General Assistant Accountant

The Finance team plays a crucial role in enabling the University to deliver on its strategic aims. This involves managing and maximising the University's financial resources while providing expert financial advice and support to the wider University community. Our responsibilities encompass a wide range of essential functions, including providing strategic business partnering, delivering value from supplier relationships, managing effective working capital and cashflow and providing key financial support for our students. Additionally, we oversee all aspects of payroll and pensions management, and deliver comprehensive support for financial systems, tax compliance, and audit needs.

We are seeking a finance professional to support the delivery of key financial processes across the University. This role plays a vital part in the preparation of month and year-end accounts, budgeting, forecasting, reconciliations, and management accounting activities. Working closely with other areas in finance to ensure accurate and timely monthly period close, preparation of accruals, ensuring Funding Council income is properly recognized and reconciled. The role requires preparation of payroll journals to general ledger, and liaison with team members to ensure accurate reporting of monthly payroll costings used for Forecasting models.

The role requires contribution to continuous improvement by championing best practice and digital solutions. There will be involvement in scheduled testing of our cloud based Finance system upgrades, and ongoing management of system controls around Budgets, General Ledger coding and hierarchy updates, helping to ensure robust financial control and compliance. There are also reconciliations to prepare for Financial Auditors.

Principal Accountabilities:

- To prepare month-end accounting items such as sub-ledger reconciliations (liaising with other Finance teams), recharges and departmental transfers, GRNI and other Accounts Payable accruals.
- To prepare and post monthly payroll costing data in a timely basis into the nominal ledger and produce pay forecasting models, ensuring confidentiality at all times.
- To reconcile budgeted and forecasted intercompany costings. To produce monthly intercompany invoices in the Oracle Finance cloud based system.
- To support the production of monthly Funding Council income reconciliations, in preparation for Year End and audit.
- To assist in the management of the month end timetable; ensuring that deadlines are adhered to both within Core Team and by other contributors.
- To contribute to the creation of systems, reports and procedures that drive accuracy, quality and continuous improvement, with a particular emphasis on digitization.
- To assist in the year end preparation including all reconciliations, coding reviews and ledger close downs.
- On a monthly basis, by providing corrective advice and information, ensure reconciliation of internal income and cost, and of intercompany balances.
- To maintain commitment control and other hierarchical coding structures in the Oracle Finance cloud based system.
- To provide training on ORACLE functionality out to the Business as required i.e. dashboards, how to etc.
- To produce and distribute system and ad hoc reports to the Business, using appropriate tools/format.
- To carry out any other duties or projects, consistent with the role and level of the post, as may be required from time to time.
- To ensure all duties are carried out in a manner consistent with University Core Values and with due regard to Health & Safety and Equality & Diversity legislation.

About You:

You will have experience in general accounting, including accounts receivable and/or payable. With an understanding of month-end and year-end accounting processes, you will have worked with a Finance system to pre-agreed deadlines. Attention to detail and accuracy in all areas, including Excel spreadsheets, to record and produce reconciliations for Management review.

You have strong communication and customer service skills, building positive relationships with colleagues and stakeholders and explaining financial information clearly to non-finance staff. A collaborative team player, you enjoy contributing to a high-performing environment, adapting to change and identifying opportunities to improve processes and efficiency.

Person Specification — Essential Criteria:

Qualifications:
- GCSE Maths and English Language at Grade C or above or equivalent experience
- AAT or equivalent relevant work experience, or willingness to achieve this qualification through the apprenticeship route within an agreed timeframe

Experience:
- General Accounting experience including accounts receivables or payables

Skills, knowledge & abilities:
- A good knowledge of the key financial and business systems in an organisation
- Ability to use on-line Finance tools to generate detailed costings reports, or creating and running ad hoc reports, or use of varied digital solutions in a Finance environment
- Demonstrable IT skills including Excel skills
- Strong communication skills, ability to build positive relationships
- Reconciliation and financial reporting skills
- Ability to consistently achieve deadlines and timetables to a high-quality standard
- Ability to teamwork within and beyond the immediate team, adopt a quality service ethos and contribute collegiately to the achievement of team goals
- The desire to be part of a high performing team
- Ability to adapt positively to change
- Accuracy and attention to detail
- Strong customer focus, including responding to email and MS Teams queries and issues
- Ability to identify improvements in systems and processes to maximize efficiency and effectiveness of the University
- Ability to communicate finance issues to non finance staff

Business requirements:
- Willingness to provide support at University events from time to time e.g., Graduation, Clearing and Open Days
- Able to recognise the need and be willing to work outside of normal hours at times as relevant to achieving service delivery, targets and deadlines

Desirable Criteria:
- Experience of working within the Higher Education Sector
- Use of Oracle Cloud Finance system

Benefits:
- Generous annual leave entitlement of 38 days inclusive of bank holidays and concessionary days (pro rata)
- Local Government Pension Scheme
- Suite of holistic wellbeing benefits and support including family-friendly policies, generous sick pay provision and comprehensive Employee Assistance Programme
- Access to a variety of staff discounts at high street retailers
- Discounted onsite gym
- Cycle to Work scheme
- A flexible working environment
- A commitment to personal and professional development