Finance & Credit Controller

Length of contract:              Permanent (Subject to continuance of funding)                         

Salary:                                  £25,981 – £28,685

Based at:                              Accrington

Responsible to:                   Operations Manager 

Hours:                                 18.5 hours

CLOSING DATE – 19th April 2024

Our Mission

We help people to achieve the outcomes that matter to them in their lives, by providing high quality advocacy                                                                                                                

Purpose of role

As a Finance & Credit Controller, you will ensure prompt collection and reconciliation of accounts, minimisation of  outstanding debts and maximise  cash flow. You will provide support to the senior leadership  team by ensuring targets are met and problems are identified and overcome. As well as supporting our Finance Administrator, you will be responsible for developing and maintaining internal and external relationships ensuring that all operational issues are resolved in an efficient and effective manner.

Main duties and responsibilities:

• Manage and oversee all aspects of credit control, including for our spot purchase and block contract services, ensuring processes are always followed for timely payments, including timely follow-up on overdue accounts and the escalation of unresolved issues.
• Prepare and distribute regular aged debtors’ reports, highlighting overdue accounts and potential risks.
• Raise Monthly/ Quarterly Commissioning Invoices.
• Manage all aspects of financial recording, including document production, paying invoices, incoming donations, maintaining records of expenditure and chasing up outstanding invoices in a timely fashion.
• Assist SLT with administration of bank accounts, making any deposits when necessary.
• Be responsible for Petty Cash, requesting a float in a timely fashion and reconciling receipts.
• Assisting in the preparation of monthly and annual management accounts.
• Complete Finance Annexes for statistical monitoring and provide reports and information to CEO, Treasurer, Chair and auditor as required.
• Create, send, and follow up on invoices and manage process efficiently via Xero.
• Prepare budgets and financial information for tenders.
• Annually draw up an organisation wide budget and input into Xero.
• Assist with annual internal and external financial audits.
• Deputise for the Finance Administrator during periods of leave and cover their priorities if necessary.
• Assist with payroll preparation and any changes and ensure that all payroll deadlines are met.
• Assist with Employer/ Employee pension contributions.
• Assist with new starter finance inductions to ensure new team members are fully equipped with important information and their financial details are set up correctly.
• Assisting with the implementation and management of internal financial processes and procedures.
• Assist with the internal ‘accounts’ inbox, responding to queries in a timely manner.
• Suggest changes or improvements to both financial and administrative processes to increase accuracy, efficiency, and potential cost reductions.
• Work as a member of the team, attend monthly team meetings, and contribute towards service planning and developments for advocacy and the wider organisation.
• Be flexible to support work across all areas to meet service demands.
• Be available to work occasionally in the evening and weekends as required and be prepared to travel across Advocacy Focus’ office sites as required.
• Undertake any other duties as commensurate with the grading of the post.

You can download the role description, equal opportunities monitoring form and privacy notice below:

• Advocacy Focus – Finance & Credit Controller Description
• Application Form
• Advocacy Focus Diversity Monitoring Form
• Advocacy Focus Privacy Notice

Please send a copy of your Privacy Policy, Equal Opportunity Monitoring & Application Forms to HR@advocacyfocus.org.uk to be considered for this role.

Alternatively, you can post this to us at Advocacy Focus, First Floor, The Old Tannery, Eastgate, Accrington, Lancashire BB5 6PW.

Don’t meet every single requirement? Studies have shown that women and people of colour are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At Advocacy Focus we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive, and authentic workplace, so if you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyways. You may just be the right candidate for this or other roles.

Please note that the salary advertised is for full-time hours. If this post is less than 37 hours per week, the salary will be pro-rata.

This vacancy will close when sufficient applications have been received.  Therefore it is advised to complete your application as early as possible to avoid disappointment.

Please ensure you check the email account from which you apply regularly as we will use this to contact you regarding your application.

Please note, that shortlisting is completed anonymously with candidates being assessed against the essential criteria for the post.  Therefore only persons who can clearly demonstrate how they meet our person specification criteria in their application will be short-listed.

Please ensure you check the email account from which you apply regularly as we will use this to contact you regarding your application.

Advocacy Focus is committed to fighting racism and other forms of oppression and discrimination. We want to be a great employer for all our staff, regardless of their background or characteristics. We recognise that not everyone is the same and that different people will require different support to fulfill their potential. One thing we can do to work towards that goal is to ensure that our staff team is representative of the diverse communities across our service delivery areas. We particularly encourage applications from men, members of the LGBTQ+ community, those living with a physical or mental disability, and those from an ethnic minority background. 

Reasonable Adjustments: Support is available to candidates with disabilities when applying for vacancies. For more information on reasonable adjustments please contact our Recruitment Team by any of the following methods: 

By telephone 01254 958940

or email hr@advocacyfocus.org.uk 

or write to HR Team, Advocacy Focus, The Old Tannery, Eastgate, Accrington, BB5 6PW