Rent & Service Charge Assistant
Salary: £26,250 (pro rata)
Temporary for 3 months (initially)
Location: Didsbury, Manchester
Southway Housing Trust is a community-based housing organisation committed to providing high quality services to the people and neighbourhoods that we work in. Southway Housing Trust is a "not-for-profit" landlord, based in Didsbury, managing, and improving approximately 6,500 homes in South Manchester and is part way through a programme of creating 800 new homes.
An opportunity has arisen in the Finance Team. We are looking for a temporary Rent & Service Charge Assistant with experience in a general business or finance operation, able to undertake routine transaction postings with the minimum of supervision and provide support to accountancy work.
For the right person we offer a 35-hour week, competitive salary, excellent contributory pension scheme, and 25 days holiday (pro rata), and a non-contributory healthcare cash plan.
You will have good excel skills, with a knowledge of a range of functions and their application, effective written and verbal communication skills, able to respond appropriately to enquiries from colleagues, suppliers and tenants as well as manage relations with internal customers effectively. A positive attitude and a customer focus are essential.
Your main responsibilities would include:
Rental Transactions
1. Process rental receipts and related accounting arrangements including,
- efficient posting of all rental receipts to Open Housing, checking that entries match
banking, collection agent and benefit authority records, and resolving discrepancies,
- posting adjustments to rent accounts, including write offs and benefit revisions,
- administer collection agent cards, and rental parameters in Open Housing,
- interface transactions from Open Housing to the Finance System,
- preparing cash book journals and other ledger entries to reflect the above,
- reconcile the rent receipts bank account to the bank statement.
2. Work with the Rent & Service Charge Accountant on the assessment and monitoring of Southway's rent accounting arrangements and rent collection reporting. This will include the weekly and monthly monitoring of Rent KPIs and reconciliations to ensure all properties available for rent are accurately recorded, and all rents are set correctly.
Service Charges and Budget Holders
3. Support the team to prepare accurate and timely finance information using the general ledger, to support discussions with budget holders.
4. Work with the Rent & Service Charge Accountant on the assessment and monitoring of Southway's service charge and leasehold accounting arrangements. Liaise with managers to ensure all appropriate costs are recovered. Assist in the preparation of information to support the annual statement of costs incurred compared to the charges raised. And respond to tenant queries on service charges.
Other
5. Carry out administrative duties including filing, review of incoming post to the Finance Team and electronic communication to the general Finance email account.
6. Undertake any other duties laid down from time to time consistent with the grading of the post.
Closing Date: Wednesday 10th July 2024, 5.00pm
We will assess applications as submitted, with selection via an online interview.
For an informal discussion about this role please contact Bhups Gohil, Assistant Director of Finance via e-mail .
We are committed to equality of opportunity and welcome applications from suitably skilled people from all sectors of the community.
All applicants who have a disability or are ex armed forces that meet the minimum essential criteria for the post will be invited to interview. If you have a disability or are ex armed forces, please tell us about this on your application form and please let us know about any special arrangements you would like us to make if you are invited in for an interview.