Finance Clerk in Cardiff

LLANDAFF CARDIFF

Candidate Information Pack Finance Clerk

Part time, permanent. Required to start early December

Thank you for your interest in the role of Finance Clerk at The Cathedral School, Llandaff

We are a friendly, supportive and diligent team, and look forward to welcoming another knowledgeable colleague to the Bursary.

You will be joining us at an exciting time, following the school being named the Sunday Times Welsh Independent School of the Year for two years’ running, 2024 and 2025.

Alongside this, in the school’s most recent Estyn inspection it was judged to be excellent in all five categories. Pupils were described as “confident, ambitious, aspirational and wellinformed learners” and the report celebrated the “outstanding subject knowledge” and “passion and enthusiasm” of the teaching staff.

It highlighted teachers’ committed contribution to “exceptional levels of support within and beyond the classroom to help pupils to develop self-confidence”.

The school not only prides itself on its musical, academic, sporting and artistic achievements, but also on its ability to challenge and motivate all of its students. We want children to take risks in the classroom, not to be afraid of getting it wrong, but rather to be confident enough to ask questions and think for themselves. All children have talents and gifts, both in and out of the classroom, and we are always looking to identify and celebrate these at every opportunity.

I look forward to hearing from you and considering your application.

Head Clare Sherwood

The School

“A dynamically run school that parents pick for its solid academics and family feel. Music and sport are particularly impressive for a small school. The students work hard, make friends for life, and clearly adore the place.” The Good Schools Guide, 2023.

The Cathedral School, Llandaff

The Cathedral School is the leading independent school in Cardiff, Wales. It educates approx. 800 students, boys and girls, aged from 3 – 18.

First class academic teaching, excellent facilities and an extensive co‑curricular programme, underpinned by high quality pastoral care and the school’s Christian ethos, give Cathedral School pupils the opportunity to reach their full potential, both academically and personally, in a vibrant and supportive environment.

The History of CSL

The school is located on an attractive campus adjacent to the ancient Llandaff Cathedral. It was founded in 1880 as a choir school to provide choristers to the Cathedral, and this tradition continues today.

The school moved to its present campus in 1958, then numbering 190 boys and being a preparatory school. It became co‑educational in 1978, and expanded very successfully to GCSE in 2007, achieving amongst the best GCSE results in Wales every year since.

The Sixth Form began in September 2013 and has grown and developed each year; with outstanding results and students progressing to a wide range of university courses.

There are no boarders; all students come from the locality, most from within a 20-mile radius. Standards, academic and behavioural, are very high. All students are expected to give and to be the best they can.

The Role

Job Decription

We are seeking to appoint an experienced Finance Assistant, for an early December start on a part‑time basis, to support the efficient operating of the finance function by providing accurate and timely administration.

The role will require the successful candidate to be on‑site five days a week, 30 hours to suit the successful candidate 7:30am‑4pm.

The pupils at the school are great fun and standards of behaviour are high. Should you choose to apply we look forward to meeting you, showing you what we do and hearing what you can offer. If you would like any additional information, please contact Helen Taylor‑Hoare, Finance Manager, via TaylorHoareH@cathedral‑school.co.uk.

Job Purpose

To provide effective administrative support to the Bursary, ensuring financial processes are completed accurately, efficiently and in accordance with school policies and procedures. The postholder will contribute to the maintenance of robust financial records and support the delivery of excellent financial management across the school through displaying the highest standards of professional expertise and confidentiality, working closely with colleagues in the Bursary, managed daily by the Finance Manager.

Key Duties

Purchase Ledger

Processing, verifying and accurately recording purchase invoices and credit notes on the School’s accounting system.

Managing payment authorisation processes and preparing and processing weekly payment runs.

Reconciling Direct Debit and debit card transactions, investigating and resolving any discrepancies.

Completing monthly statement reconciliations and liaising with relevant parties to resolve outstanding items and discrepancies.

Managing employee expenses and petty cash, ensuring transactions are accurately recorded and appropriately supported.

