Accounts Administrator

CST Training is an ambitious and rapidly growing private training company. We are a leading provider of professional development courses across a wide variety of industries, including Leadership and Management and Project Management qualifications such as Prince2, ILM and CMI. Our mission is to empower individuals and organisations with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in today's dynamic business environment. We value honesty and openness, promoting a workplace that encourages teamwork and collaboration. Interested in being a part of our team? We look forward to hearing from you!

About the Role

CST Training is looking for an Accounts Administrator to take charge of the sales ledger and keep the money coming in.

It is a varied finance job. Around half of your week is credit control: raising invoices, chasing payment and sorting out the queries that stop customers paying. The rest is split between helping the Finance Manager close the month and looking after a portfolio of customer accounts. You will speak to customers most days.

Credit control:

getting the money in

(This is the biggest part of the job and the part we will judge it on first.)

• Raise and issue sales invoices, credit notes and customer statements accurately and on time.
• Chase outstanding payments by phone and email and keep a clear written record of every conversation and every promise to pay.
• Run the aged debt report each week, bring the accounts that are drifting to the Finance Manager, and agree with what happens next on each one.
• Allocate receipts, reconcile customer accounts and clear unallocated cash so the ledger reflects reality.
• Investigate queries and disputes properly, because an invoice held up by a missing purchase order number needs the purchase order, not a third reminder.
• Agree payment plans where a customer is genuinely struggling, monitor them, and escalted to formal recovery when a debt is not going to be paid.
• Run credit checks on new accounts, recommend credit limits, and review them when a customer's trading pattern changes.
• Report on cash collected, aged debt and days sales outstanding against the targets agreed with the Finance Manager.

Management accounting:

helping close the month

• Support the Finance Manager through month end, including prepayments, accruals, journals and the reconciliations that go with them.
• Reconcile the bank, the sales and purchase ledger control accounts and the VAT account and explain any difference rather than writing it off.
• Help put the monthly management pack together, covering profit and loss, balance sheet and cashflow, with a short commentary on what moved against budget and why.
• Keep revenue analysis by course and delivery type accurate, so the margin figures the directors see can be relied on.
• Prepare the working papers for quarterly VAT returns and help pull together the year-end file for the accountants.
• Maintain the fixed asset register and the depreciation schedule.
• Produce ad hoc analysis when the Finance Manager or a director asks for it, which is usually at short notice.

Sales account management:

looking after the customers behind the ledger

• Act as the finance contact for a portfolio of customer accounts, most of them employers booking training for their teams.
• Set new accounts up properly at the start: billing contacts, purchase order requirements, payment terms, invoicing cycle and any supplier portal the customer wants invoices uploaded to.
• Keep account records accurate in the finance system and the CRM so invoices go out right the first time.
• Handle billing and booking queries from start to finish instead of passing them around.
• Notice when a regular account has gone quiet or an agreement is coming up for renewal, and pass it to the sales team while there is still time to do something about it.
• Support the sales team with quotes, pricing schedules and the invoicing side of renewals.
• Build relationships good enough that a query gets answered in a day rather than a fortnight.

The rest of the job !

• Support the purchase ledger at busy times: coding supplier invoices, reconciling supplier statements and preparing payment runs.
• Keep finance records filed and retained in line with audit requirements and data protection rules.
• Cover for finance colleagues during holidays and at month end.
• Suggest better ways of doing things. Most of the useful process improvements in a finance team come from the person doing the work.

What you need to have already!

(These are the essentials. If you do not have them, this is probably not the right job for you yet.)

• At least three years working in a finance function, with credit control among your day-to-day duties.
• AAT Level 2 as a minimum. You should be studying towards the AAT Level 2 Certificate in Accounting or already hold it. If you are partway through Level 3 or Level 4, better still.
• GCSE Maths and English at grade 4/C or above, or an equivalent qualification.
• Confidence on the phone with customers who owe money, and the judgement to know when to be firm and when to give someone another week.
• Solid Excel: sorting, filtering, lookups and pivot tables without having to look up how they work.
• Hands-on experience of an accounting system such as Sage, Xero (ideally) or QuickBooks.
• Accuracy under deadline pressure, and the habit of checking your own work.
• Clear written and spoken English, professional enough for a finance director and plain enough for a site manager.
• Discretion with confidential financial and personal information.
• The right to work in the UK and a reliable commute to the Bexley office.

What would help, but we can work with it!

(None of these are dealbreakers. They are the things that would make your first few months easier.)

• Customer service experience of any kind, whether that is a contact centre, reception, retail or sales support. Chasing a debt well is largely a customer service skill.
• Broader accounting experience, particularly management accounts, VAT returns and year-end preparation.
• Account management experience, especially looking after business customers on credit accounts.
• Experience of a training provider, college or another service business that invoices against bookings and purchase orders.
• Familiarity with CRM systems and with customer invoicing portals.
• Experience of funded or grant-supported training administration, such as CITB grant claims.
• Opportunities for professional growth and development.
• Supportive and collaborative team environment.
• Great office culture
• Additional Leave
• Pension Scheme
• Cycle to work Scheme
• Nursery Scheme

Work Location :

This is a full-time, office-based role at CST Training's Head Office in Bexley, South East London. Remote or hybrid working is not available. Applicants must be able to reliably commute to the office five days per week.