Accountant wanted – CIC experience - Volunteer in Colchester

Help Solace Coffee stay on top of its finances.

We’re looking for an accountant with CIC/social enterprise experience to support our second-year accounts, reporting, monthly payroll and ongoing finances.

Paid role, but we’re a small CIC with a limited budget.

What difference will you make?

Currently, our founder, Kylie, is doing the bookkeeping and accounting herself. To be completely honest, it is not her area of expertise — and she absolutely hates doing it!

As Solace has grown, it has become increasingly clear that this is something we need to hand over to someone who actually enjoys accounting and knows what they’re doing. Kylie’s time is much better spent leading the organisation, developing our programmes and partnerships, and focusing on the people and communities we support.

Having an accountant who understands CICs come in and take care of the accounting side would make a huge difference. It would give us confidence that our books, payroll, annual accounts and CIC reporting are being managed properly, while taking a significant administrative burden away from our founder.

For a small organisation, having the right support behind the scenes is really important. We want to make sure our accounting is accurate, compliant and well managed as we continue to grow, without our founder trying to learn and manage something that really isn't her strength.

Ultimately, this role will free Kylie up to focus on what she is actually good at — building Solace, creating opportunities and making things happen — while someone with the right skills takes care of the numbers.

What are we looking for?

We’re looking for someone who is experienced in accounting and, ideally, has worked with CICs, charities or other social enterprises before. Understanding the specific accounting and reporting requirements of a CIC would be a big advantage.

The most important thing for us is finding someone who is reliable, organised and genuinely enjoys the accounting side of things — because Kylie definitely doesn’t!

We’d like someone who is confident managing bookkeeping, preparing annual accounts, dealing with CIC reporting and managing monthly payroll, including PAYE and pensions. They should be comfortable working independently and spotting anything that needs attention rather than simply waiting to be told what to do.

We’re a small organisation, so we’re not looking for someone who needs lots of hand-holding. At the same time, we want someone approachable who is happy to explain things in plain English when we have questions.

Experience with Xero would be particularly useful, as this is the accounting software we currently use.

We’re looking for someone who is professional and takes accuracy seriously, but who also understands that we’re a small, busy social enterprise. We want someone who can work with us in a practical way and become someone we can rely on.

Most importantly, we’d like someone who cares about what we’re trying to achieve. You don’t need to be an expert in our programmes or the justice system, but having an interest in social enterprise and wanting to use your skills to support an organisation with a strong social purpose would be a real bonus.

The ideal person will have

• Accounting or bookkeeping experience
• Experience with CICs or social enterprises, ideally
• Experience managing payroll
• Knowledge of annual accounts and relevant reporting
• Xero experience
• Strong attention to detail
• Good organisation and communication skills
• The ability to work independently
• A practical and approachable attitude

We’re not looking for someone to come in and make things unnecessarily complicated. We need someone who knows their stuff, keeps the numbers in order and can give us confidence that the accounting side of Solace is in good hands.

Remote

What will you be doing?

We’re looking for an accountant with experience working with CICs or social enterprises to support us as we move into our second year.

The main priority is helping us complete our second-year accounts and make sure all of our accounting records and CIC reporting are accurate and up to date.

The role would include reviewing our bookkeeping and financial records, preparing our annual accounts, ensuring the relevant CIC reporting is completed correctly, and supporting with any accounting requirements or queries that come up throughout the year.

We’re also looking for someone who can manage our monthly payroll and ensure this is processed accurately and on time, including the relevant PAYE and pension requirements.

We already have a Board in place who oversee the wider financial governance of the organisation, including budgets, cash flow and financial planning. The role is therefore focused specifically on the accounting side and making sure our records, reporting and payroll are properly managed.

We’re a small but growing social enterprise, so we’re looking for someone who is approachable, reliable and able to explain things clearly when we need guidance. We don’t need someone to overcomplicate things — we need someone who can keep the accounts in order, make sure we’re compliant and give us confidence that the financial administration is being handled properly.

Solace Coffee uses coffee, hospitality and training to create opportunities for young people with experience of the justice system. We’re growing our work and partnerships, so having the right accountant supporting us will be really important as we move forward.

This is a paid opportunity. We’re still a small CIC and don’t have a huge budget for accountancy, but we are happy to discuss a realistic fee with the right person. Ideally, we’d like to build a longer-term relationship with someone who can support us with our accounts and payroll as we continue to grow.