JOB DESCRIPTION & PERSON SPECIFICATION
1. JOB DETAILS
Job Title: Finance Manager
Dept/Faculty: Finance
Location: Royal Academy of Music, Marylebone Road, London NW1 Responsible to: Head of Finance
Responsible for: Accounts team (Accounts Assistant *2, Accounts clerk) Dimensions: Income/expenditure £25m pa; c.150 full time staff, c.450 part-
time staff, c.875 Academy students, c.200 Junior Academy students, c. 8,000 invoices pa
Internal/external contacts: Heads of Departments, Departmental Administrators, Academy Auditors (both internal and external), Financial institutions including banks; Academy suppliers, customers and students.
2. PURPOSE OF THE JOB
The Finance Manager will manage the Accounts team to ensure the smooth running of the department. The Finance Manager will be responsible for all Academy financial transactional
processes and for managing and maintaining the financial accounting system, currently Sage1000, in addition to providing timely and accurate financial information. The Finance Manager is a key interface between Finance and all other Academy departments.
3. KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES
Listed below are the main accountabilities of this role. However, this list is not exhaustive and may change in accordance with organisational needs and in consultation with the post holder. In particular, we are in the process of implementing new systems for HR/payroll and student facing services, which will have a positive impact on the work of the Finance Manager. The responsibilities below reflect current practise.
• To manage the work of the Accounts team to ensure that agreed departmental and personal objectives are successfully achieved and all tasks are completed on time for month end and year end reporting purposes
• Purchase ledger: To manage and check the weekly BACS payment run, ensuring all controls are observed.
• Sales ledger: To oversee the production of Junior Academy and adhoc invoices, and monitoring of the debtor position
• Month end procedures: To manage the month end close off of the ledgers. To oversee the production and monitoring of the month end expenditure reports for cost centre managers. To
2 ensure all monthly controls are completed including review of suspense accounts, intercompany accounts, payroll accounts and completion and review of balance sheet account reconciliations
• Payroll: to oversee the monthly collation of information for the payment of part time hourly paid teaching staff. To manage and create the monthly payroll reports and journals for all payrolls including Professional Services, teaching and student payrolls.
• VAT/tax: to be responsible for the timely and accurate completion of the Academy’s VAT return including oversight of partial exemption calculations. To assess suppliers and ensure that payments are made in accordance with relevant legislation on tax status (e.g. IR35 legislation)
• Financial system: To act as system owner and manager of the accounting system, currently Sage1000, and lead on improvements to processes and systems,
• Year end: To be responsible for the year end work of the accounts team, in accordance with the year-end timetable. To provide specific analysis and information in relation to a number of areas.
• Audit: To liaise with external auditors to ensure the complete and timely provision of required audit information and substantiation.
• General ledger: To be responsible for the complete, accurate and timely maintenance of the General Ledger, ensuring all journals are posted and validated correctly
• Treasury/Cash management: To monitor daily cash balances on the Academy bank accounts and transfer to keep balances within required limits. To manage and report on Academy deposit
accounts and ensure the Academy has sufficient liquidity for daily operations. To liaise with deposit providers and obtain best value from interest on deposit accounts.
• Fixed assets: To ensure that capital expenditure is recorded appropriately, the Fixed Asset Register is maintained and accounted for correctly, and depreciation is calculated and forecast accurately, in line with the Academy’s depreciation policy.
• Reserve accounting: Responsible for the maintenance and journaling in relation to the Academy’s reserves, which are used to track income and expenditure related to restricted or designated funds.
• Bank and system administration: To be a primary administrator of all Academy bank accounts. To be the primary administrator for access to finance-related systems including SFE (Student Finance) and US loan institutions
• Development: to oversee the regular reconciliation of philanthropic income and provision of information to the Development team
• PCIDSS: to be responsible for PCIDSS compliance
• To carry out any other duties as are within the scope, spirit and purpose of the job, as requested by the Head of Finance.
4. NATURE & SCOPE
The Royal Academy of Music is a music conservatoire of world renown. Our mission is to provide pre- professional, undergraduate and postgraduate musical training of the highest standards and to enrich musical culture by educating the world’s most talented musicians. The Academy attracts students and staff from over 50 countries. Currently the student population is 875, the Junior Academy population is c. 200 and there are c. 600 members of staff.
The Accounts department processes all the Academy’s financial transactions and all entries to the General Ledger, so the scope of the work is wide and challenging and includes not only the basic accounting functions but reflects the financial organisation of a specialist institution within the Higher Education Sector.
It is essential that the Accounts staff operate efficiently as a team in order to meet the accounting needs of the Academy. The department is always busy and there are times of significant pressure when deadlines need to be met, e.g. year end.
5. GENERAL
1. This job description reflects the present requirements of the post. As duties and responsibilities change and develop, the job description may be reviewed and be subject to amendment in consultation with the post-holder.
2. The Academy is committed to the safeguarding of all young persons and the promotion of student welfare. All staff, volunteers and visitors are expected to share this commitment, in line with the Safeguarding and the Ethics & Conduct policies and to report any concerns relating to
safeguarding accordingly.
3. All employees have a duty to comply with the Academy’s published policies and procedures and at all times work within the spirit and scope of Academy Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy.
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PERSON SPECIFICATION
Job Title Finance Manager Grade 6
Department Finance Date September 2021
CATEGORY ESSENTIAL DESIRABLE
Skills/knowledge/
competencies:
In-depth knowledge of all financial transactional processes
Excellent management and organisational skills.
Excellent communication skills.
Advanced knowledge of Microsoft Excel and strong data manipulation skills.
Strong systems skills
Ability to plan and manage a busy workload, including overseeing the work of the team, to meet deadlines without compromising accuracy.
Ability to present written information in a logical, concise fashion.
Experience: Experience of line management and team development, including
motivating and influencing colleagues Proven experience gained within a busy Finance department.
Experience of managing all basic accounting functions – e.g. Sales and Purchase ledgers, processing invoices.
Experience of using Sage accounting software.
Experience of project and change management
Experience of working in the Higher Education or charitable sector
Qualifications/
Training:
Professional Accountancy qualification or working towards one
Personal Qualities/
Attributes:
Ability to work effectively both on own initiative and as part of a team.
A systematic approach to problem- solving.
Ability to work in liaison with people of all levels, internally and externally.
A commitment to providing a
consistently strong level of customer service.
Ability to lead and supervise the work of a team in order to deliver objectives and meet deadlines.
Excellent interpersonal skills.
The Academy will shortlist for interview any candidate who has identified a disability and demonstrated that they meet the essential criteria listed above.
