Credit Controller

Location: West Bromwich

Salary: 26,000 - 32,000 per annum pro rata (Dependent on experience)

Job Type: Part Time, Permanent

Working hours: 27.5 Hrs per week

About us: We are a leading mid-sized care provider based in the West Midlands, dedicated to supporting adults with Special Educational Needs (SEN) and complex care requirements. We specialise in Supported Living, alongside Residential, Respite and Daycare services. Our mission is to empower individuals to live independent, fulfilling lives.

The Role: We are looking for a tenacious but empathetic Credit Controller to join our Finance team. This is not a standard "chasing" role; it is a dual-focus role where relationship building will be key. You will manage the sales ledger to ensure the timely collection of funds from Local Authorities, ICBs (NHS), and private fee payers. You will act as the bridge between our Finance department, our Care Managers, and external funding bodies, investigating why invoices are unpaid and resolving disputes regarding commissioned hours and funding bands. In addition, you will assist the Finance Manager with the accurate preparation of sales invoices as and when required which will allow you to take full ownership of collecting payments.

Key Responsibilities

• Debt Management & Collection: Manage the full sales ledger function, ensuring debtor days are kept to a minimum. Build effective relationships with payment teams at West Midlands Local Authorities (e.g., Wolverhampton, Walsall and Sandwell) and NHS ICBs. Ensure professional but friendly relationships with internal (service managers) and external (service users and their appointees/families) stakeholders in order to facilitate prompt and smooth payments. Chase outstanding debts via telephone and email, maintaining a professional but firm approach. Ensure new funders are onboarded promptly to minimise delays in being paid for new service users.
• Query and Dispute Resolution (The Core Challenge): Investigate and resolve complex billing queries. This involves analysing disputes over "delivered hours" vs. "commissioned hours" (e.g., 1:1 support, sleep-ins, and wake-nights). Liaise internally with Service Managers to verify care delivery logs against funding agreements. Navigate provider portals (e.g. Access Adam, or specific LA portals) to upload invoices and check payment statuses.
• Administrative & Reporting: Prepare weekly aged debt reports for the Head of Finance, highlighting high-risk accounts and action plans. Assist clients/service managers with setting up standing orders. Take remote card payments over the phone. Ensure retrospective funding changes are accurately reflected in the ledger (credits/re-invoicing). Allocate cash to the correct client accounts and reconcile the sales ledger at month-end. Daily income monitoring for the purpose of identifying missed payments early and forecasting.

Who are we looking for:

Essential Skills:

• Sector Experience: Ideally, experience working in Finance within the Health & Social Care sector. You understand how Local Authority funding works.
• Empathy & Tact: You know that chasing debt from a family member or a stressed Social Worker requires a different tone than B2B collections.
• Tenacity: You are comfortable picking up the phone to navigate the bureaucracy of Council finance departments.
• Detail Oriented: You can spot the difference between a commissioned 1:1 hour and a shared core hour.
• Technical Skills: Strong Excel skills (VLOOKUPs and Pivot Tables are essential for reconciling payment schedules). Experience with Sage 50.

Benefits:

• Competitive salary.
• 20 days holiday + Bank Holidays.
• Pension scheme.
• Blue Light Card / Employee Assistance Programme.
• On-site parking.

Additional Information: NB: This is not a complete statement of all duties and responsibilities of this post. The post holder may be required to carry out other duties in keeping with the nature of the post as directed by and agreed with their manager. Strictly No Agencies.

Please click on the APPLY button to send your CV and Cover Letter for this role. Candidates with experience of Finance Assistant, Credit Control Assistant, Accounts Assistant, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Accounting Assistant, Billing Assistant, Credit Control Clerk may also be considered for this role.