ESTH Charity Financial Accountant
Job Description
Job summary
The Trust's mission is 'to put the patient first and deliver great care to every patient, every day'. Our priorities are to create a "one team, one trust" culture and focus on the delivery of the following five objectives to ensure we provide high quality, compassionate care to all of our patients:
Delivering safe and effective care across our sites
Creating a positive experience that meets the expectations of our patients, their families and carers
Providing responsive care that delivers the right treatment, in the right place at the right time
Being financially sustainable
Working in partnership with our patients, commissioners, other health and care providers, local authorities, the voluntary sector, the NHS TDA, NHS England and Monitor in the interests of our patients and a sustainable local health and social care economy.
Main duties of the job
Reporting to the Finance Manager - Financial Accounts, you will play an essential role in ensuring efficient and effective financial operations across the Charity. You will be responsible for processing income and expenditure accurately, maintaining robust financial controls, and supporting the production of reliable data and insightful reporting. Alongside using the Harlequin accounting system, you will also work extensively with spreadsheets to track, reconcile, and analyse financial information, ensuring data consistency and enabling clear, timely reporting.
Working closely with the Charity team and Trust Finance colleagues, you will bring strong attention to detail, excellent organisational skills, and a genuine commitment to high-quality financial administration. This role is ideal for someone who is passionate about charity finance, confident in IT and data management--including the Microsoft suite--and eager to develop new skills and learn new systems. Your work will directly support the Charity's ability to deliver meaningful improvements for patients, families, and staff across our hospitals.
About us
St George's, Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals and Health Group cares for a population of four million people in South West London and North East Surrey.Our sites include St George's Hospital, one of 11 major trauma centres in the UK and the largest healthcare provider and major teaching hospital in the area; St Helier Hospital, home to the South West Thames Renal and Transplantation Unit and Queen Mary's Hospital for Children; and Epsom Hospital, home to the South West London Elective Orthopaedic Centre (SWLEOC).
After years of collaboration, our two Trusts became a hospitals group in 2021. While remaining as two separate Trusts, being a hospitals group will help us to collaborate more closely on research, and the development, education, and training of our 17,000-strong workforce.
At gesh we are committed to supporting flexible working arrangements. Applicants are encouraged to discuss any flexibility they may need during the recruitment process.
Job responsibilities
Financial Administration & Daily Operations
The post holder will manage the daytoday financial administration for all Charity funds, ensuring high standards of accuracy and compliance.
- Maintain a clear and auditable trail for all financial transactions in line with Charity policy and audit requirements.
- Act as a Harlequin system superuser, providing daytoday support to colleagues, running routine system reports, and escalating system issues or development requests to senior finance staff and/or suppliers as required.
- Run regular system reports to ensure financial data is complete, accurate and up to date.
- Assist with banking, receipting, and routine treasury tasks as directed, ensuring accurate and timely posting.
MonthEnd and YearEnd Responsibilities
Complete monthly reconciliations in line with the monthend timetable.
- Prepare and post journals, complete fund balance checks and bank reconciliations.
- Prepare monthly Fund Holder reports and provide supporting information to help budget holders understand fund positions.
- Support the yearend process, ensuring procedures are followed and deadlines met.
- Work closely with the Finance Manager Financial Accounts to support the preparation of yearend accounts and the annual report.
- Provide data, working papers and supporting financial information required for submissions to NHS England, ensuring accuracy, completeness and adherence to required deadlines.
- Contribute to the improvement of monthend processes by identifying issues and implementing agreed changes under direction from senior finance staff.
Payments and Expenditure
Provide cover for the preparation of the fortnightly payment run, ensuring authorised invoices are processed accurately and on time.
- Investigate queries or discrepancies within the payments process and escalate where appropriate.
- Respond to routine expenditure queries, complete firststage compliance checks (documentation, coding, fund purpose, budget availability) and update tracking logs; escalate nonroutine or complex queries to senior colleagues.
- Ensure sufficient funds exist before expenditure is processed and that transactions align with the charitable purpose of relevant funds.
Fund Management and Stakeholder Support
Support the monitoring and reporting of charitable funds, including preparation of supporting schedules for fund holder budget meetings.
- Provide administrative support for legacy income, ensuring correct recording and tracking in line with legal and audit requirements.
- Support income reconciliation processes, including the transfer and coding of data between fundraising and finance systems.
- Provide financial data and reconciliations to support the Grants & Funds Engagement Manager with grant monitoring and reporting, escalating complex items where needed.
Financial Systems, Controls & Audit Compliance
Ensure compliance with Charity financial policies, audit guidance and internal control frameworks; seek guidance from senior staff when requirements are unclear.
- Maintain accurate and timely data within financial systems and support the development of improved financial processes and internal controls.
- Assist with auditrelated documentation and provide information as required to internal and external auditors.
Teamwork and Communication
Support effective communication between the Charity Finance team and wider Charity and Trust colleagues to ensure financerelated queries are resolved promptly and accurately.
- Build and maintain cooperative and professional working relationships across the Charity and Trust.
- Provide administrative and financial support across the Charity where required.
Other Duties
Provide crosscover for colleagues within the Charity Finance team to maintain continuity of processes and service levels during staff absence or periods of peak workload.
- Complete all statutory and mandatory training within required timeframes.
- Develop and maintain a sound understanding of the Charitys operating environment, charitable funds governance and NHS finance requirements.
- Undertake specialist training as required to meet the needs of the role.
- Undertake any other duties consistent with the responsibilities and grading of the post.
- Work flexibly, adapting to changes in workload and priorities as required.
Work independently to manage and prioritise allocated tasks, seeking guidance where requirements are unclear
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- oAAT Level 3 (or equivalent experience in finance).
- oWillingness to complete mandatory and role specific training
Desirable
- AAT Level 4 or studying toward a finance qualification.
- Training or experience with charity or NHS financial processes.
Experience
Essential
- oExperience in financial administration, including processing transactions, reconciliations, and maintaining audit trails.
- oExperience using finance systems to run reports and check data accuracy.
- oExperience working to strict deadlines (e.g., month end timetables
Desirable
- Experience working in NHS finance, charitable funds, or not-for-profit organisations.
- Experience supporting audits or year-end processes.
Knowledge/Skills
Essential
- oUnderstanding of financial controls, audit requirements, and the importance of data accuracy Ability to follow financial procedures, identify errors, and escalate appropriately.
- oStrong numeracy, accuracy, and attention to detail.
- oBasic knowledge of charitable fund principles, including appropriate use ...
