Finance Assistant

About Us:

Established in 2000, Extons Foods are now one of the UKs largest independent cheese processing companies supplying sliced, grated, block and continental cheese to wholesalers, retailers, and sandwich manufacturers. We have continually grown and we’re not slowing down! A Family Run business with a friendly hands-on approach.

Role Description:

We’re looking for a ‘Finance Assistant – Accounts Payable, Payroll & Reporting’ to join our Finance team. This is a varied role combining responsibility for key day-to-day finance activities with the opportunity to develop your reporting and analytical skills.

You’ll report to the Finance Manager and work closely with our Finance Business Partner, giving you exposure beyond traditional transactional finance and the opportunity to develop towards a broader finance or analytical role.

Whether you're an experienced finance professional or early in your career and eager to learn, we welcome applicants from all backgrounds who bring analytical curiosity, precision, investigates differences and identifies ways to improve the way we work.

Key Responsibilities:

• Managing day-to-day accounts payable, including invoice processing, supplier reconciliations, queries and payment runs.
• Preparing and processing our weekly payroll, working with managers and HR to resolve queries and discrepancies.
• Managing cash and banking activities, including bank reconciliations and investigating reconciling items.
• Supporting cash-flow reporting and monitoring expected receipts and payments.
• Providing accounts receivable cover, including cash allocation, customer account reconciliations and credit control support.
• Preparing regular reports using Excel and finance-system data.
• Supporting the Finance Business Partner with cost, trend and variance analysis.
• Investigating unusual movements or discrepancies and helping to understand what's driving them.
• Supporting month-end activities and reconciliations.
• Helping improve and automate finance processes and reporting.
• Getting involved in ad-hoc finance and commercial projects as your experience develops.

The ideal candidate must have:

• Experience working within a finance/account’s environment, with exposure to some combination of accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll, banking or reconciliations.
• Proficient in Microsoft Excel and experience using account software (eg Sage or similar).
• Strong numerical ability and excellent attention to detail.
• Ability to reconcile information and investigate differences rather than simply process transactions.
• Comfortable working with large volumes of data and transactions.
• Good organisational skills with the ability to manage multiple tasks and deadlines.
• Confident communicating with colleagues across different areas of the business.
• A proactive approach to identifying and resolving problems.
• Willingness to learn and take on broader reporting and analytical responsibilities.
• Ability to handle confidential data and sensitive information with discretion.
• ERP experience, ideally SAP ByDesign or similar finance systems (desirable).
• AAT qualification or accounting study would be useful but is not essential.

Personal Attributes:

• Curious about the story behind the numbers and how finance supports business decisions.
• Strong problem-solving skills and a questioning mindset.
• Takes ownership of tasks and follows issues through to resolution.
• A proactive, "can-do" attitude with a willingness to learn new systems and processes.
• Adaptability and resilience in a fast-paced environment.
• A genuine interest in developing a career in finance, accountancy, or commercial finance

Working Hours:

• 40 hours per week Monday to Friday
• Site based
  

Benefits:

• Free parking, within proximity to all major travel networks.
• 31 days holiday, inclusive of bank holidays, increasing with service.
• An extra day off for your birthday.
• Health cash plan (Medicash), after 3 months.
• Enhanced maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental leave pay.
• Employee Assistance Program.
• Company pension scheme – employer 4% and employee 5%.
• Company paid events throughout the year.
• Fruity Tuesday.
• FREE pack of cheese every week.
• Discounted staff cheese shop.
• Doughnut Fridays.

Learn more about Extons Foods at https://www.extonsfoods.com/