Finance Assistant
Temporary Contract
Job Details
Somerset Council
Service Area: Finance & Procurement / Finance Business Partnering / Children’s & Public Health
Hours: 37 hours per week
Working Pattern:
Hybrid working
At least 1 day per week in the office
Start Date: 01 September 2026
Duration: 12 weeks Plus
Number of Roles: 1
Location
Office Base:
The Crescent
Taunton
Somerset
TA1 4DY
PAYE Rate: £13.05 per hour
Job Overview
Somerset Council is seeking a Finance Assistant to support the Finance & Procurement Directorate.
The role will involve high-quality transactional processing, accurate financial record keeping, coding and approving invoices, raising and managing purchase orders, resolving supplier and customer invoice queries, supporting budget monitoring and acting as a first point of contact for finance-related queries across the Children’s service.
The successful candidate will work closely with Finance Business Partners, budget holders, Children’s services colleagues, suppliers and internal teams to support compliant and accurate financial practice.
Important – Please Read Carefully
This is a Finance Assistant role supporting transactional finance and budget monitoring.
Candidates must have experience maintaining accurate financial records, working with financial systems, responding to finance queries and supporting purchase orders, invoice handling or similar finance administration.
The role requires strong attention to detail, good numeracy, IT skills, clear communication, customer focus and the ability to organise and prioritise workload to meet deadlines.
A Basic DBS is required for this role.
Candidates without finance administration, invoice processing, purchase order, financial systems, record keeping or budget support experience are unlikely to be considered.
Key Responsibilities
- Support the Finance & Procurement Directorate
- Deliver high-quality transactional processing
- Maintain accurate financial information
- Code and approve invoices where required
- Raise and manage purchase orders
- Resolve supplier invoice queries
- Resolve customer invoice queries
- Maintain financial records accurately
- Act as a first point of contact for finance queries across Children’s services
- Support consistent and compliant financial practice
- Provide timely financial information and analysis
- Support budget monitoring activity
- Work with Finance Business Partners
- Support budget holders to use accounting systems
- Use the Council’s financial management systems
- Support interrogation and use of financial data
- Ensure Financial Regulations and procedures are followed
- Provide support where financial procedures need to be applied
- Respond to finance queries from internal colleagues and external partners
- Assist with ad hoc projects
- Support colleagues across Finance, Children’s services and external suppliers
- Provide and receive financial information clearly and accurately
- Support changes to procedures or systems where required
- Take appropriate action to resolve finance-related problems or queries
Essential Experience & Skills
- Experience maintaining accurate financial records
- Experience working with financial systems
- Experience responding to financial queries
- Understanding of purchase orders
- Understanding of invoice handling
- Understanding of financial record keeping
- Knowledge of financial management systems and their role in budget monitoring
- Good general education, including English and Maths or equivalent
- Strong attention to detail
- High level of accuracy when working with financial records
- Good numeracy skills
- Good IT skills
- Confidence using financial or data systems
- Effective communication skills
- Ability to engage with a range of stakeholders
- Problem-solving skills for invoice and financial queries
- Ability to organise and prioritise workload
- Ability to meet deadlines
- Customer-focused approach
- Ability to build positive working relationships
- Adaptable and willing to support colleagues with varied tasks
- Ability to work hybrid with office attendance in Taunton
Desirable
- Awareness of local authority financial regulations, controls and procedures
- Understanding of Children’s funding processes such as placement provision
- Awareness of procurement principles and supplier management
- Experience supporting service improvement initiatives
- Experience supporting ad hoc project work
- Experience working within a local authority or public sector organisation
- AAT Level 2 or 3, or willingness to work towards it
- Training or certification in financial systems
- Training or certification in purchase-to-pay processes
- Ability to interpret and analyse financial data to support budget monitoring and decision-making
Additional Information
Somerset Council’s Dynamic Working Strategy will apply to this role.
Interviews are expected to be held on Microsoft Teams and will consist of two Senior Finance Business Partners asking competency-based questions.
Interviews are expected to last no longer than 30 minutes.
Candidate submission deadline is 31 August 2026.
Disclaimer
On applying for this vacancy, you agree that your personal details will be passed onto our client for their consideration of your suitability for the role.
I acknowledge that it is my responsibility to notify Fix Space Recruitment Limited of any hirer who I do not want my details to be passed onto.
OR111181
Pay: £13.05 per hour
Application question(s):
- Do you have finance administration experience, including maintaining accurate financial records and working with financial or data systems?
- Have you raised or managed purchase orders, coded or approved invoices, resolved supplier/customer invoice queries or supported purchase-to-pay processes?
- Are you confident responding to finance queries from internal colleagues, budget holders, external partners or suppliers in a clear and professional way?
- Do you have strong numeracy, IT and attention-to-detail skills, with the ability to organise workload, meet deadlines and work accurately with financial information?
- Have you supported budget monitoring, financial data analysis, local authority finance, Children’s funding, service improvement or ad hoc finance project work?
Work Location: Hybrid remote in Taunton TA1 4DY
