Drew Forsyth & Co is a growing family-owned group of companies based in Mytholmroyd, West Yorkshire. We manufacture and install high-quality kitchens and furniture for private clients, designers and trade customers. Earlier this year, we acquired another company and brought it into the group. Group revenues are forecast to be around £4 million this year and the business is continuing to grow quickly.
We are now looking for an experienced Senior Bookkeeper to take responsibility for the bookkeeping across the group. This is a standalone role and would suit somebody who is confident working independently, taking charge of a situation and making sure things are done properly. You would work closely with the Managing Director and Operations Director, as well as the person responsible for procurement.
The role is not simply about entering invoices and reconciling accounts. We want somebody who can own the accounts function, produce useful management information and help us improve how the business understands its cash flow, budgets and profitability.
What the role involves
You would be responsible for the day-to-day bookkeeping for Drew Forsyth & Co, which currently involves approximately 150 supplier invoices and 40 customer invoices each month. You would also manage the bookkeeping for the recently acquired company, which currently has relatively little accounting activity but scope to grow.
- Managing the purchase ledger and sales ledger.
- Completing bank and credit-card reconciliations.
- Matching invoices to purchase orders.
- Preparing supplier payment runs and making payments within agreed authority limits.
- Working with procurement to identify and prioritise payments.
- Producing customer statements and following up professionally where payments have been missed.
- Completing CIS processing for a small number of subcontractors.
- Assisting with payroll figures before they are sent to the external payroll provider.
- Taking ownership of month-end and preparing information for the external accountant at year-end.
- Keeping the accounts accurate and organised for the external VAT accountant.
- Producing debtors, creditors, budget and forecast reports.
- Preparing monthly invoice forecasts from the production schedule.
- Helping create and monitor monthly budgets and weekly variances.
- Identifying ways to improve our accounting systems, controls and processes.
- You will not be responsible for preparing VAT returns or running payroll, as both are handled externally.
- Supplier and customer relationships
We place a great deal of importance on our relationships with suppliers. The successful candidate will be an important point of contact for supplier accounts departments. We want somebody who communicates well, builds rapport and understands that good supplier relationships are particularly important in a growing manufacturing business.
There will not be a huge amount of debt chasing, as our customers generally pay well. However, you will need to be comfortable sending statements, following up missed payments and speaking professionally with customers where required.
The opportunity
This role could suit an experienced bookkeeper who is ready to develop further into management accounting. As the group grows, there is scope to help build the accounts department, supervise procurement, develop project analysis and job-costing systems, produce deeper profitability reports and progress into a broader group management-accounting role.
The person we are looking for
You may already be a senior bookkeeper, or you may be an experienced bookkeeper looking for the opportunity to take on more responsibility. Manufacturing experience would be useful, although it is not essential if you have worked in another operational or commercially active business. Formal qualifications are not required; practical ability, experience, judgement and attitude matter more.
- Able to work independently and manage your own workload.
- Self-motivated and self-managing.
- Commercially aware and interested in how the numbers affect the wider business.
- Accurate but able to work at pace.
- Comfortable taking charge and communicating with suppliers and customers.
- Willing to question existing processes and suggest improvements.
- Interested in developing your career and growing with a family business.
Working pattern and what we offer
This is a full-time role with a normal working commitment of approximately 38–40 hours per week. We are open to a four-day or five-day working pattern. Somebody who needs to finish earlier for school or family commitments may prefer to work across Monday to Friday to make up their hours. The role is predominantly office-based at our Mytholmroyd factory, with some remote working possible where appropriate.
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