Job Description

Maternity Cover - Finance Assistant/Bookkeeper

Location:

The role is based at the Trust's office in West Berkshire expected to be worked at our Newbury office. Flexible working arrangements are available with the understanding that this must meet the objectives of the charity and requirements of the role.

Accountable to:

Finance and Operations Manager

Start date:

Maternity cover, fixed term contract - starting January 2026

Hours of work:

Part-time (0.6FTE / 21 hours per week)

Salary range

: 26,936 FTE, pro rata

Purpose

This is an exciting and vital role performing a range of finance and governance tasks, supporting the Finance and Operations Manager of a leading mental health charity focused on supporting children and young people.

We are looking for an efficient, diligent and confident finance professional with experience of providing a confidential service. The role is varied and would suit someone with experience of working in finance or accounts, who enjoys working with numbers. The role sits within the operations team supporting all areas of the Trust including fundraising, communications and charitable activity.

As finance assistant, your role is to support the Finance and Operations Manager with all financial processing and record-keeping. Your primary goal is to facilitate responsible and compliant financial management of our children and young people's mental health charity.

Key responsibilities and duties

Administering and carrying out processes to maintain the financial function of the charity in line with operational requirements and statutory compliance. Duties will assist the Finance and Operations Manager with maintaining accurate, up to date financial records including but not limited to:

Management and reconciliation of the office petty cash, fundraising float and banking. Purchase ledger - Raising purchase orders, matching and correctly coding invoices, reconciliation of statements, payments and monthly reconciliations. Sales ledger - Raising invoices in a timely manner, logging receipts and allocating to the correct projects and analysis codes, monthly reconciliations and credit control. Being the initial contact for financial enquiries both internally and externally. Assist with month-end, quarter-end and year-end processes. Support the annual audit. Recording donation income via internal processes inc. website donations, JustGiving and Shopify disbursements. Resolving donor and fundraising team queries. Fundraising event reconciliations. Recording and processing of staff expense claims. Collate and process regular gift aid claims. General finance administration as normally expected in a charity environment to support the Finance and Operations Manager with higher level finance duties as and when required. Routine call handling as part of the wider office administrative team.

To apply

If you would like an informal discussion about the role with our Finance & Operations manager, this can be arranged via email to recruitment@charliewaller.org.

The deadline for applications is 12 noon on 24th November 2025.

Please submit via your chosen job website or send your CV and a supporting statement to recruitment@charliewaller.org. We ask that you structure your supporting statement, by providing relevant information under person specification bullet points (combining these if multiple points are effectively responded to by one experience). Please try to keep your supporting statement to a maximum of 800 words, excluding headers. Applications will not be considered without a supporting statement.

You will hear back from us by Friday 28th November, if not before and should you be shortlisted, an interview will take place w/c 1st December and will involve a competency interview along with a short finance task relevant to the role.

We will provide details about the task 24 hours in advance to allow candidates time to prepare and we will also provide 50% of the interview questions in advance so that all candidates can perform at their best.

Person Specification - finance assistant/bookkeeper

The successful candidate is likely to have most of the following competencies and experience but not necessarily all. If you feel that you are a strong candidate, please do apply.

Skills required and relevant experience

Essential

Good numeracy skills and an understanding of double entry bookkeeping Demonstrable ability to use a computerised accounting system. Intermediate to advanced Excel skills and good Microsoft Office 365 skills. Excellent attention to detail. Great written and oral communication skills. Logical approach to problem solving. Ability to work efficiently, accurately and at speed as necessary. Ability to prioritise and work to deadlines. Ability to exercise discretion and good judgement in dealing with confidential matters.

Desirable

Experience of budget management and control. Experience of gathering and collating financial evidence for reports. Knowledge and experience of the charity sector. Experience of online business banking processes.

Qualifications

Essential

AAT Level 2 Foundation Certificate in Bookkeeping or equivalent and relevant experience.

Desirable

Knowledge or experience of working within a charity finance role.

Personal Attributes

Essential

Initiative-taker and solution-minded with a can-do attitude towards any task or challenge. Professional, enthusiastic and flexible, with a strong willingness to learn. Capable of working as part of a team and autonomously A commitment to working to meet the charity's objectives.

Desirable

Interest in and awareness of mental health issues.
Job Types: Part-time, Temporary, Contract
Contract length: 11 months

Pay: 21,548.80 per year

Expected hours: 21 per week

Application question(s):

We will not consider applications without a covering letter, please make sure you have attached a covering letter.
Work Location: Hybrid remote in Newbury RG14 5SJ