Financial Assistant in Altrincham

Job Description – Finance Assistant, Stockdales Job details

Item

Detail

Job title

Finance Assistant

Organisation

Stockdales of Sale, Altrincham and District Ltd (Stockdales)

Department

Finance

Reports to

Finance Manager; also supports the CEO and senior team

Location

Stockdales head office

Hours

30 hours per week, core office hours Monday to Friday, with some flexibility.

Contract

Permanent

Salary / grade

£29,000–£31,000 (pro rata), depending on qualification and experience.

Benefits

28 days’ holiday per year pro rata inclusive of bank holidays.

Comprehensive induction

For contracted staff:

• Pension Scheme
• Life Insurance Scheme – Health & Wellbeing packages including access to 24-hour GP
• Increased holiday entitlement with service
• Monthly staff prize draw

Ongoing professional development, guidance and support from experienced managers.

Friendly, supportive environment.

About Stockdales and the job purpose

Stockdales is a charity providing care home residential services and service clubs, with an annual turnover of around £6.5m.

The Finance Assistant delivers accurate, timely transactional finance across the organisation. The role also carries appointeeship, DWP payments and receipts, invoicing and payroll, so it directly protects residents' money, the charity's income and staff pay.

The postholder works as one of two Finance Assistants, providing mutual cover so that critical finance processes continue without interruption.

The role supports the Finance Manager, CEO and senior team within a diligent and supportive finance function, providing information that helps improve the charity's performance.

Key responsibilities

1. Appointeeship and residents' finances

• Administer DWP appointeeship for residents where Stockdales act as appointee, in line with DWP rules and internal procedures.
• Record and reconcile residents' benefit income, personal allowances and expenditure, keeping clear audit trails.
• Prepare records for DWP reviews, internal audit and external audit, and report concerns promptly to the Finance Manager.

2. DWP payments and receipts

• Process and reconcile DWP receipts against expected amounts.
• Investigate and resolve missing, late or incorrect payments with DWP and local authorities.
• Maintain accurate records of changes in residents' circumstances that affect benefit entitlement.

3. Sales invoicing and credit control

• Raise accurate and timely invoices to local authorities, residents and other customers.
• Post and allocate receipts and maintain the sales ledger.
• Carry out credit control by telephone and letter so balances are paid on time, keeping the aged debt listing up to date and escalating long-standing balances.
• Respond to general enquiries about accounts receivable and payable.

4. Purchase ledger and payments

• Record supplier invoices promptly, accurately and in the correct purchase ledger account.
• Administer invoice approval and payment processes and prepare supplier payment runs for approval.
• Reconcile supplier statements and chase suppliers to clear payments on account.
• Send remittance advice to suppliers regularly.
• Process staff expense claims within policy.

5. Payroll

• Collate and check payroll inputs (starters, leavers, hours, overtime, absence and deductions) and submit them to DJH, the external payroll bureau, by the agreed deadlines.
• Check payroll reports from DJH before approval and resolve queries.
• Reconcile payroll, pension and HMRC liabilities to the nominal ledger.

6. Banking, payments and reconciliations

• Monitor income and spending.
• Process BACS payments.
• Bank cash and cheques received, including donations.
• Reconcile all bank accounts and credit cards regularly.
• Act as one of the signatories on Stockdales' bank accounts.
• Manage and reconcile petty cash and residents' cash held at sites, including regular counts.
• Prepare balance sheet reconciliations as requested.

7. Bookkeeping, reporting and compliance

• Carry out day-to-day bookkeeping across the sales, purchase and nominal ledgers in Sage 50 Cloud Accounts, recording all transactions accurately.
• Verify ledgers and accounts and make corrections where appropriate.
• Assist the Finance Manager with month end, monthly management accounts and annual budgets, including understanding and reporting variances.
• Assist with year‑end accounts and the annual audit and file statutory accounts with Companies House and the Charity Commission.
• Update the fixed asset register and reconcile it quarterly.
• Maintain restricted funds records and liaise with the Fundraising Team.
• Help implement and adapt financial policies and keep finance procedure notes up to date.
• Follow financial procedures, segregation of duties and authorisation limits, and help ensure compliance with charity law, company law and HMRC regulations.
• Explain financial information clearly to non-finance staff.

8. Business continuity

• Provide cover for the other Finance Assistant so appointeeship, DWP, invoicing and payroll deadlines are always met.
• Undertake other reasonable duties requested by the Finance Manager.

9. Administration

• Archive documents in Stockdales' in-house document storage facility, M-Store.
• Prepare and distribute postal and electronic mailshots.
• Maintain accurate company databases.
• Assist with wider organisational administration as required.

The postholder is accountable for the accuracy of transactions they process, including residents' money held under appointeeship, DWP income, customer invoicing and payroll inputs. Errors in these areas can cause financial loss, regulatory breaches or hardship for residents and staff.

Key relationships and accountability

Internal

• Finance Manager
• DWP
• Other Finance Assistant
• Local authorities and commissioners
• CEO and senior leadership
• DJH (payroll bureau)
• Care home managers and site staff
• HMRC and pension providers
• Admin and People team

External

• Suppliers and customers
• Residents and their families (appointeeship matter)
• Bank and external auditors

The postholder is accountable for the accuracy of transactions they process, including residents' money held under appointeeship, DWP income, customer invoicing and payroll inputs. Errors in these areas can cause financial loss, regulatory breaches or hardship for residents and staff.

Person specification

Area

Essential

• Qualifications
• AAT part or fully qualified, or an equivalent qualification
• AAT Level 3 (or studying towards it)
• Experience
• 2–3 years as a finance or accounts assistant covering bookkeeping, sales and purchase ledgers, reconciliations and invoicing
• Charity, voluntary or social care finance; DWP appointeeship or benefits administration; working with an external payroll bureau; developing and improving financial systems and procedures
• Technical skills
• Strong technical accounting knowledge; skilled Sage 50 user; good working knowledge of Microsoft Word and Excel; high level of numeracy
• —
• Personal skills
• Excellent organisation, attention to detail, record keeping and data management; able to prioritise a heavy workload and multi-task to fixed deadlines; strong interpersonal skills with people at all levels; able to explain financial information to non-finance staff
• Strong analytical and reporting skills; experience dealing with vulnerable people or their representatives
• Personal qualities
• Honest and discreet with confidential information; calm, methodical problem solver; flexible approach, including providing cover; works well in a small team
• Driven to keep improving processes; commitment to Stockdales' charitable purpose
• Other
• Satisfactory enhanced DBS check and references
• —

Desirable

• AAT Level 3 (or studying towards it)

This job description is not intended to be prescriptive or exhaustive. It outlines the main areas of responsibility and is open to change and review at any time, in discussion with the postholder, as the needs of the service change.

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