Accounts Assistant

Accounts Assistant - Service Charge (Maternity Cover)

Who are we?

Founded in 1992, Galliard Homes is one of London''s largest privately-owned property development and management group, with over 250 employees and a -4 billion portfolio. We deliver residential, mixed-use, hospitality, and commercial projects across London, the Home Counties, and the Midlands.

Galliard Estate Management, known as GEM, is our in-house property management business. GEM manages over 35 developments, covering a wide range of residential and mixed-use schemes, from high-rise to high-end, across both private and affordable properties.

The Position

Fixed-Term Contract: This Accounts Assistant position is offered as a fixed-term contract to cover maternity leave. The expected duration is approximately 12 months, although this may vary depending on the successful candidate''s start date.

We are looking for an Accounts Assistant to support the service charge function within our GEM Finance team. This role is well-suited to someone currently studying AAT or with equivalent hands-on experience in accounts, who is confident working with numbers, spreadsheets, and financial processes.

You will be responsible for the day-to-day accounting relating to service charges, ground rent, and commercial rent for a portfolio of properties.

Please note: This is a full-time, office-based role, with standard working hours from Monday to Thursday, 9:00am to 5:30pm, and Friday, 9:00am to 5:00pm.

Duties include but are not limited to:

• Accurately input property details to set up new sites on our property and service charge management system, Bluebox.
• Create new tenancies on Bluebox in line with completions and assignments.
• Generate and distribute service charge and rent invoices in accordance with lease agreements, ensuring timely and accurate billing.
• Provide professional and efficient support to leaseholders regarding their accounts, payments, and service charge statements, ensuring queries are resolved in a timely manner.
• Verify and process invoices related to service charge expenses, ensuring payments to contractors and suppliers are made in accordance with agreed terms.
• Monitor and review expenditure against budgets, identify and investigate variances, and post corrections where required.
• Meet monthly with Property Managers to provide insights into budget performance and highlight areas of overspend.
• Ensure bank transactions are accurately recorded and reconciled to maintain financial integrity and track service charge fund movements on a weekly basis.
• Process and allocate rent payments to property owners, ensuring compliance with lease agreements and financial accuracy on a monthly basis.
• Calculate and post prepayments and accruals to ensure service charge accounts reflect true financial positions at year-end.
• Preparing year-end accounts pack to trial balance and supporting schedules.
• Act as a key point of contact for external auditors and accountants, ensuring all required financial documentation is provided efficiently.
• Prepare and issue balancing charges and year-end reports to leaseholders.
• Support Property Managers to create and review draft service charge budgets.
• Compile and distribute new budget packs to leaseholders, ensuring leaseholders receive clear and transparent financial information.
• Advise and contribute to Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) by providing input into process improvements.
• Provide administrative and accounting support to the wider accounts team as required.

The Person

The Accounts Assistant will have previous experience working in a finance or accounts support role, ideally with some exposure to service charge or property accounting. You''ll need to be proactive, detail-oriented, and comfortable working with spreadsheets and financial data. The Accounts Assistant will also meet the below criteria:

Essential:

• Previous general accounts experience within sales and purchase ledger.
• Understanding of prepayments and accruals.
• Ability to scrutinise expense data and investigate anomalies.
• Excellent communication skills across face-to-face, telephone, and email interactions, with a professional approach.
• Proficient in basic Microsoft packages including Word and Outlook with the ability to learn new systems as needed.
• Intermediate or above skill level in Microsoft Excel, with the ability to use functions such as PIVOT and XLOOKUP.
• Exceptional administration skills, with strong attention to detail and accuracy.
• Excellent organisation, prioritisation, and time management skills in order to meet monthly and seasonal deadlines.

Desirable:

• Solid understanding of leasehold properties.
• Experience with management accounts and preparing year-end financial statements.
• AAT qualified or currently working towards AAT qualification.

The Benefits

As a family-owned business, we want everyone to feel at home from day one. In return for commitment, loyalty, and hard work, we offer benefits ranging from:

• Competitive salary
• 24 days holiday plus bank holidays
• Life assurance
• Private health care
• Critical illness insurance
• Matching contribution pension scheme
• Discretionary salary and bonus review
• Employee assistance programme
• Discounted gym memberships
• Cycle to Work Scheme
• Discount portal
• Volunteering opportunities
• Sponsorship of professional qualifications and accreditation''s