Finance Assistant

ASA Recruitment’s client, a Public Sector organisation in Edinburgh, is currently looking to recruit a Finance Assistant, on an initial 2-month contract (with potential extensions) on a rate of c.£14.34-15.27/hour PAYE (based on experience). This role will be based fully onsite in Edinburgh.

The Role:

Undertake a wide range of Finance Operation processes within the Finance team, including maximise the collection of payments from commercial businesses, allocation of monies collected and Accounts payable activities. Contribute to the provision of consistent Finance Operations services across the organisation.

Responsibilities:

• Undertake a wide range of financial processes across all aspects of Finance Operations, across more than one system and in addition to People and Money 
• Identify and input Payables, Receivables and banking transactions in People & Money quickly and accurately in line with established control processes and procedures 
• Ensure local business needs are identified and met, e.g. coordinating urgent requests through to payment run processing, payment plans, management of debt resolve finance processing errors 
• Carry out supplier and customer account maintenance 
• Aid the resolution of any issues with integrations, processes and requirements particular to your satellite team, including reconciliation between systems, making sure they match and undertaking corrections as required 
• Provide advice and guidance to customers, clients, suppliers, staff and other stakeholders and deliver effective customer service  
• Contribute to related finance processes throughout the year  
• Contribute to reconciliation of supplier and customer accounts and bank reconciliations.  
• Receive and respond appropriately within time commitments to the wide range of customer and client enquiries about finance processes, transactions, errors and issues specific to the satellite area, judging when to pass on, or to involve others, to provide an effective customer service.  
• Understand and balance local requirements whilst operating consistently with Finance Operations processes, procedures and policies. Maintaining local KPIs to ensure an effective customer service. 
• Contribute to the preparation of reports on Finance Operations processes, e.g. Payment volumes, invoices paid on time, overdue payments, etc. Identify trends and problems and provide suggestions for improvement. 
• Facilitate the resolution of queries, whether posed by customers, clients or organisation staff, thus clearing disputed items and enabling payment. Contribute to the development and improvement of local systems and services provided by the organisation to its staff, clients and other customers.Check, prepare and input new customer accounts or amendments to existing accounts. Process customer payment plans. Input, check, post and issue invoices and credit notes. Prepare late payment charge invoices. Contribute to individual account reconciliation, monthly reconciliations and collation of statistics 

Essential Experience:

• A background in bookkeeping/accounting and ability to perform the necessary financial reconciliations
• Experience in the area of Accounts Payable and Receivables
• Experience of an integrated accounting package
• Understanding of financial controls 
• Competently skilled in the use of MS Office, particularly Excel 
• A logical, focused and constructive approach
• Attention to detail and accuracy
• Ability to organise and prioritise personal workload and demonstrate a flexible approach to work demands 
• Self-motivated, professional and pro-active approach to work 
• Resourcefulness and ability to use initiative and be proactive, in combination with a high level of teamwork skills.
• Experience of providing excellent customer service
• Strong communication skills including confident telephone manner
• Well-developed problem-solving skills

Desirable Experience:

• Experience of working in a large, multi-departmental organisation 
• Experience in relevant business of the satellite team e.g. hospitality etc