Finance Assistant in Suffolk

Join World Land Trust (WLT), an international conservation charity dedicated to protecting the world’s most threatened habitats and species. Working with trusted local conservation partners across the globe, we help communities protect and restore land to safeguard biodiversity and tackle the climate crisis. As our Finance Assistant, you’ll play an important role in supporting the smooth running of our finance function. You’ll be responsible for accurately processing day-to-day financial transactions for the charity and its wholly owned subsidiary, including income processing, sales and purchase ledger administration, maintaining financial records, and providing wider support to the finance team.

Duties and responsibilities

• Income and Banks
• Accurately importing income batches ensuring correctly allocated to relevant nominal codes and project codes.
• Accurately process Standing Order income onto the accounts system and setting up auto-bank rules in the Finance System (currently Xledger).
• Setting up and verifying new donor/corporate supporter details in the Sales Ledger.
• Accurate allocation of income against Sales Ledger.
• Review aged Sales Ledger balances monthly for accuracy and completeness. Notify relevant departments regarding overdue receipts.
• Production of Donation Pledge invoices/Sales Invoices as requested or required.
• Provide daily information on funds received into the bank.
• Import relevant bank statements and reconcile all banks on a weekly/monthly basis.
• Expenditure
• Accurately process purchase orders, Supplier invoices and Employee expenses (both UK and overseas) for the Charity and Trading subsidiary ensuring correct allocation to relevant nominal codes and cost centres in the Finance System.
• Support payment processing, including collation and approval of relevant information, of disbursements to beneficiaries and request of acknowledgement of receipt from Conservation Partners on a timely basis.
• Accurately process monthly credit card expenditure onto the accounts system.
• Setting up and verifying new supplier details in the Purchase Ledger.
• Performing due diligence checks on new suppliers and new Conservation Partners.
• Accurate allocation of expenditure against Purchase Ledger.
• Review aged Purchase Ledger balances monthly for accuracy and completeness.
• Ensure purchase orders and invoices are matched and generated accurately within the Finance System.
• Maintain Fixed Asset register and ensure accurate processing of monthly depreciation.
• Process monthly investment portfolio movements.
• Maintain and reconcile petty cash accounts.
• Assist the month end tasks for financial close down and reporting including preparing Prepayments and assisting in the monthly reconciliation between the CRM database and Finance System.
• Assist the year end audit for WLT and its trading subsidiary including preparation of schedules and information for external auditors.
• Monitor and answer queries from other teams including monitoring of the accounts and finance email accounts in a timely manner and supporting provision of relevant information to assist in measuring WLT carbon footprint.

Experience and qualifications

We’re looking for a proactive and detail-oriented individual with experience in finance, bookkeeping, accounts administration, or a similar role. You’ll be confident processing financial information accurately, maintaining records, and using finance systems, Excel and Microsoft 365 effectively. A good understanding of basic accounting principles is essential, and a relevant qualification would be advantageous. You’ll also be someone who enjoys working with colleagues across an organisation, delivering excellent customer service and building positive working relationships. With strong organisational and numerical skills, you’ll be able to manage competing priorities, handle confidential information with discretion, and use sound judgement to resolve routine finance queries. Most importantly, you’ll bring a reliable, conscientious and collaborative approach to your work.

Please see our Application pack for full job description and person specification.

Benefits

• Flexible Working

We offer flexible and hybrid working because we know how important a healthy work-life balance is to our team. The majority of full-time staff work a 9-day fortnight, and we support hybrid working where the role allows. Our core working days are Tuesday to Thursday with non-working days falling on either Mondays or Fridays and our normal office hours are 9am to 5pm. At the same time, we value in-person collaboration, so the successful candidate will need to be within commuting distance of our Halesworth offices and able to spend at least one day a week working on site with the Finance team, ideally a Tuesday, although there is office space if you wish to work the majority or all of your hours in the office.

• Annual leave

We offer 36 days’ annual leave (including Bank Holidays) plus an additional discretionary day each year to volunteer for a charity or community organisation of your choice.

• Group personal pension scheme

Investing in companies that can demonstrate positive application of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) criteria, which ensures that our pension scheme operates in line with our Values. We also offer Pension Salary Exchange as a way of making tax-efficient contributions into your workplace pension based on an employer contribution of 5% and an employee contribution of 3%.

• Group life assurance

Whilst we hope our staff live long and happy lives, we want to give some peace of mind and this benefit provides a lump sum payment of 4x salary.

For a full list of our benefits, please see the Application pack.

Company culture

At World Land Trust, you’ll be joining a passionate and committed team whose work has a tangible impact on the protection of wildlife, habitats and local communities around the world. This is an opportunity to use your finance skills to support a global conservation mission and be part of an organisation where your contribution truly makes a difference.