Finance Apprentice

To support the Head of Procurement and Accounts Payable Team Leader in providing an efficient end to end accounts payable service to Paradigm Trust.

Key Duties include:

To enter purchase orders into the system, ensuring all entries are accurately recorded. To confirm with suppliers that orders have been received to ensure that goods and services needed by schools are not delayed. To enter goods received notes into the finance system. To enter invoices into the financial system in a timely and accurate manner. To charge expenses to accounts and cost centres by analysing invoice/expense reports and recording entries. To ensure that a three-way match is made with all order invoices - chasing schools for delivery notes and confirmation of goods being received or services completed. To match timesheets from agencies to invoices, ensuring accuracy and attention to detail and to perform reconciliation checks.  To receive employee expenses, review in line with trust policy and procedure and answer queries from employees as required. To work accurately to strict deadlines to ensure that all accounts are up to date, ensuring management accounts provide clear information to stakeholders. To monitor the purchase order inbox to ensure that orders are placed on the finance system within agreed timeframes. To respond to queries raised from principals and other budget holders regarding purchase orders, invoices and budgets. To liaise with external stakeholders to organise work and attend meetings to take notes where necessary. To produce reports for budget holders as and when requested. To resolve other purchase orders, contracts, invoices, or payment discrepancies and documentation with suppliers. To maintain accounting ledgers by verifying and posting account transactions, including credit notes. To post prepayments on all invoices which relate to future periods, ensuring correct calculations for posting in the accounts. To verify vendor accounts by reconciling monthly statements and to maintain vendor names and data. To analyse older purchase orders and write off in the system as necessary. To maintain a current and up-to-date list of suppliers on the financial system, deleting any older or unused accounts where necessary. To check and vet new suppliers by completing a new supplier form. To report VAT taxes by calculating requirements on paid invoices. To protect the organisation’s value by keeping information confidential. To maintain the professional standards of the trust when liaising with all stakeholders.

Training:
Accounts or Finance Assistant Standard. English and maths (if required) Level 2. AAT Level 2 Certificate in Accounting.

Training Outcome:

This role has the potential to become permanent on successful completion of AAT studies.

Employer Description:

Paradigm Trust (Paradigm) is a not-for-profit educational trust with schools in Ipswich and Tower Hamlets that are free and open to all.
Paradigm has a very simple ethos: to develop and sustain great schools where we can make the biggest difference to pupils. Our values are: Integrity – doing the right thing even when no one is watching; Excellence – enabling everyone to achieve more through
education and Community – working together; learning
from, and supporting others.

Working Hours :
37 hours per week 52 weeks per year with annual leave allowance. Working days Monday to Friday 8.30am to 4.30pm (can be flexible). Time for study is included in working hours.

Skills:
Communication skills,IT skills,Attention to detail,Organisation skills,Customer care skills,Problem solving skills,Administrative skills,Number skills,Analytical skills,Team working,Initiative,Professional Manner,Accurate and Dilgent