Recruitment: Financial Assistant (Book-Keeper)

Job Title: Financial Assistant (Book-Keeper)

Report To: (Acting) Treasurer

Employer: PCC St Peter de Beauvoir 

Hours: 7 hrs per week: Flexible by prior arrangement (e.g. one weekday 9 – 4.30, or two weekdays 10 – 2. allowing for 30 minutes lunch)

Salary: £6,000 p.a. plus Workplace Pension

Main purpose of Job:

St Peter’s is seeking to employ an individual with relevant bookkeeping qualifications and experience to manage day-to-day financial transactions and be able to prepare accounts for presentation to the Finance Team and the Parochial Church Council (PCC), with excellent interpersonal skills, strong attention to detail, and good IT skills.

Context:

St Peter’s is the parish church of De Beauvoir Town, in the modern catholic tradition of the Church of England.  We are located in the London Borough of Hackney, close to Haggerston Overground station and accessible by a number of cycle and public transport links. De Beauvoir Town is a vibrant and diverse community, with a strong sense of local identity with St Peter’s at its heart.

We are looking for a Financial Assistant (Book-Keeper) who will help us continue to grow as a church, as we seek to increase our revenue from available spaces to hire, and increase our activity as a central part of our of local community. 

You will join a growing and supportive team to work alongside including the Vicar, PCC members, Music Director, Parish Administrator & Events Co-ordinator, and others to help St Peter’s fulfil its mission to be a Church which worships, nurtures, and takes action!

Main Duties and Responsibilities:

Book-keeping

• Prepare a range of monthly accounts for the Treasurer and Finance Team and quarterly accounts for the PCC
• Handle all cash and cheque collections and carry out weekly banking
• Undertake bank reconciliations
• Manage petty cash and expenses for all paid staff and volunteers
• Establish and oversee staff credit card and monthly reconciliations
• Manage online banking for utilities and other ad hoc payments as required
• Ensure gift-aid records are accurate and compliant with regulations and process claims
• Maintain asset register
• Prepare monthly breakdowns of actual spend versus budget projection, providing additional management information and analysis for the Treasurer/PCC as required
• Oversee monthly payroll and pension payments following internal control recommendations and liaising with external payroll company (Stewardship Services)
• Update schedules for year-end and liaise with Independent Examiner
• Download all account data –  bank statements, credit card statements, donation statements (Church Suite and Good Box, etc) and enter into accounting software
• Data management e.g. allocating income and expenditure to appropriate funds
• File and maintain a reliable cloud-based and manual filing system

Fundraising:

• Work with the Stewardship Officer and Vicar to ensure all giving is accurate and compliant
• Liaise with donors on gift aid status
• Coordinate the counting for major gift days
• Provide the Stewardship Officer and Vicar with necessary financial information for any printed or digital material related to stewardship campaigns and regular giving

Finance Team:

• Attend Finance Team bi-monthly meetings
• Act as secretary for those meetings, circulating agenda, taking and circulating minutes
• Work with the Treasurer, Vicar and Parish Administrator to prepare meeting agendas for Finance Team meetings
• As per ‘book-keeping’ responsibilities, prepare monthly accounts for circulation in advance of the meetings

The Financial Assistant (Book-Keeper) is a key person in the life of St Peter’s who works closely with the Vicar, (Acting) Treasurer, Stewardship Officer, Finance Team, PCC, volunteers and the wider community of De Beauvoir Town.

PERSON SPECIFICATION: 

Experience

• Relevant book-keeping qualification with a proven track record of dealing with financial tasks as outlined in key responsibilities (Essential)
• Experience working in a team (Essential)
• Previous experience in a church or charity setting (Desirable)
• Previous experience using Data Developments software (Finance Coordinator and Donations Coordinator)  (Desirable)

Skills

• Able to multi-task
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Numerate with good IT skills
• Excellent time management with the ability to meet tight deadlines
• Accuracy and excellent attention to detail 
• Use of Excel or Google Sheets
• Well organised, coordinated and able to juggle multiple tasks with differing deadlines
• A proactive, can-do attitude
• Confident dealing with medium-large sized electronic databases (no experience required but must be willing to learn)

NB: We are also recruiting a part-time Parish Administrator and Events Co-ordinator position. Individuals may wish to apply for both roles but should do so separately.

Place of Work: St Peter de Beauvoir Town, Northchurch Terrace, N1 4DA.

Salary: £6,000 p.a. for 7 hours pw. plus workplace pension

Probationary period: 6 months

Holidays: 6 days, plus bank holidays

Notice Period: 1 month

Review: An annual review

How to apply: To apply for this post, please complete the application form and send completed application form to frsimon@stpeterdebeauvoir.org.uk

Closing date for applications: Friday 2nd December 2022

Interview Date: Saturday 10th December 2022

If you would like to have a conversation about the role before applying, please contact Paul Snow, our Acting Treasurer (Operations Officer) treasurer@stpeterdebeauvoir.org.uk or the Vicar, Fr Simon (frsimon@stpeterdebeauvoir.org.uk).

St Peter’s is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. All post-holders and volunteers are expected to share this commitment and complete an enhanced DBS as necessary.