Senior Account Assistant (General Accounting) in City of Westminster

Exciting new opportunity in travel retail, supporting a fast-paced retail and food service business, where every day brings new opportunities to grow and make an impact!

Job purpose: The primary purpose of this role is to take ownership of the more complex accounting and clerical tasks related to the efficient maintenance and processing of accounting for the UK & Ireland business, acting as a first point of escalation for non-standard queries and providing guidance to junior team members.

Contract: 37.5 hours per week

Benefits: Simplyhealth cash plan, Retail Trust, life insurance, and up to 25% in-store discounts

Key Responsibilities:

• Accounts Payable
  • Process supplier invoices: coding, VAT treatment, and approvals routing.
  • Maintain the AP inbox and respond to supplier queries professionally.
  • Prepare fortnightly payment runs: collate approved invoices, check supplier details, and support final reviews.
  • Set up and maintain supplier records (bank details verification, documentation, compliance checks).
  • Check supplier statements.
• Accounts Receivable
  • Raise customer invoices/credit notes based on approved data.
  • Allocate customer receipts and chase overdue balances as needed.
  • Support query resolution with internal teams and customers.
• Bank & Cash
  • Perform daily/weekly bank postings and bank reconciliations; investigate and resolve unreconciled items promptly.
  • Support expense reconciliations.
• General Finance Admin
  • Keep finance files and registers up to date (suppliers, customers, fixed assets, AP/AR ledgers).
  • Help with audit requests (samples, copies, explanations).
  • Lead small process and documentation improvement initiatives across the finance team.
• Team Support & Process Ownership
  • Act as a first point of escalation for complex supplier, customer, or reconciliation queries.
  • Review the work of more junior Accounts Assistants for accuracy prior to posting or payment.
  • Support the onboarding and on-the-job training of new finance team members.
  • Take ownership of month-end close tasks across AP and AR, including accruals and balance sheet reconciliations, and deputise for the Accounting Manager as required.

Qualifications:

• Minimum 5 years’ relevant experience in an accounts/finance administration role, with demonstrable progression of responsibility.
• Experience using SAP desirable.
• Experience of dealing with a large volume of complex invoices.
• Experience of dealing with multi-currency.
• Experience reviewing the work of, or providing guidance to, junior finance team members desirable.

Key Skills:

• Good understanding of double-entry, invoicing, and reconciliations.
• Solid Excel skills (filters, lookups, pivots desirable).
• Strong attention to detail and accuracy under time pressure.
• Clear, professional communication with both internal teams and external suppliers/customers.
• Able to work autonomously, prioritise a varied workload, and confidently review the work of others.
• Fluent in English.

We welcome and consider all applicants regardless of their background and can ensure all candidates will receive a fair and equal treatment.