Finance Assistant

Department: Finance

Employment Type: Permanent - Full Time

Location: Bristol, UK

Compensation: £30,000 - £40,000 / year

Description

• Progress Your Career: This role is designed to offer a clear pathway for advancement within the finance team. As you develop your skills and demonstrate your impact, you’ll have opportunities to take on more responsibility and progress to more senior finance roles.
• Learn and Upskill: You’ll gain hands-on experience with a wide range of finance processes, systems (such as SAP Public Cloud (S4/HANA), SAP Concur and more), and projects. We provide study support for professional qualifications (AAT, ACCA, CIMA, or similar) and encourage continuous learning through internal and external training.
• Exposure to Projects: You’ll be involved in process improvement initiatives, system migrations, and automation projects as the company scales. This exposure will help you build a broad skill set and prepare for future roles in finance or operations.
• Mentoring and Support: You’ll work closely with experienced finance professionals who are committed to supporting your growth. Regular feedback and coaching will help you identify strengths and areas for development.
• Dynamic Environment: As part of an ambitious, growing engineering business, you’ll be challenged and supported to reach your full potential in a fast-paced, collaborative environment. 

Key areas of responsibility

• Accounts Payable: Processing supplier invoices, reviewing and matching POs, handling payment runs and resolving discrepancies.
• Accounts Receivable: Raising sales invoices, chasing overdue payments, and assisting with credit control.
• Bank Reconciliation: Ensuring transactions are recorded accurately and reconciling multiple bank accounts.

• Assisting with month-end close processes (e.g., preparing journal entries, reconciling ledgers, and supporting accruals & prepayments).
• Supporting the preparation of management accounts by providing accurate financial data.
• Helping to maintain the fixed asset register and tracking capital expenditures.

• Ensuring all transactions comply with accounting policies and financial regulations.
• Assisting with VAT returns, tax filings, and audit preparations.
• Identifying and suggesting improvements to finance processes and automation to enhance efficiency.
• Comfortable with the application of AI tools to automate workflows and speed up financial operations.

• Management of finance email inbox.
• Processing staff expenses (chasing for missing receipts & other required information)
• Collation of financial information required for monthly project review meetings.
• Partnering with wider teams (e.g., operations, sales, HR) to ensure accurate financial reporting.
• Assisting with a range of ad hoc finance duties as required.

• Using accounting software and other financial applications (e.g. SAP Public Cloud (S4/HANA) and SAP Concur) for data entry and reporting.
• Helping with ERP system implementation or automation projects as the company scales.

• Proactive: solutions-focused finance professional who consistently anticipates needs and takes initiative to improve processes and outcomes (e.g. embedding the use of AI tools, automating workflows and streamlining processes).
• Meticulous attention to detail: You have an exceptional eye for detail and take pride in delivering accurate work. 
• Analytical: You are an analytical thinker and able to confidently solve problems. You consider new ways of working and different ways to tackle challenges. 
• Strong interpersonal skills: You can confidently communicate with all members of the Rowden team. 
• Eagerness to learn: You have a hands-on approach and a strong desire to learn new things, adapting quickly to changing demands. 
• Dynamic and adaptable: You are energetic, determined and prepared to face, and adapt to, any challenge with a positive attitude.
• Organisational skills: You have excellent time management skills – you’re organised and able to prioritise a busy workload in a fast-paced environment. 
• Self-motivated: You can work independently and seek advice when needed but also work well within a small team environment. 

Key skills, experience and behaviours

• Previous experience in a Finance Assistant (or similar bookkeeping) role with a willingness to learn and develop.
• Experienced processing staff expenses and managing reimbursements.
• Experienced in transaction processing and monthly account reconciliations.
• Experience of straight forward month-end tasks, such as prepayments and accruals.
• Advanced Excel and strong Microsoft Office skills.
• Experience in using accounting software and other cloud-based applications e.g. SAP Public Cloud (S4/HANA) and SAP Concur.
• AAT qualified or part-qualified ACA, ACCA, CIMA (or other relevant qualification) – training support available.

Working at Rowden