Finance Assistant

🔒 Confidential Employer

Posted 13 August 2025

LOCATION

Great Dixter House and Gardens

TYPE

Full-time

LEVEL

Associate

SKILLS

Sage Excel Bookkeeping Accounting Reconciliations Finance MSOffice

FULL DESCRIPTION

Summary

The Finance Assistant will support the Finance Manager in preparing and maintaining accounting records and controls. Responsibilities include preparing reports, recording entries in Sage, and reconciling cash, bank, shopify and EPOS. They will also handle daily reconciliations, income and expenditure recording, supporting schedules, and assisting with monthly management and year-end accounts.

Key Responsibilities

To carry out the daily reconciliations from shopify and EPOS to takings. This involves processing POS across Admissions, Gift Shop, Café and Nursery.
To record income and expenditure as directed by the accounts manager using the SAGE accounting system, for all activities undertaken at Great Dixter; charitable activities, fundraising, commercial activities including the shop, ticket office, nursery and education courses.
To prepare supporting schedules, reconciliations and ad hoc reports as required by the finance manager to support them in their role reporting to the senior management team and trustees.
To support the wider team with queries as and when directed to by the finance manager.
To support the finance manager in the production of the monthly management and end of year accounts for review and annual audit.
To support the finance manager producing a draft budget for the following year as instructed.
To support the finance manager, maintain an audit trail, a filing system for invoices, statements, receipts etc.
To assist with the timely payment to suppliers on receipt of invoice.
To respond to email and telephone enquiries regarding outstanding payments within an acceptable time frame.
Contact customers with overdue invoices / outstanding balances.
To provide support with the monthly reconciliation of accounts against bank statements in all accounts held by the [Employer hidden — view at passion-project.co.uk], to arrange the transfer of funds within these accounts as necessary.
To provide support with the reconciliation of records of donations on Beacon with bank statements on a monthly basis.
Preparing and sending of invoices for group visits.
Administering the company credit card platform.
Reconciling the monthly spend for company credit cards and preparing import sheets for Sage.
Reconciling the monthly income for online platforms and preparing import sheets for Sage.
Processing customer refunds where necessary.
Performing the monthly safe count.
Managing petty cash.
To answer telephone enquiries from the public in the absence of others and refer these to other staff as necessary, to carry out general administrative tasks as required.
Preparing the weekly cash collection. To assist with occasional local deliveries and collections as well as banking of money, depositing cheques and other activity off site.
Administering the telephone payment platform.
Scanning, filing and logging accounts documents.
To stand in for colleagues and undertake other duties as requested.
To carry out training as required.
To act in accordance with the organisation’s health and safety procedures.
To represent the organisation in any published information within agreed guidelines.
To follow the trust’s sustainability policy in the exercise of all duties.

Core Requirements

Previous experience of working in a Finance Team.
We would love someone who is (or is interested in) studying for a bookkeeping or accounting qualification such as AAT. We will provide support for training for the successful candidate.
Numerate, methodical, self disciplined and highly organised.
Proficient with MSOffice, particularly Excel due to daily working with spreadsheets
Previous experience of working with Sage
Ability to manage their own workload. They will want to learn and develop and build their skills to take on more responsibility.
Have the ability and confidence to navigate multiple online platforms

1.0 Purpose of the post

Working in a small team, the Finance Assistant will support the Finance Manager in the preparation and maintenance of the accounting records and accounting controls. Preparing ad hoc reports, recording entries on Sage and reconciling cash, bank, shopify and EPOS.

2.0 Duties and Responsibilities

To carry out the daily reconciliations from shopify and EPOS to takings. This involves processing POS across Admissions, Gift Shop, Café and Nursery.
To record income and expenditure as directed by the accounts manager using the SAGE accounting system, for all activities undertaken at Great Dixter; charitable activities, fundraising, commercial activities including the shop, ticket office, nursery and education courses.
To prepare supporting schedules, reconciliations and ad hoc reports as required by the finance manager to support them in their role reporting to the senior management team and trustees.
To support the wider team with queries as and when directed to by the finance manager.
To support the finance manager in the production of the monthly management and end of year accounts for review and annual audit.
To support the finance manager producing a draft budget for the following year as instructed.
To support the finance manager, maintain an audit trail, a filing system for invoices, statements, receipts etc.
To assist with the timely payment to suppliers on receipt of invoice.
To respond to email and telephone enquiries regarding outstanding payments within an acceptable time frame.
Contact customers with overdue invoices / outstanding balances.
To provide support with the monthly reconciliation of accounts against bank statements in all accounts held by the [Employer hidden], to arrange the transfer of funds within these accounts as necessary.
To provide support with the reconciliation of records of donations on Beacon with bank statements on a monthly basis.
Preparing and sending of invoices for group visits.
Administering the company credit card platform.
Reconciling the monthly spend for company credit cards and preparing import sheets for Sage.
Reconciling the monthly income for online platforms and preparing import sheets for Sage.
Processing customer refunds where necessary.
Performing the monthly safe count.
Managing petty cash.
To answer telephone enquiries from the public in the absence of others and refer these to other staff as necessary, to carry out general administrative tasks as required.
Preparing the weekly cash collection. To assist with occasional local deliveries and collections as well as banking of money, depositing cheques and other activity off site.
Administering the telephone payment platform.
Scanning, filing and logging accounts documents.
To stand in for colleagues and undertake other duties as requested.
To carry out training as required.
To act in accordance with the organisation’s health and safety procedures.
To represent the organisation in any published information within agreed guidelines.
To follow the trust’s sustainability policy in the exercise of all duties.

[Employer hidden]

Person Specification: Finance Assistant

Experience Previous experience of working in a Finance Team.

Qualifications We would love someone who is (or is interested in) studying for a

bookkeeping or accounting qualification such as AAT. We will provide support for training for the successful candidate.

Skills and Numerate, methodical, self disciplined and highly organised.

Abilities Proficient with MSOffice, particularly Excel due to daily working with spreadsheets

Previous experience of working with Sage

Ability to manage their own workload. They will want to learn and develop and build their skills to take on more responsibility.

Have the ability and confidence to navigate multiple online platforms

Qualities Motivated

Organised

Accurate

Ability to work on own initiative and as part of a small team

Able to identify opportunities and develop solutions

Other Be willing to undertake further training and development as

necessary.

Able to work evenings and weekends on occasion.