Senior Accounts Payable Associate

Job Description Senior Accounts Associate Sideshow Central Finance

The Senior Accounts Associate role is a key position within the Central Finance Team the ideal candidate will bring a proactive approach to managing the accounts payable process, maintaining supplier relationships, ensuring compliance with financial policies, and driving process improvements. This is an excellent opportunity for a meticulous individual with strong problem-solving and communication skills to make an impact within a growing team.

The next 12 months is going to require a high volume and complex demand on the Central Finance Team driven by a legal entity rationalisation, the move to This is Gain Ltd and a new financial management system.

Invoice & Supplier Management

• Accounts Payable Mailbox Management: Ensure inbound accounts payable mailboxes are up to date and effectively managed, ensuring timely processing of invoices and related communications.
• Supplier Relationship Management: Proactively manage and coordinate supplier payments to optimise working capital and maintain strong relationships with suppliers. Address invoicing and payment queries through effective communication.
• Invoice Documentation and Reconciliation: Ensure that the correct documentation is attached to invoices and reconcile purchase orders to invoices. Perform monthly supplier statement reconciliations, ensuring accurate records.
• Invoice Posting & Credit Note Coordination: Coordinate the posting of invoices and credit notes in the system, ensuring all transactions are accurately coded and recorded.
• Payment Process Coordination: Oversee the supplier payments process, ensuring payments are properly approved by a Delegated Authority nominee, and ensuring timely and accurate payments.
• Financial Compliance: Ensure that all accounts payable activities adhere to internal financial policies, procedures, and standard service level agreements (SLAs).
• Outstanding Item Resolution: Investigate and resolve outstanding creditor items, ensuring that discrepancies are addressed promptly.
• Expense Processing & Spend Management: Coordinate the processing and validation of employee expenses in Spendesk. Administer and optimise the spend management program in Spendesk.
• Process Improvement & Automation: Identify and implement process improvements within the accounts payable function, driving change and leveraging automation tools to streamline operations.

Financial Compliance

• Audit Preparation: Liaise with auditors, preparing audit schedules and reconciliations to support the audit process.

Month End

• Month-End Activities: Participate in month-end activities, including ledger reconciliation and closing to ensure accurate financial reporting. Producing slides that form part of the board pack. Ensuring all month end deliverables are met.
• KPI Reporting & Analysis: Prepare and analyse monthly KPI reports, providing insights into performance and feeding data into the balance sheet review pack.
• Month End Debrief: Meet with Central Finance colleagues to understand what went well, what needs improving and where we can support each other to improve the month end process.

Treasury

• Treasury Management: Overseeing daily cash flows and ensuring there's enough cash to operate the business.  Risk management: Identifying and managing potential financial risks, such as low cash points in the year and reducing foreign exchange risk.
• Cashflow Reporting & Forecasting: Manage cash flow reporting and forecasting across all practices, ensuring accurate and up-to-date cash management.

Skills & Qualifications:

• Qualifications: Relevant academic and professional qualifications related to ERP, IT, or Process Improvement (e.g., A minimum of Part Qualified degree, certifications, training).
• Strong Communicator: Ability to effectively communicate with suppliers, internal teams, and stakeholders to address payment and invoicing queries, and ensure smooth processes.
• Accounts Payable Expertise: In-depth knowledge of accounts payable processes, including supplier payments, invoicing, reconciliations, and compliance with financial policies.
• Excel & Financial Systems Proficiency: Strong proficiency in Excel for reporting, analysis, and data management. Familiarity with financial systems such as Spendesk and ERP software.
• Process Improvement Mindset: Proven experience identifying inefficiencies and implementing process improvements within the accounts payable or finance function.
• Time & Priority Management: Strong organisational skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities, meet deadlines, and ensure the smooth flow of accounts payable operations.
• Financial Compliance & Reporting: Understanding of financial regulations, policies, and procedures, audit preparation, and reconciliations.
• Project Management: Experience in leading and contributing to continuous improvement projects, process optimisation, and finance system transformation.
• Analytical Thinker: Be able to summarise and deconstruct large volumes of data into a value added detailed breakdown or summary. E.g. Aged Payables, supplier turnover reporting, IT Spend, detailed expense reporting on client entertaining.
• VAT: Reasonable understanding of UK & International VAT.

Behaviours:

·       Build Effective Relationships: Possesses the ability to build effective relationships with direct reports, key stakeholders and trusted partners internally and externally.

·       Emotional Intelligence: Emotional intelligence (EI) is important for understanding and managing your emotions and the emotions of others. EI help you to respond empathetically to the Accounts Payable team's needs.

·       Attention to Detail: High level of attention to detail to ensure accuracy in invoice processing, reconciliations, and financial reporting.

• Problem-Solving & Analytical: Ability to investigate and resolve discrepancies, outstanding items, and complex issues related to accounts payable.

·       Decision-Making and Accountability:  Demonstrates sound judgment when making decisions related to payment approvals, dispute resolution, or team management. Takes responsibility for decisions and actions, holding both themselves and the team accountable.

·       Conflict Resolution: Must be able to resolve conflicts quickly and find common ground to maintain a positive and productive workplace.

·       Coaching and Development: Continual coaching and development skills enable you to support and enhance your team members' growth, leading to improved performance and job satisfaction.

.