Job responsibilities
JOB DESCRIPTION - FINANCE ASSISTANT
A. OUTLINE OF POST
Job Title Finance Assistant
Contract Permanent
Hours of work Part time 7 Hours per week
Place of work Brandon Centre, 26 Prince of Wales Road, London
NW5 3LG
Managed by Senior Finance Assistant
Accountable to Head of Finance/CEO
B. JOB SUMMARY
To work with the Finance team to ensure delivery of a high-quality service to young people, by providing finance and administrative support to the Finance function.
C. BRANDON CENTRE OVERVIEW
The principal objective of Brandon Centre is to provide a professional, accessible and flexible service that responds to the psychological, medical, sexual and social needs of young people under 25.
Services include:
• Mental health services: Individual counselling and psychotherapy for young people and using a range of evidence-based therapies; systemic integrative therapy for families and therapeutic outreach work in community settings.
• Contraception and sexual health services: sexual health drop-in services, sex, relationships & counselling support and C-Card Scheme.
• Consultation and training: Healthy living services, developing and leading groups & consultation for young people, schools, parents, third sector organisations and others.
D. PRINCIPAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Finance
To be responsible for all aspects of Accounts payable at Brandon Centre.
• Receipt of purchase invoices from suppliers via admin account and managers.
• Maintaining a log of all purchase invoices in Excel and making sure all have been processed.
• Checking accuracy of purchase invoices including requesting information from managers and other staff where necessary. • Communicating with suppliers to clarify issues and get invoices changed where necessary.
• Handling any payment queries from suppliers • Completing bank reconciliation on payments account.
• Obtaining backup for direct debits, checking the correctness and getting direct debits amended if necessary.
• Obtaining backup for credit card transactions, checking the correctness and getting transactions amended if necessary. • Accurate and timely posting of all purchase invoices, direct debits and credit card transactions.
• Creating prepayments in QuickBooks (or possibly accruals) as necessary.
• Ensuring prepayments and credit cards accounts in QuickBooks are kept reconciled with prepayments balance always kept at zero and credit card balance matching statements
• Setting up payment runs in QuickBooks.
Personal/professional development:
The post-holder will participate in any training programme implemented by Brandon Centre as part of this employment, such training to include:
• Participation in an annual individual performance review, including taking responsibility for maintaining a record of own personal and/or professional development.
• Taking responsibility for own development, learning and performance and demonstrating skills and activities to others who are undertaking similar work.
• Engage in regular appraisal process and subsequent learning/changes required.
Quality:
The post-holder will strive to maintain quality within Brandon Centre, and will:
• Alert to, and work with, other team members on issues of quality and risk.
• Assess own performance and take accountability for own actions, either directly or under supervision.
• Contribute to the effectiveness of the team by reflecting on own and team activities and making suggestions on ways to improve and enhance the team’s performance.
• Work effectively with individuals in other agencies to meet client needs.
• Effectively manage own time, workload and resources.
Communication:
The post-holder should recognise the importance of effective communication within the team and will strive to:
• Communicate effectively with other team members.
• Communicate effectively with clients and carers.
• Recognise people’s needs for alternative methods of communication and respond accordingly.
Miscellaneous
• Perform any duty specifically designated by Brandon Centre as being properly the responsibility of the post holder.
General responsibilities for all Brandon Centre staff
All employees of Brandon Centre are required to observe legislation, Brandon Centre policies, standards and guidelines relating to confidentiality, information governance, risk management, safeguarding children, safeguarding adults, equal opportunities, data protection, freedom of information, health and safety, infection control, and the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (previously known as the Hygiene Code).
Confidentiality and data protection
All Brandon Centre employees are required to ensure that personal data and personal information concerning service users and staff are protected at all times, to maintain confidentiality in accordance with Brandon Centre’s policy on confidentiality and information governance, and data protection legislation.
Staff are required to obtain, process and/or use personal information in a fair and lawful way, to hold the personal information only for the specific registered purpose, and to only share or disclose data to authorised persons or organisations following the strict guidelines and principles as outlined in Brandon Centre policies as instructed.
All Brandon Centre employees are expected to sign a confidentiality agreement on taking up their post at the Centre.
Safeguarding of children and adults
All staff have a responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of all children and adults that they come into contact with during the course of their work at Brandon Centre. The post holder will receive the appropriate level of training, both at induction and on an ongoing basis. She/he is responsible for ensuring that they are familiar with, understand and always work within the safeguarding policies of the organisation.
Health records, record keeping and record management
All staff have an obligation to ensure that patient records (both paper and electronic) are maintained in accordance with Brandon Centre policies, to facilitate clinical care and effective administration, and to ensure that confidentiality is protected at all times. All staff are advised to compile records on the assumption that they are accessible to patients in line with the Access to Health Records Act 1990.
Equality and Diversity
Brandon Centre is committed to equality in employment and service delivery. Its Equal Opportunities Policy aims to ensure that no job applicant or employee receives less favourable treatment on the grounds of sex, race, colour, religion, marital status, sexuality, age or disability and is not placed at a disadvantage by conditions or requirements which cannot be shown to be justified. All those working for Brandon Centre are expected to actively promote equality and diversity in all aspects of their work.
Health and Safety
Employees must be aware of the responsibilities placed on them under the Health and Safety at Work Act (1974), and to ensure that agreed safety procedures are carried out to maintain a safe environment for employees, patients and visitors.
Infection Control
The post holder will ensure compliance with Brandon Centre’s Infection Prevention and Control policies and procedures, and the Health and Social Care Act 2008, ensuring that the risk of healthcare-associated infection to service users and staff is minimised.
Waste disposal
All staff must ensure that waste produced within Brandon Centre is disposed of in such ways that control risk to health or safety of staff and the public alike in accordance with relevant legislation and procedures contained within the policy.
Smoke-free environment
There is a no smoking policy in operation in Brandon Centre. In accordance with this policy, smoking is positively discouraged and is not permitted on the premises.
This job description is designed to reflect duties currently incorporated in this post. These may change in light of a change in the service provided by the Centre, but any such change will be fully discussed with the post holder. This job description is subject to an annual review.
Updated January 2022