Finance Assistant in Lancaster

About Us

Every day we provide rural and agricultural communities with the support they need to succeed. Whether they are after a healthier herd or flock, increased yields, faster growth rates, a decent return on their land or even just a helping hand. We have the people, products, and services to help our customers get from where they are now to where they want to be. This is why every role at Carr's Billington is hugely important to our shared success and why we welcome talent from across all different backgrounds to work across our retail, feed, machinery, fuel and central support divisions. Carr's Billington Agriculture is a subsidiary company of The Billington Group.

THE JOB

The Operations Finance Assistant is responsible for delivering accurate and timely transactional finance data & activities while supporting weekly operational reporting across the business. This role provides critical financial control through sales order checking & processing, reporting production and transport performance, and validating key cost drivers such as haulage rates. In addition to ensuring financial accuracy, the position supports the development of operational insight and reporting capability, forming a progression pathway into a Finance Business Partner role.

• Oversee the daily / weekly sales invoice & purchase invoice process for feed invoices & raw material purchases to ensure all transactions are posted accurately.
• Processing queries to aid accurate reporting.
• Maintain and analyse fleet-related data, producing reports that support operational performance tracking and informed decision making.
• Prepare and deliver data analysis for weekly stock analysis, providing clear visibility of stock movements and balances.
• Review and process third party haulier invoices, validating costs against agreed rates and resolving any discrepancies.
• Carry out weekly haulage cost checks, ensuring accuracy of charges and highlighting inconsistencies.
• Manage the reconciliation and reporting of raw material haulage into sites, ensuring costs are accurately captured & recorded.
• Oversee the validation & processing of internal transfers between mills, to ensure the correct allocation and inter-mill reporting.
• Act as a key partner between finance and non-finance teams within the business to assist the Finance Business Partner translating financial data into actionable insights.
• Provide ad-hoc analysis to support business cases when required.
• Adhere to Company and Group policies and procedures, including those relating to Safety, Health & Environment.
• Ensure all relevant legislation and approved codes of practice are adhered to, in respect of ongoing compliance.

Skills, Experience And Qualities Required

• AAT Part qualified
• Previous experience within a finance function
• Proficiency in Excel and other Microsoft Office products
• Experience of using accounting software
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with ability to clearly explain complex financial information to non-finance stakeholders at all levels
• Flexible approach with ability to multitask and effectively prioritise workload
• A positive attitude towards improvement and change
• Ability to work under pressure whilst maintaining attention to detail

Benefits

• An attractive salary package.
• Annual salary reviews in September each year.
• A minimum of 25 days annual leave.
• Opportunity to work for a well-established family-owned business with ambitions for growth and innovation.

Your Health

• Health Assured: Access to an Employee Assistance Programme which offers counselling and health and wellbeing advice.
• Sick pay: Generous company sick pay entitlement.
• Health Cash Plan: A health cash plan allowing colleagues to claim back money spent on everyday health care such as optical, dental, physiotherapy and much more.

Your Lifestyle

• Staff Discount: Colleagues are eligible for a generous staff discount on selected products at our Country Stores.
• Cycle to work scheme: A salary sacrifice scheme saving you tax on the purchase of a new bicycle and associated equipment.
• Flexible life assurance and critical illness cover: Choose to increase the level of life assurance cover already provided to you by the company or add critical illness cover, all at preferential rates.
• My Savings Hub: Access to an exclusive member's discount website with over 3,500 brands where you can save money and earn cashback on spends from grocery shopping to holidays.
• Salary finance benefits: Savings schemes, preferential rate loans and wage advances all through payroll as well as tools for financial education.

Your Future

• Pension: Enrolment into the Company pension scheme after 3 months of employment.
• Training & Development: Role specific training and ongoing training and development opportunities identified through our annual appraisal process.