Calculating and checking VAT on purchases to support accurate periodic tax reporting, including assisting with the preparation and completion of quarterly tax returns.

Preparing termly accrual and prepayment calculations to ensure accurate financial reporting.

Producing termly departmental budget reports for Heads of Faculties and supporting them with monitoring expenditure against budgets.

Assisting with the preparation and processing of termly fee invoices, ensuring these are accurate and issued in a timely manner.

Payroll

Provide payroll cover during staff holidays and absences, ensuring timely and accurate payroll processing.

Verify and input staff timesheet hours into the payroll system, investigating and resolving discrepancies to ensure accurate payments.

Reconcile monthly co‑curricular payments, ensuring accurate records and correct payment processing.

Maintain employee onboarding records, update personnel details, and process contractual amendments, ensuring records are accurate and up to date.

Monitor staff absences and calculate statutory payments, including Statutory Sick Pay (SSP), Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP), and Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP), in line with current legislation and eligibility criteria.

Whole School Responsibilities

All school staff are expected to:

Have a full disclosure DBS check, and support and contribute to the school’s responsibility for safeguarding students; sharing any level of concerns with the Assistant Head (Safeguarding) and school pastoral team;

Work towards and support the school vision, ethos and the current objectives outlined in the School Development Plan;

Comply with policies and procedures of the school, including those referred to in the Staff Handbook;

Work within the school’s Health and Safety Policy to ensure a safe working environment for staff, pupils and visitors;

Work within the school’s Equal Opportunities Policy to promote equality of opportunity for all pupils and staff, both current and prospective;

Maintain high professional standards of attendance, punctuality, appearance, conduct and positive, courteous relations with pupils, parents and colleagues;

Be self‑reflective and committed to their own continued professional development, participating in training and keeping up to date with current procedures and practices;

Engage actively in the appraisal process;

Contribute to and support the wider life of the school, eg. attending open days (including one Saturday in late September / early October), supporting pupil discovery days (liaising with subject leaders to run workshop sessions), and attending other functions and events;

Undertake such other reasonable duties related to the job purpose as required from time to time.

The Job Description is not exhaustive and is subject to regular review. All staff are expected to make a meaningful and significant contribution to the co‑curricular life of the school, and to be in full sympathy with the Christian ethos of this Woodard School, an ethos which pervades all strands of school life.

Person Specification

Essential skills and qualifications

Good understanding of basic accounting principles and financial controls.

Experience of purchase ledger/accounts payable processes, including invoice processing and supplier reconciliations.

Competent user of MS Office, with experience of working with financial systems and accounting software.

Experience of handling confidential and sensitive information appropriately.

Ability to work accurately with high levels of attention to detail.

Strong numerical, analytical communication skills (both written and verbal).

Excellent organisational and time management skills, with the ability to prioritise workload and meet deadlines.

Ability to identify and resolve queries effectively.

Strong sense of accountability and commitment to providing excellent customer service.

Self‑starter with proactive approach to work and willingness to support colleagues.

Flexible and adaptable, particularly during payroll cover periods.

Supportive of the ethos, values and aims of the School.

Desirable skills and qualifications

AAT qualification (or working towards AAT) or equivalent finance qualification.

Experience of payroll administration, and knowledge of payroll legislation, statutory payments and pension administration.

Experience of bank reconciliations, nominal ledger postings, and month‑end finance procedures.

Knowledge of VAT processes and purchase invoice coding.

Experience of using accounting software such as Access Dimensions, Sage, PS Financials, Xero or similar.

Advanced Excel skills, including VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, pivot tables and basic reporting.

Desire to develop professionally within a finance function.

Confidence in suggesting process improvements and efficiencies.

Experience working within the education sector, charity sector or independent schools.

Child Protection

The Cathedral School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expects all employees to share this commitment. Applicants for this post must be willing to undergo child protection screening, including reference checks with any previous employer, as considered appropriate, and a criminal record check via the Disclosure & Barring Service. They will be expected to uphold the school’s Safeguarding Policy (copy on school website) at all times.

