft.
- Experience with accounting software, ideally ClearBooks.
- Good understanding of HMRC payroll requirements, including RTI, PAYE and National Insurance.
- Experience with workplace pensions, ideally NEST.
- Strong numerical and reconciliation skills.
- Excellent attention to detail and accuracy.
- Good knowledge of Microsoft Excel.
- Ability to manage confidential employee and financial information appropriately.
- Strong organisational and time-management skills.
- Ability to work independently and meet deadlines.
- Excellent communication skills and the confidence to liaise with managers, employees and suppliers.
Desirable
- Experience working within a children's social care, care or similar regulated environment.
- Experience managing payroll from start to finish.
- Experience with Expend or similar staff expense/card management systems.
- Experience dealing with multiple sites or locations.
- Experience with BACS payments and bank reconciliations.
What We Are Looking For
This is a key position within our organisation and would suit someone who enjoys a varied role with genuine responsibility.
You will need to be someone who takes pride in getting things right, is proactive in identifying issues and is comfortable managing several different areas of responsibility at the same time.
Confidentiality, accuracy and reliability are particularly important due to the sensitive nature of the financial and employee information involved.
What We Offer
- Competitive salary based on experience.
- Permanent position.
- Varied and responsible role.
- Opportunity to work closely with senior management.
- Supportive working environment.
- [25 days annual leave + bank holidays]
- [Pension scheme]
- [Other benefits]
How to Apply
If you have the relevant experience and are looking for a varied Finance & Payroll Officer role where you can take ownership of an important function within the organisation, we would be pleased to hear from you.
Please submit your CV through Indeed, outlining your relevant experience in payroll, accounts and financial administration.
Oak House Children’s Home Ltd is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. All appointments are subject to appropriate pre-employment checks, including references and DBS checks where applicable.
Pay: £25,420.00-£35,000.00 per year
Work Location: In person
