Finance Bursar

About Abbey College Manchester

Abbey College Manchester was founded in 1990 and over the past thirty plus years has become one of the leading providers of independent sixth form education in Greater Manchester. There are approximately 220 students in the college. Within this around 30% are from the Manchester area with the remainder coming from 40 plus different countries across Europe; Africa; Asia and the Americas.

We are a dynamic, exciting college, situated in the heart of Manchester providing high quality, flexible A Level, International Foundation and GCSE programmes. We have recently introduced two unique programmes to complement our offering; these being the Combined Studies Programme and the Academic Studies with Sports Training Programmes (Football, Basketball, Cycling and Tennis).

About Abbey DLD Colleges Ltd

The Abbey DLD Colleges Ltd is the parent company of Abbey College Manchester and two other colleges. It was founded in 1931 under the name Davies, Laing and Dick. The colleges within the group have developed a longstanding reputation for delivering premium quality education.  

Overview

The Finance Bursar is responsible for the day-to-day finance aspects of the college, managing month end procedures which includes updating budgets, producing and updating student invoices, maintain up to date financial records and also supervising supplier invoicing/queries and providing cover for this.

Main duties and Key Responsibilities:

Sales Billing

• Raising Sales invoices for the year plus interim runs and adjustments
• Reconciliation of student intake with invoicing
• Organising Direct Debit paperwork and ensuring SIMS is updated
• Keying receipts
• Reconciliation/updating of advance fees list
• Creating manual debtors list splitting between payment dates at the beginning of the financial year.
• Daily Banking

Credit Control

• Updating manual debtors report for day-to-day use
• Reconciling manual debtors with aged debtors on a daily basis
• Chasing overdue invoices
• Oversee debt collection procedure with Director of Operations

Refunding fees and deposits

• Raising credit notes where applicable
• Keying advance fees and deposits to reflect accurate balance to be refunded
• Creating and submitting payment requests for head office
• Chasing student/family for paperwork to allow refunds of deposits at end of the year

Accounts payable

• Processing supplier invoices – coding, receiving authorisation and submission to Head Office
• Updating budget/order spreadsheets
• Dealing with supplier queries

Month end

• Reconciliation of bank account
• Supplying month end Sims reports for Head Office including aged debtors, advance fees, deposit movements.
• Using Head Office bank reconciliation control schedule to reconcile with Sims.
• Liaising with Head Office over queries.
• Monthly Management reports for Director of Operations and Head Office.

Agent Commissions

• Reconciling agents commission with head office (normally quarterly)

Petty Cash

• Keeping petty cash records
• Reconciling the account
• Applying to head office for further funds.

Charities

• Counting/paying in funds to the bank.
• Recording the payments received.
• Making payments to the relevant charities.

General Administration

• Assistance with maintaining all school records and understanding safeguarding issues.

Remuneration

£34,000 - £36,000 per annum.

Hours of work

8.00am to 4:00pm (30 minutes lunch break) Monday to Friday.

Holiday Entitlement

25 days annual leave per year plus all Public holidays, to be taken at times convenient to the college. Holiday restrictions apply from the end of July to the end of September and the first week of every term.  

Person Specification

Qualifications and Experience

Essential:

• A Levels or equivalent qualification or experience
• ICT literate, competent in the use of packages with such as Excel and in the use of databases.
• Experience of working in a busy and varied office environment

Desirable:

• A relevant honours degree or Professional Accounting qualification
• Experience of working with SIMS
• Experience of working in an educational environment
• Experience of supervising staff

Knowledge

Essential:

• Good working knowledge of Billing and Credit Control
• Excellent numeracy and analytical problem-solving ability, e.g. resolving billing issues

Communication and Interpersonal Skills

Essential:

• Ability to present verbal and written information clearly and professionally to a variety of audiences with different first languages and variable English skills.
• Ability to work in a team and individually.

Personal skills and qualities:

Essential:

• Demonstrates flexibility in approach to work.
• Good organisational skills with the ability to manage time efficiently and be able to prioritise to meet deadlines; 
• Ability to absorb information, analyse data and present overall picture and trends;
• Ability to be calm and level headed;
• Attention to detail and accuracy

Desirable:

• An ability to relate to individuals from a wide range of backgrounds and cultures
• Able to influence and persuade people 

Safeguarding Statement

Candidates should be aware that all posts in the college involve responsibility for safeguarding children. The Abbey College Manchester Safeguarding Statement is as follows: “We recognise our moral and statutory responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of all students. We endeavour to provide a safe and welcoming environment where children and young people are respected and valued. We are alert to the signs of abuse and neglect and follow our procedures to ensure that children and young people receive effective support, protection and justice”.

The Abbey DLD Colleges Ltd is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of our children. All staff are trained in child protection and understand to report concerns by following the safeguarding policies. We ensure all candidates are properly police-checked, and the successful candidate will need to obtain an enhanced disclosure via the DBS.

We are committed to equality of opportunity for all staff and applications from individuals are encouraged regardless of age, disability, sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief and marriage and civil partnerships.