A little bit about what we are looking for...
Are you ready to make an impact in a vital role where your work directly contributes to the financial success of an organisation dedicated to providing excellent service to its customers? If you have a passion for finance, attention to detail, and a collaborative spirit, we want you on our team!
We’re looking for an enthusiastic and proactive individual to join our team and take on the exciting challenge of managing service charge income and costs. You’ll work alongside a talented group of professionals, including the Service Charge Accountant, Service Charge Officers, and the Home Budgets Team, ensuring that every penny is accounted for and that service charges are handled efficiently and transparently.
This is a unique opportunity to be part of a forward-thinking organisation, ensuring that our customers receive accurate, timely financial information, while also driving positive change through your insights and expertise.
We embrace the future of work with our hybrid working model, offering you the flexibility to thrive in your role. You'll have the opportunity to blend the best of both worlds, spending approximately 2-3 days per week in the office with the remainder being from the comfort of your own home. However bear in mind during your probation and training, we may request more office presence to ensure you feel fully supported and equipped for success. Your well-being and confidence in your role are paramount to us, and we're committed to providing the flexibility you need to excel. Of course if you'd prefer to be in the office more, then that is completely fine with us too!
As part of our commitment to promoting work-life balance, we offer an optional 9-day fortnight scheme*. With this arrangement, you have the opportunity to compress your hours into nine days, allowing you to enjoy a bonus day off every fortnight. It's our way of empowering you to achieve greater flexibility and recharge, helping you be your best self.
This is a fixed term contract running until 31st March 2027.
Your responsibilities...
Financial Accounting:
* Drive Financial Excellence: Take responsibility for regularly reviewing service charge costs and working with internal teams to manage and control them effectively, ensuring all costs are in line with expectations.
* Support Key Accounting Processes: Assist in monthly accounting tasks such as journal entries, accruals, prepayments, and reconciliations. Investigate variances, provide forecasts, and deliver clear, actionable commentary for the management accounts team.
* Budget Creation & Oversight: Prepare and review the annual budget, making sure that all costs align with the contracts and agreements in place, ensuring accuracy and the full recovery of costs.
* Insightful Analysis: Provide detailed data analysis and reports, supporting key decision-making processes. Identify issues, propose solutions, and ensure that financial data is clean, accurate, and up to date.
* Collaborative Success: Work closely with the Home Budgets team and budget holders across the organisation to ensure everyone is aligned in achieving financial goals.
Service Charges Management:
* Manage the Service Charge Cycle: Help drive the timely preparation of budgets and year-end statements, ensuring deadlines are met with precision.
* Craft Accurate Budgets: Take charge of producing service charge budgets on a scheme-by-scheme basis using our Service Charge Management System, applying your analytical expertise to ensure charges are accurate and costs are fully recovered.
* Year-End Statements: Lead the preparation of year-end statements for variable service charges. Collaborate with other teams to calculate year-end adjustments, update tenant accounts, and ensure that residents receive all necessary information.
* Master the Bluebox System: Become proficient in the Bluebox system to ensure all new properties are added to the system in a timely manner and all deliverables are met.
* Process Innovation: Continuously improve and streamline systems and processes to help the team work more efficiently and deliver better results.
* Problem-Solving: Be an integral part of the team in resolving challenges, investigating issues, and providing effective solutions.
Compliance & Customer Care:
* Ensure Compliance: Maintain up-to-date knowledge of legislation and regulations, ensuring all financial activities and processes are compliant.
* Liaise with Auditors: Be the point of contact for external auditors in relation to service charge certificates, ensuring smooth communication and timely completion of necessary documentation.
* Customer-Focused Approach: Play a key role in resolving rent and service charge queries from both internal and external customers, ensuring that all inquiries are addressed promptly and professionally.
* Contribute to Team Success: Actively engage with the wider Finance and Home Budgets teams, bringing your expertise to the table and contributing to the overall success of the team.
We recommend you read the full job description to get a really good understanding of what the role entails, you can find this as a downloadable attachment at the bottom of the advert.
Our ideal candidate...
* Part-Qualified ACA/ACCA/CIMA Accountant You should be working towards a professional accounting qualification and have a solid understanding of accounting principles and practices.
* Advanced Excel Skills (Including Macro Level) You will possess advanced proficiency in Excel, with the ability to use macros and complex formulas to analyse and present financial data efficiently.
* Expert Knowledge of Service Charge Legislation, Setting, and Accounting You will have a deep understanding of the legislation surrounding service charges, including their setting and the accounting principles involved.
* In-Depth Understanding of the Social Housing Regulatory Framework You will be well-versed in the financial accounting requirements within the social housing sector and how they apply to regulatory frameworks.
* Proven Experience in Service Charge Finance You should have direct experience working in a finance team dealing with service charges, either within the social housing or private sector, and understand the complexities of service charge management.
* Experience Working to Tight Deadlines You will be used to working in fast-paced, deadline-driven environments, ensuring tasks are completed accurately and on time.
* Familiarity with Highly Regulated Environments You will have experience working in sectors that are subject to strict regulatory controls, demonstrating the ability to manage compliance and maintain high standards.
* Experience in Preparing Management Information & KPIs You will have experience producing meaningful management information and key performance indicators (KPIs) to inform business decisions and drive performance.
If specific qualifications are required, please upload them with your application to demonstrate your eligibility.
AGENCIES: We know where you are if we need your support so please do not contact us.
To apply for this role please click on the apply button or for any enquiries please email recruitment@pahousing.co.uk - We reserve the right to close this job advert early if we receive a sufficient number of applications. Therefore, we advise you to apply promptly to ensure your application can be considered.
* please note this is a non contractual benefit and may be subject to change