Finance Manager (Maternity Cover) in Liverpool

Hours: 35 hours per week / 1 FTE

Salary: £32,148.36 per annum

Reports to: Director of Finance

Based: Hybrid Working - Minimum 2 days (Thursdays and Fridays) based at Head Office at Calderstones Park, Liverpool, L18 3JB

Deadline: 9am, Monday 14th July

Contract: Maternity Cover Fixed Term

About the role:

The Finance Manager will provide leadership to the finance team. The Finance Manager manages some of our key accounting processes alongside responsibility for the day-to-day activities of the Finance team. This is a diverse role that requires an ability to maintain a financial overview, undertake a wide range of financial transactions and be adaptable to the needs of the organisation. The role involves working closely with the Director of Finance to deliver a strong and effective finance department at The Reader.

The Finance Manager role is key to maintaining standards and reporting accuracy, with oversight of the working practices of the finance team and wider organisation to ensure strong processes are in place for monitoring finances, seeking best practice from inside and outside the sector.

Relationship building is a vital part of the role – in addition to advising on technical accounting matters, the Finance Manager applies a flexible, innovative approach to their work, adding value to the organisation through collaboration and interaction with the leadership team, the wider organisation, The Reader community and external stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities:

• Ability to demonstrate a good practical working knowledge of finance matters and processes in order to respond as issues arise
• Ability to manage the core finance function of the organisation including the Community Interest Company trading subsidiary
• Ability to perform all day-to-day financial transactions including Sales and Purchase Ledger, credit control, bank reconciliations, management of the company credit cards, petty cash and cash float management
• Responsible for payroll systems, payroll processing, payroll compliance including fluent knowledge of HR policies pertaining to payroll
• In-depth knowledge of accounting/financial controls
• Technical knowledge relating to accounting month end and year end processes for both entities
• Supports the Finance Director in the production of timely monthly management accounts and annual consolidated accounts, providing relevant data for the Charity Board, CIC Board, Audit Committee and Directors Group
• Knowledge and skills to ensure robust processes and procedures for control of cash flow, VAT and other tax and Gift Aid
• Maintains the Fixed Asset Register
• Excellent IT skills including Microsoft Office, highly proficient in excel and experience of using finance systems such as Sage and Sage Payroll
• Point of contact for finance matters in the absence of the Director of Finance
• Manage the Finance Coordinators, providing meaningful support and guidance necessary so they can perform their role, and providing on the job training. Empower and motivate the finance team by leading, coaching and developing them to achieve their full potential.
• Trains and passes on knowledge to the finance team and wider organisation, provides support and training to budget holders
• Shaping the development of finance processes and good practice both in the finance team and operationally.
• Work with the Finance Director to manage the performance of departmental budgets, supporting budget holders to ensure that financial plans are monitored and controlled and identifying key areas of risk
• Producing technical financial reports, such as funder reports and month end accounting reports, providing insightful financial analysis and reporting.
• Excellent attention to detail.
• Communicating technical financial information to non-financial colleagues and the wider Reader community (financial policies and procedures, budget management, financial reports, funder reports, KPIs, management accounts, financial statements, key metrics and benchmarks for financial and operational performance)
• Work collaboratively across the organisation, ensuring high quality service for internal and external customers/stakeholders, altering communication style to easily convey information
• Works closely with teams across the organisation to provide financial reporting to funders, cost new products and review existing arrangements
• Point of contact for external audit queries and liaison with the auditors regarding accounting queries, responding to queries relating to the annual Audit and deal with any requests for information promptly and efficiently
• Liaison with HMRC for guidance, reporting and compliance matters
• Manages supplier relationships and payments management
• Lead the team in providing regular contact with all customers when dealing with invoicing and credit control issues, ensuring that good customer service and Reader values are ingrained in all communication
• Plans cycles of work for the finance team, supervises the workload of the finance team and ensures that the work of the team is delivered on time and as planned
• Work with the Director of Finance to set team objectives and sets individual objectives for the Finance Coordinators
• Work to deadlines to support month-end accounts preparations, contributing to the timely production of monthly management accounts and the annual consolidated accounts
• Be able to prioritise conflicting deadlines, and meet all deadlines during payroll processing and month end week
• Finance Manager looks at everything in detail to pick up anomalies, patterns and correlations, controlling and monitoring our financial systems.
• Be able to find solutions to a range of practical and procedural issues that occur to keep the finance department running smoothly, and ensure that our arrangements meet our changing organisational needs
• Supplier or contract relating problem solving, using initiative to contact suppliers when a problem might occur
• Responsibility for compliance with regulations such as VAT and payroll regulations, and internal procedures and policies
• Act as a point of reference for the finance team across the organisation, ensuring financial processes are balanced with wider organisational values

Person Specification:

• Experience working at team leader/management level
• Experience within the voluntary, social enterprise and small business sector
• Experience producing financial analysis reports
• Experience producing and submitting VAT returns
• Experience processing payroll
• Experience of costing processes
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to build rapport with a range of people
• Knowledge of relevant IT and accounting systems including Sage Accounts, Sage Payroll and Microsoft Office
• Ability to balance necessary processes with putting people at the heart
• Leadership and people-management skills with the ability to offer both challenge and support, living our value ‘Kind but bold’
• Evidence of the ability to bring innovative solutions to everyday organisational challenges
• A flexible approach to work, demonstrating a willingness to get stuck in where necessary and learn from all successes and mistakes
• Ability to work under pressure, delivering to tight deadlines, manage conflicting priorities and demonstrate high levels of emotional resilience
• Be able to demonstrate an understanding of the wider work of The Reader Group, and its social mission, values and purpose
• A commitment to a developmental culture through an openness to ongoing learning and personal development
• Dedicated with the ability to work independently, use initiative and solve problems creatively and to take an active approach to personal learning and development
• Keen eye for detail and a high level of accuracy

How to apply:

If you're looking for a new challenge and would like to work for a forward thinking organisation at an interesting time we'd love to hear from you. Please visit https://www.thereader.org.uk/job/financemanager/ to view a full job description and our application forms. All applications or queries should be sent to laurakershaw@thereader.org.uk by 9am, Monday 14th July.