Senior Bookkeeper - Part Time / Freelance

Job Title: Senior Bookkeeper

Location: Aston Rowe Estate Agents, Acton, West London

Salary: £30-£35 per hour depending on experience

Job Type: Contract / Freelance, Part Time

For somebody working alongside the business, we expect the role to take approximately 35 hours per month initially, reducing to around 20-28 hours per month once the processes and systems are familiar. We are looking for somebody interested in a stable, long-term relationship with Aston Rowe and who can commit to the required month-end timetable.

About the role:

You will be responsible for the regular bookkeeping and month-end accounting for Aston Rowe, including:

• Posting supplier invoices and purchase bills into Xero
• Maintaining supporting documentation and filing records
• Reconciling our bank and control accounts
• Extracting lettings and property-management income from landlord period statements
• Identifying Aston Rowe's own fees versus supplier work
• Calculating commission earned on supplier work
• Preparing monthly wage journals using payroll information supplied by our accountants
• Posting accruals and prepayments
• Preparing monthly VAT liability journals
• Preparing and submitting quarterly VAT returns through Xero following director review
• Preparing the monthly aged-payables report for the directors
• Maintaining Xero tracking across Manager and Department categories
• Producing our monthly management accounts through FathomHQ
• Preparing meaningful written commentary explaining monthly financial performance
• Maintaining accurate books ready for our external accountants at year end

The underlying role covers purchase invoices, bank reconciliation, lettings and property-management income, wages journals, accruals/prepayments, aged payables, VAT and management reporting.

Working pattern

Once familiar with the business, the workload is approximately:

• Up to one hour each week for invoice processing and bank reconciliation
• Approximately 2-3 days around month end to complete the full month-end process and management accounts
• A short quarterly VAT submission process

The month-end work needs to be completed in sequence and within the reporting timetable, so applicants must have genuine availability for the required month-end days rather than fitting the work around other commitments.

Systems

The role currently uses:

Xero | Alto Vebra | FathomHQ | BrightPay | Dropbox | Excel

Previous experience with Alto Vebra or FathomHQ would be helpful but is not essential.

What isn't included in the role

To keep responsibilities clear, the successful candidate will not be responsible for:

• Running payroll
• Credit control/chasing tenants or landlords
• Preparing statutory accounts or corporation tax
• Deciding which suppliers should be paid
• Raising sales invoices
• Reconciling the client account within Alto Vebra
• These areas remain with Aston Rowe's internal team, directors or external accountants.
• Comprehensive handover

This is not a role where the incoming bookkeeper will be expected to work everything out from scratch.

There is an established bookkeeping process developed over many years, including:

• A detailed step-by-step procedures manual
• 14 click-by-click guides
• 15 short procedure videos
• An overview video explaining the complete month-end process
• Organised supporting documentation
• Existing reconciled management accounts
• Access to the outgoing bookkeeper for questions during the transition
• Screen-sharing support during the initial handover period

About you:

You should be confident working independently and taking responsibility for the accuracy of the books.

You will need:

• Strong practical experience using Xero
• Good understanding of bank reconciliations and control accounts
• Experience preparing manual journals
• Experience with accruals and prepayments
• Good practical knowledge of VAT and Making Tax Digital
• Experience using Xero tracking categories or equivalent departmental reporting
• Strong Excel skills
• Experience preparing monthly management accounts
• The ability to analyse financial results and write clear management commentary
• Excellent attention to detail and the discipline to follow established accounting processes
• The ability to investigate discrepancies rather than simply post transactions

Experience within estate agency, lettings or property management would be a significant advantage, although we will consider a strong general-practice or SME bookkeeper who can demonstrate the necessary technical experience.

The handover specifically identifies lettings/property experience as advantageous because interpreting landlord statements is the area likely to require the most learning initially.

AAT, ICB or other bookkeeping/accountancy qualifications would be advantageous, although we are equally interested in candidates who are qualified by experience.

Additional Information:

Please click on the APPLY button to send your CV and Cover Letter for this role.

Candidates with experience of; Senior Accountant, Accounting Manager, Finance Manager, Financial Controller, Assistant Financial Controller, Accounts Manager, Senior Accounts Assistant, Management Accountant will also be considered for this role.