Financial and Systems Accountant in Rotherham

Are you a qualified accountant with excellent financial accounting skills? Are you a motivated individual able to work on your own initiative and as part of a dynamic Finance department? The Diocese of Sheffield is an exciting place to be as we seek to realise our Vision. The Finance Team has a wide and interesting role to play in supporting the Vision, and are seeking a Financial and Systems Accountant to be an important part of the team.

As part of a team this role will work collaboratively across the Diocese with budget holders and external parties to provide accurate and timely financial and management information. Responsibilities include preparing monthly management accounts, year-end statutory accounts for audit purposes and the development of the XLedger finance system to improve reporting and processing. In addition, the role will involve working with external providers such as banks, HMRC, CCLA investment fund managers and auditors.

Full time, 35 hours per week (part time 0.6 FTE or above would be considered). Salary £42,000 FTE, 10% employer contribution to pension. Generous holiday entitlement. Based at Diocesan Church House in Rotherham.

Job Purpose: The core tasks and responsibilities of the Finance Team have grown significantly over the past 5 years. In that time the Diocese has been successful in securing external funding through National Church across multiple funding streams. This has increased the complexity of the processing requirements with more than a 50% increase in staff to over 100 and growth in other associated non-staff expenditure. We have recently recruited a new Finance Director and are growing the Finance Team to meet the expanded responsibilities. During 2023 a new finance system (Xledger) was implemented. We are now extracting some of the benefits of this new system through the efficiency and accuracy of processing and recording transactions. Further development and systems integration with other Diocese systems with XLedger system will also enable us to enhance our standard monthly/quarterly reporting, e.g. payroll, management accounts and develop bespoke dashboard reporting for decision support packs for key decision-making bodies; Finance & Property Committee, Bishops Council, SMT, BSST.

This post, working alongside the Project and Systems Accountant, will provide the required skills and expertise to enable the Finance Team to deliver on its reporting requirements.

Main duties and responsibilities:

• Ensure monthly/quarterly management accounting processes are completed in an accurate and timely manner in line with reporting deadlines for Finance and Property Committee.
• Lead the preparation of all the year-end reporting and statutory accounts for external audit.
• Continue the development of the XLedger finance system to achieve maximum benefit, including developing the financial and management accounting report templates and suite of reporting for internal and external reporting.
• Support the day-to-day operations of the finance function, including some day-to-day task management of the Finance Assistant/Purchase Ledger Assistant.
• Support in the preparation of the annual budgets and forecasts across all funds within the Diocese.
• Liaise with external providers such as banks, HMRC, CCLA investment fund managers and manage the Diocese treasury operations.
• Maintain data integrity, reviewing postings and journal entries and to populate and upload journals and budget data into the system.
• Work with the payroll bureau and National Church in the processing of payroll for staff and stipends for clergy.
• Provide cover as required within the finance team with the processing of non-payroll-based expenditure for the DBF and related entities in a timely and cost-effective manner (this is expected to be a limited element of the role).
• Receive incoming enquiries and telephone calls - dealing promptly and courteously with enquiries and ensuring high quality customer service at all times.
• Assist the Finance Director and provide support as required within the finance team and undertake as requested other duties as may reasonably be expected.

This role description provides a guide to the duties and responsibilities of the post and is not an exhaustive list. The post holder may be asked to undertake any other relevant duties appropriate to the post. The role description will be amended over time, in full consultation with the post holder, to meet the needs of the Diocese.