Property Finance Assistant

JOB DESCRIPTION

Name:To be recruited
Job Title:Property Finance Assistant
Department:Support
Reporting to:Property Finance Manager
Location:London
Controlled Position:No

Main Function of the Job
To work within the Property Fund team as the Property Finance Assistant, reporting into the Property Finance Manager.

The Property Finance function is responsible for the fund accounting and administration for the two direct property vehicles and the oversight of the outsourced property accounting for the directly owned assets. It also works very closely with the Property Fund Management ("PFM") team, who are responsible for the both Investment and Asset Management for the Funds, and provides support to them on financial and operational matters.

The Property Finance Assistant will work with and support the Property Finance Manager and Property Finance Accountant in providing bookkeeping, credit control, full accounting, reporting, analysis and oversight service for the direct property vehicles, as well as providing dedicated financial and administrative support to the PFM team.


Main Responsibilities

*To pro-actively participate in on-going development of the Property Finance function, including supporting the development of systems, processes, controls and documenting of the same.

*To maintain financial records within SAGE for two direct property vehicles overseen by the Property Finance Team, in order to enable timely production of the management information by:

oRecording financial transactions with the appropriate department and cost coding,
oHandling of accounts payable and receivable, review of Aged Creditors and maintaining relationships with the suppliers. Managing any supplier queries that may arise, reviewing and reconciling statements for key suppliers,
oPreparing weekly payment authorisation schedules for COIF and LAPF,
oReconciliations of bank and other general ledger control accounts.

*To support the property fund accounting function through participating in:

oMonthly pricing and quarterly distribution cycles;
oPreparation of monthly management accounts and bi-annual Financial Statements;
oPreparation of external reporting, including reporting to Trustees, VAT returns and IPD returns;
oEnsuring that all records for both accounting and standing data are properly documented and maintained.



*To support the oversight of the outsourced property accounting function by:

oReviewing, with the Property Finance Manager, month end information provided by the external property management company.
oWorking with the Property Finance Manager and the property manager to resolve any issues arising relating to the property accounting.
oTo act as a point of contact with the PFM team with respect to the status of invoices and payments of non-recoverable expenditure.
oParticipating in meetings with the PFM team,

*To undertake other tasks from time to time as reasonably requested by members of the PFM team.

*To provide cover for the Property Finance Accountant as appropriate.

Experience Required
*Minimum of 1 years' property accounting or 2 years' accounts payable and expenses experience with commensurate experience in Finance
*A good understanding of general ledger accounting systems.
*Experience or an appreciation of working within a regulated environment.
*The candidate must have a strong process based background.

Skills Required
*Previous, bookkeeping experience with SAGE is desired
*Intermediate standard in MS Excel.
*Proactive, willing to take ownership of issues and follow through to resolution
*Good all round analytical and numerical skills.
*Good attention to detail and the ability to work to deadlines.
*Good written and verbal communication skills
*Ability to identify own skill gaps and to undertake appropriate training to fill them.

Personal Attributes
*Self-starter capable of working independently as well as an effective team player.
*Demonstrated experience as a key contributing member of a high performing team.
*Understanding of service excellence.
*Prepared to take responsibility for the quality of daily deliverables, ensuring a consistently high level of professionalism, competence and service delivery.