Finance Officer

Are you passionate about bringing your financial skills and experience to help BCFB fulfil its vision, mission and values.

The Finance Officer will be involved in all aspects of the charity’s financial operations, this is a very broad role. From handling small donations like a child’s pocket money right up to processing large grants.  You will be the first point of call for financial queries and questions arising from our team. You will process purchase and sales invoices, volunteer, and staff expenses.  You will support grant and other fundraising applications, process donations from a variety of different platforms, deal with gift aid and banking. You will need to be an analytical problem solver able to work on your own and as part of our team.

You will have a finance qualification and experience of working in the finance department of a charity.  You will have strong Excel skills and familiarity of dealing with fundraising platforms such as JustGiving.  You will need to form constructive and supportive working relationships with our volunteers and other stakeholders so you will need strong communications skills, excellent numeracy and literacy, the ability to work to deadlines and prioritise your own workload while maintaining a compassionate, professional, and efficient public image for the charity.

Details

Hours: 15 per week (3 x 5 hours on 3 working days)

Salary:  £34,125 pro rata

Holiday: 25 days per year plus bank holidays pro rata

Pension: Nest Pension

Location: Office based at Black Country Foodbank, Albion Street, Brierley Hill, DY5 3EE

Accountability: The Finance Officer is line managed by the CEO and Board of Trustees

The Purpose of the role

The Finance Officer is responsible for the smooth running of all aspects of the financial management of BCFB.

·         Provide sound technical and professional advice to the CEO, Board of Trustees, and others.

·         Provide a high quality and effective financial service to the charity.

·         Prepare, develop and analyse management accounting information.

·         Ensure compliance with all relevant financial statutory and regulatory matters.

Key tasks and responsibilities

 Financial Management

Accountancy and Bookkeeping Systems

Maintenance of all accounting records on an ongoing basis to include:

·         Manage all income and expenditure processing.

·         Maintain and improve bookkeeping and accountancy systems (both computerised and manual) including:

- Bank reconciliations

- Cash flow management

- Income and grant analysis (restricted and designated funds)

- Bank receipts and payments

- Purchase approval and recording processes

Accounts payable

·         Process purchase invoices in an accurate and timely manner.

·         Respond accurately and efficiently to queries from suppliers and colleagues regarding payments.

·         Manage the Finance email inbox ensuring emails are dealt with in a timely manner.

·         Ensure Petty cash is available and monitored.

·         Process staff expenses, ensuring compliance with policy.

·         Access and administer online banking.

·         Pay salary and staff costs liaising with our accountants (who administer payroll) regarding any updates/changes.

Accounts Receivable

·         Control and Monitoring of restricted funds including detailed records of spend allocation of funds and remaining balance.

·         Accurately accounting for all income receipts monthly including donations from individuals and organisations and grants and claiming any appropriate Gift Aid.

Budgets

·         Prepare and update annual income and expenditure budget in consultation with the CEO and other officers.

·         Monitor the budget against actual and investigate any major variations in budget.

·         Involvement in strategic and business planning projections with the CEO and other officers.

Reports

Produce regular management information so that key officers and trustees know how well the charity is performing against its budget. To include:

• Provide regular monthly management financial information (including financial highlights/list of assets/budget against actual/restricted and unrestricted funds/fund movement summary/fund balances/trial balance/balance sheet) for the CEO and Board of Trustees.
• Quarterly financial reports for the Board of Trustees including detailed analysis of income and expenditure.
• Reports on individual activities including Lottery and grants.

• Filing Annual Return to the Charity Commission.
• Assisting with funding reports.

Annual Financial Audit

• Work with BSN, our accountants/auditors to produce the statutory accounts and planning of the year-end audit.

Bank and Treasury Management

• Treasury management in connection with cash and investments held by the charity.
• Manage cash flow to ensure that the level of interest received is as high as possible and that bank charges are kept to a minimum.
• Ensuring Current Account balances are kept at a reasonable level.

Fundraising

·         Ensure that the most tax-efficient solution is applied to fundraising income through gift aid and other schemes.