Salary, holidays and staff benefits

The rate of pay is currently £23,712pa pro rata, which equates to £29,640pa FTE. The role will require the successful candidate to be on‑site Monday to Friday.

Other benefits include:

• 30 days’ paid holiday (pro rata), to be taken during the school holidays, plus any Bank/Public Holidays.
• All staff are provided with lunch daily, free of charge.
• Staff are enrolled into an ‘auto‑enrolment’ pension scheme, if eligible, and may still be entitled to join if not automatically enrolled. Further details can be provided on request.
• The Staff Wellbeing Committee helps to support staff welfare, and all staff have access to a gym, and weekly yoga and pilates sessions.
• The professional development of staff is a high priority, and there is a supportive appraisal process.
• School holidays are significantly more generous than the state sector and, whilst the school day is slightly longer, the enthusiasm for learning throughout the school is palpable.
• Permanent staff wishing to have their children educated at the school (subject to places being available and the children satisfying the normal entry criteria) receive a considerable remission on the fees.

Application Procedure

We are committed to a policy of equality. It is recognised and welcomed that teaching and support staff will come to the school with a variety of faiths, beliefs and backgrounds. We aim to ensure that no job applicant, member of staff, student or other member of the school community is treated less favourably on grounds of race (including colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin), religion or religious belief, sex or sexual orientation, gender or gender identity, marital or civil partner status, disability or age.

Further information about the school, including details of our Equal Opportunities Policy and Safer Recruitment Policy, are available at www.cathedral-school.co.uk.

Our Aims & Ethos

The Cathedral School is a member of the Woodard family of schools and is the only Anglican choir school in Wales. The Christian faith is central to the life of the school and all members of staff are expected to actively promote the aims of a Christian school, to support the Woodard ethos, to contribute willingly and generously of their time and commitment to school life, and to sincerely seek to do and to be their best. In addition to membership of the Woodard Corporation, the Cathedral School is a member of the HMC, the Society of Heads, IAPS (The Independent Association of Prep Schools) and also of the Choir Schools’ Association.

The School offers a broad curriculum which it aspires to deliver through the highest standards of teaching. It is expected that students will progress within the School until A-level.

At The Cathedral School, young people from all faiths and traditions, or none at all, flourish in our rich, diverse culture enabling them to lead full and creative adult lives. Ultimately, our aim is to equip our young people with the skills, abilities, interests, qualifications and, most importantly, vision and values to be the best that they can be; to respect and care for others; and to spend their lives promoting the common good. We hope that each of them will, in some way either great or small, make the world a better place.

The Cathedral School has a very special ethos which underpins all that we do. Our school aims to nurture the talent and personality of each pupil, enabling all to thrive within a mutually respectful and supportive environment. We do this through:

Achievement: We strive, day in and day out, to provide the scaffolding for achievement in any and all fields. We recognise that all young people have a unique set of skills and enable all pupils to fulfil their potential.

Care: We foster a climate of care for one other, focusing on kindness, thoughtfulness and respect. We learn to listen to and understand the beliefs and values of one another. We help every child to understand that they hold their own destiny in their hands, to understand the value of hard work and to learn to love their neighbour. All of us are equally important members of the school community, valuable, distinct and unique.

Opportunity: Nurtured by our Christian values, we make sure that each child is able to find what they can excel at. We encourage them to search out opportunity, not waiting for it to come knocking. Our wide range of opportunities develop confidence, allowing each child to find what they excel at. From there the sky is the limit.

Ambition: At the Cathedral School, we look to ignite the spark that fires ambition, and teach how to handle that ambition with humility. Ambition is doing your best, not shouldering others to the side but working together. It is relishing the challenge and celebrating each milestone reached, not just for ourselves but for the whole community.

Leadership: Together, we are creating an inspiring vision of the future and building compassionate and active citizens. Leadership is about listening, learning and working together and every voice counts. The confidence gained at the Cathedral School will allow each child to get the best out of their life.

#J-18808-Ljbffr