Senior Bookkeeper - Part Time / Freelance

Location: Aston Rowe Estate Agents, Acton, West London

Salary: £30-£35 per hour depending on experience

Job Type: Contract / Freelance, Part Time

For somebody working alongside the business, we expect the role to take approximately 35 hours per month initially, reducing to around 20-28 hours per month once the processes and systems are familiar. We are looking for somebody interested in a stable, long-term relationship with Aston Rowe and who can commit to the required month-end timetable.

About the role:

• Responsible for the regular bookkeeping and month-end accounting for Aston Rowe, including:
• Posting supplier invoices and purchase bills into Xero
• Maintaining supporting documentation and filing records
• Reconciling our bank and control accounts
• Extracting lettings and property-management income from landlord period statements
• Identifying Aston Rowe's own fees versus supplier work
• Calculating commission earned on supplier work
• Preparing monthly wage journals using payroll information supplied by our accountants
• Posting accruals and prepayments
• Preparing monthly VAT liability journals
• Preparing and submitting quarterly VAT returns through Xero following director review
• Preparing the monthly aged-payables report for the directors
• Maintaining Xero tracking across Manager and Department categories
• Producing our monthly management accounts through FathomHQ
• Preparing meaningful written commentary explaining monthly financial performance
• Maintaining accurate books ready for our external accountants at year end

The underlying role covers purchase invoices, bank reconciliation, lettings and property-management income, wages journals, accruals/prepayments, aged payables, VAT and management reporting.

Working pattern:

• Once familiar with the business, the workload is approximately:
• Up to one hour each week for invoice processing and bank reconciliation
• Approximately 2-3 days around month end to complete the full month-end process and management accounts
• A short quarterly VAT submission process

The month-end work needs to be completed in sequence and within the reporting timetable, so applicants must have genuine availability for the required month-end days rather than fitting the work around other commitments.

Systems:

• The role currently uses:
• Xero
• Alto Vebra
• FathomHQ
• BrightPay
• Dropbox
• Excel

Previous experience with Alto Vebra or FathomHQ would be helpful but is not essential.

What isn't included in the role:

• To keep responsibilities clear, the successful candidate will not be responsible for:
• Running payroll
• Credit control/chasing tenants or landlords
• Preparing statutory accounts or corporation tax
• Deciding which suppliers should be paid
• Raising sales invoices
• Reconciling the client account within Alto Vebra

These areas remain with Aston Rowe's internal team, directors or external accountants.

Comprehensive handover:

This is not a role where the incoming bookkeeper will be expected to work everything out from scratch. There is an established bookkeeping process developed over many years, including:

• A detailed step-by-step procedures manual
• 14 click-by-click guides
• 15 short procedure videos
• An overview video explaining the complete month-end process
• Organised supporting documentation
• Existing reconciled management accounts
• Access to the outgoing bookkeeper for questions during the transition
• Screen-sharing support during the initial handover period

About you:

You should be confident working independently and taking responsibility for the accuracy of the books. You will need:

• Strong practical experience using Xero
• Good understanding of bank reconciliations and control accounts
• Experience preparing manual journals
• Experience with accruals and prepayments
• Good practical knowledge of VAT and Making Tax Digital
• Experience using Xero tracking categories or equivalent departmental reporting
• Strong Excel skills
• Experience preparing monthly management accounts
• The ability to analyse financial results and write clear management commentary
• Excellent attention to detail and the discipline to follow established accounting processes
• The ability to investigate discrepancies rather than simply post transactions
• Experience within estate agency, lettings or property management would be a significant advantage, although we will consider a strong general-practice or SME bookkeeper who can demonstrate the necessary technical experience.
• AAT, ICB or other bookkeeping/accountancy qualifications would be advantageous, although we are equally interested in candidates who are qualified by experience.

Additional Information:

Please click on the APPLY button to send your CV and Cover Letter for this role.