·         Assisting with applications for funding ensuring that all grants, sponsorship and donations are paid on time and the financial conditions met.

·         Keeping clear records of funding bids, successful bids and spending related to these bids.

Communication and Coordination

• Ensure the efficient circulation of financial information as needed including that required from external advisers e.g., auditors.
• Liaise with and advise the CEO and others as appropriate on all financial matters.
• Liaise with and maintain a good working relationship with bankers, accountants, auditors and donors.
• Liaise and maintain a good working relationship with volunteers, staff and Board of Trustees.
• Attend staff and Trustee meetings as required to provide information and analysis.
• Understand confidentiality in accordance with GDPR.

Professional/Technical

• Keep up to date with financial developments across the sector, changes in requirements for charity reporting and changes in legislation.
• Maintain and monitor the Internal Financial Procedures policy document and make recommendations on best practice, good governance, policies and procedures and implementing same.
• Experience with the software for donations, My Giving online and the accounting package, My Fund Accounting online.  The software is specifically for churches and charities.
• Experience with Just Giving and other online giving platforms in particular claiming Gift Aid.

Administration

·         Undertake all finance related administrative tasks ensuring orderly filling of electronic (Sharepoint) and paper documents and preparing for financial audits.

·         Prepare the banking.

·         Paying in cash and cheques to the bank/post office.

·         Posting letters.

Other

·         Contribute to the financial risk assessment.

·         Keep abreast of current legislation and practices also, best practices with peer organisations and preparing reports and recommending procedures for BCFB.

·         Work closely with the CEO and other colleagues as part of a small, mutually supportive team.

·         To carry out other duties appropriate to the post as requested by the CEO and Board of Trustees

·         To comply and carry out duties with regard to all policies and procedures of the organisations.

Person Specification

Finance Officer

We are an equal opportunity employer committed to a diverse and inclusive workforce. Therefore, we encourage and support the recruitment, retention and career development of people from as wide a range as possible of ethnic, cultural and social backgrounds. The person specification is designed to help members of the interviewing panel judge the qualities of the interviewees in a systematic and consistent way, in accordance with BCFB’s equal opportunities policy.

Qualified, for example ACCA, ACMA, CIPFA, CIMA

Thorough practical up-to-date understanding of management accounting principles and techniques.

Experience and understanding of:

• Charity accounting and SORP
• Production of monthly reports and financial reports and analysis.

• Experience of monitoring cash management in a non-profit environment.
• Experience with the software for donations, My Giving online and the accounting package, My Fund Accounting online.  The software is specifically for churches and charities.
• Experience of Gift Aid and how it applies to charities.
• Experience of managing the audit process.
• Experience of liaising with accountants.
• Experience of compiling funding applications
• Experience of recording spending against funding bids ready in time for report writing.
• High degree of communication skills particularly attuned to conveying complex financial concepts to non-financially trained colleagues and volunteers
• Used to working in a demanding environment and providing accurate and timely information to a high standard.
• The post holder will be in sole charge of all transaction processing and accounting.
• Ability to work without close supervision and meet service standards and requirements.
• Strong organisational skills and able to deal with competing priorities.
• We have a Christian ethos and we encourage applications from all faiths and none.

Personal Attributes

• Ability to work solely and part of a team.
• Genuine interest and compassion for people in food poverty.
• Strategic and analytical skills.
• Keen to keep up with technical advancements.
• Adaptability.
• Honest with strong values
• Strong communication skills.
• Leadership skills.
• Industry-specific knowledge.
• Keen to improve knowledge.

N.B. This job description is not all encompassing. Over time the emphasis of the job may change without changing the general character of the job. Your duties may be reviewed from time to time and revised and updated in consultation with you to reflect appropriate changes.

Right to Close Vacancy Posting Early. BCFB reserves the right to close any advertised vacancies earlier than the advertised closing date if sufficient applications have been received.

We are a Disability Confident Committed Employer. Candidates who declare that they have a disability and who meet the essential criteria for the job will be offered an interview. If you have a disability and wish to request a reasonable adjustment at any stage of the recruitment process.