Finance and Credit Control Assistant

Role: Finance and Credit Control Assistant - Specialist/Reactive Cleaning Services

Salary: £30k plus benefits

Job Status: Permanent/Full-Time

Location: Manchester, Lancashire - this is not a hybrid or remote role

Vacancy Reference: VR/05290

Role Description:

We have a fantastic opportunity for a Finance and Credit Control Assistant to join the Team of one of our clients, a specialist and reactive works service provider priding themselves on their dedication to service excellence. As Finance and Credit Control Assistant, you will be responsible for ensuring that the company has all the necessary information on invoices prior to issuing to the finance team for final billing to the customer. You will be required to work with the Finance and CRM systems and internal departments on validating invoicing data and, where necessary, resolve any customer disputes. The ideal Finance and Credit Control Assistant will have strong numeracy and mathematical skills, along with competence in accounting software and financial systems. This is an exciting opportunity for an individual wanting to develop their role, building on current skills but also having the chance to learn and grow further.

Responsibilities:

• Proactively manage "Aged Debt" to ensure that the business is working with clients and customers to collect cash

• Communicate all disallowed debt to Head of Finance so that the company is able to manage its finances where there is a negative impact on cash and EBIT

• Ensure customer statements are sent out in a timely manner that accurately report what is owed at the end of each month

• Report on any overdue debt to ensure that the customer is in agreement with the invoice and where necessary obtain payment timelines

• Work with all internal departments to include the Sales, Account Management and Helpdesk teams to ensure that that invoices can be raised and have correct information

• Communicate immediately to relevant teams on any invoice queries from customers to ensure that matters are resolved and dealt with expediently

• In the event of minimal communication from a customer on queries or debt issues, ensure that the Account Manager is aware and look for the necessary support to resolve

• Where there is any outstanding debt and in agreement with the Account Manager, issue seven day letters to initiate the debt collection process with the customer

• Where there is overdue debt and no response or resolution with a customer, a claim must be logged online with the debt agency to pursue collection

• Where required and in discussion with Head of Finance negotiate payment plans with customers and set up loan terms and conditions

• Identify any changes where improvements can be made to the credit control procedures within the business

• Fundamentally the role is to ensure that all information is correctly logged onto the finance and internal CRM system for billing and invoicing

• Maintain excellent internal relationships with all departments to ensure that Finance is proactively working alongside the business in billing and invoicing processing

• Constantly review jobs on the CRM system to highlight any concerns with data inaccuracy/missing information prior to submitting invoices for billing

• Ability to work on customer portals to ensure that the business is following the correct invoicing and billing processes

Requirements:

• Strong numeracy and mathematical ability, as with all jobs in finance

• Good communication skills - specifically, the ability to explain complex financial matters in simple terms accessible to lay people

• IT skills for working with finance software and CRM systems

• Ability to establish and maintain good client relationships, both internally and externally

• Ability to reconcile complex accounts and have excellent attention to detail

• Competence in Microsoft Office products, XL and accounting software programmes

• Calm, confident manner to handle potentially uncomfortable conversations

• Excellent time management skills and ability to prioritise a demanding workload

• Ability to hold personal client information in the strictest confidentiality

• Basic accountancy qualifications are preferable but not essential

• 2-3 years’ experience of working in a junior finance role

• Experience of sales ledger and invoicing

• Prior experience with financial systems including invoicing