Purpose of Role

Working with the Finance Manager to support all aspects of the day-to-day financial management of the charity, and supporting the Executive Team, the Grants Team and the Fundraising Team with financial matters where necessary.

The Veterans’ Foundation (VF) is an independent grant-making charitable foundation. The VF has established a substantial grants programme to support charities and organisations in the UK that provide charitable support to those in need among serving armed forces personnel, veterans, operationally qualified seafarers and their immediate families.

At the Veterans’ Foundation, we believe that those who have served should never be left behind. Over the past ten years, we have raised more than £34 million and funded hundreds of organisations across the UK, supporting veterans, serving personnel and their families with the challenges they face — from mental health and housing to community and connection.

Principal Duties

The main duties of the Finance Assistant are:

• Take responsibility for basic finance functions including the recording of data and bank reconciliations, using the XERO accounting system
• Manage the VF Finance inbox, dealing with queries and correspondence
• Bank and record cheques received and deal with paper bank statements and other paper correspondence for the finance team
• Process invoices, staff expenses and requests for payment, ensuring associated accounting records and the VF’s filing system are updated accordingly
• Producing, submitting and allocating regular Gift Aid claims to HMRC
• Ensure electronic filing is kept accurate and up to date
• Set-up online bank payments for weekly invoice and expenses payment runs
• Collate monthly payroll information and liaise with (outsourced) payroll provider
• Create basic month end journals
• Assist as required with Management Accounts production, budgeting and forecasting and with the production of annual financial statements
• Work with the Grants team to ensure all grant payments are paid correctly and on time. This will include setting up the payments, confirming their safe receipt and ensuring the grants information in the accounting system (Xero) matches the information in the grants system (Salesforce)
• Work with fundraising and finance colleagues to record and monitor income and expenditure relating to donations and fundraising activities; assist with Gift Aid claims as required
• Work with the External Lottery Manager and the Finance team to monitor the Veterans’ Lottery income and expenditure. This includes reconciliation of lottery income, monitoring attrition, reviewing invoices and data provided by the External Lottery Manager
• Support the team with the production of annual financial statements and the financial audit as required
• Support with external regulatory requirements e.g. from the Gambling Commission or Charity Commission, as required

General Responsibilities

• Offer support for the work of the VF generally, including cover for other members of the team ensuring that the work of the VF can continue effectively and without interruption
• Represent the VF in a way that is consistent with its values and philosophy
• Contribute to effective team working by sharing information and skills including at weekly team meetings, and by supporting colleagues

Person Specification

• At least one year’s experience in a similar role; an interest in gaining accounting qualifications advantageous
• Experienced in posting and managing accounting records with minimal supervision
• Knowledge and experience in working with Xero or similar accounting software
• Knowledge and experience in working with Salesforce or similar databases
• Excellent IT skills including Excel and Word (including familiarity with functions such as lookup and sumif)
• High standards of numeracy, accuracy and attention to detail
• The ability to prioritise workload and meet deadlines
• Ability to work both independently and as part of a team
• Willingness to work flexibly in response to the needs of the VF