Finance Assistant

Role: Finance Assistant
Location: Garden Organic, Wolston Lane, Coventry, CV8 3LG

Key Requirements: To be responsible for the timely and accurate accounting of income, expenditure and assisting in producing finance reports for Garden Organic and its subsidiaries.

Hours: 35 hours per week (Full time - although 4 days a week would be considered)
Duration: Permanent
Salary: £25,000 to £29,000
Role subject to DBS Check: No

About us:

At Garden Organic we care about organic growing, composting, seed conservation, research and citizen science. Our small but hugely knowledgeable and committed team is backed by a family of members and volunteers, all dedicated to growing food and flowers in harmony with nature. We are an established, experienced and innovative membership charity, working in communities around the UK and campaigning for organic practice which protects and promotes life above and below the soil. Now in our seventh decade, we are also home to the vitally important Heritage Seed Library a living collection of 800 rare vegetable varieties that otherwise would have died out.

Our mission is to show people how to be organic growers and in doing so, we strive to be a great place to work, volunteer or partner with. We care about what we do, how we do it, and the impact we make. We believe that our time is now – when people are actively seeking positive contributions that they can make in the face of biodiversity loss and climate change.

About the role:

You will be responsible for the timely and accurate accounting of income, expenditure and assisting in producing finance reports for Garden Organic and its subsidiaries.

You will be reporting to our Finance and Compliance Manager and your core responsibilities and main duties are as follows:

• Administer the sales ledgers, working with other departments and managers, to raise timely invoices and credit notes. Maintain strong working relationships with debtors to ensure prompt payment of invoices.
• Administer the purchase ledgers, supporting other departments and managers, ensuring accurate accounting of invoices/other expenses. Oversee purchase order process. Maintain strong working relationships with key suppliers and internal customers.
• Be aware of VAT intricacies and ensure VAT is accurately accounted for within ledgers. Responsible for the quarterly VAT Returns.
• Work with Management Accountant to ensure accurate accounting within monthly accounts of both sales and expenditure, including monthly reconciliation of key control accounts. Account for accruals and prepayments relating to income and expenditure.
• Support Line Manager’s responsibility for cashflow, preparing weekly list of creditors to be paid, managing bank balances/transfers and reconciling bank accounts.
• Process payments/receipts via BACS, cheques, CHAPS and PDQs and related reports as appropriate.
• Support accounting for restricted and unrestricted projects, meeting requirements of project managers and providing information as required.
• Oversee intercompany accounts and complete monthly reconciliations.
• Ensure all petty cash is appropriately managed and reconciled on a monthly basis.
• Provide assistance to other members of the Corporate Resources Department as and when required.

What we are looking for:

Our ideal candidate will bring energy and enthusiasm to the role as well as proven experience in the field of finance, together with a willingness to learn. You will ideally have finance and management accounting experience. We will consider applicants who are qualified by (proven) experience.

What we can offer:

• Salary: £25,000 to £29,000
• 25 days Holiday plus bank holidays and additional leave at Christmas (pro-rata)
• Additional long service holiday
• Group Pension Scheme with 8% employer contribution
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Salary Extras benefits platform (Instant discount scheme and health, wellbeing and financial support)
• We Care benefits platform (With access to virtual GP consultations, nutritionist support, get fit programmes, smoking cessation and further health and wellbeing support)
• TOIL for additional hours worked
• Life Assurance
• Garden Organic membership

Person Specification:

How to Apply:

All applicants must complete a Garden Organic Application Form along with a covering letter explaining why you think you would be a great fit for the role. We pay close attention to covering letters so please do send us one.

We will be reviewing applications on a rolling basis and we reserve the right to close the vacancy early depending on response levels.

As part of our commitment to diversity and inclusion applications will be anonymised before being submitted to our recruitment panel.

Recruitment Timetable:

Application Deadline: Monday 31^st March 2025

Equal Opportunities:

At Garden Organic we embrace diversity and recognise the value it brings to our organisation. As such, we match charity needs with the skills and experience of candidates and welcome candidates from various backgrounds irrespective of age, disability, gender, gender identity or reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief or sexual orientation. We are committed to fostering an inclusive workplace and take pride in ensuring that everyone feels welcome, respected and empowered.

Garden Organic is also a Disability Confident Employer and aims to create opportunities wherever possible. It should be noted that some of our roles require travel and attendance at events where accessibility arrangements will vary.

Safer Recruitment:

Garden Organic is also committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and expects employees, associates and volunteers to share this commitment. We may require some candidates to undertake a DBS check relevant to the requirements of the role.

Please note that we only accept applications from individuals with the right to work in the UK. We are unable to sponsor working visa applications.