R ent & Service Charge Officer
Location: Didsbury, Manchester
Salary: £29,286 to £32,216
Full Time, Permanent - 35 hours per week
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 6,000 homes in South Manchester and is part way through a programme of creating 800 new homes.
An exciting opportunity has arisen in the Finance team for a finance professional and for the right person we offer a 35-hour week, competitive salary, excellent contributory pension scheme, and 25 days holiday (rising 1 day per year of service up to 30 days) and a non-contributory health care cash plan.
We are looking for a Rent & Service Charge Officer with at least three years experience in general finance operation.
Accounts and general ledger skills, able to undertake routine accountancy work with the minimum of supervision. 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. Strong excel skills, with a knowledge of a range of functions and their application. A positive attitude and a customer focus are essential.
Your main responsibilities would include:
1. Process rental receipt transactions and adjustments, ensuring tenant rent account balances are accurate.
2. Control the processes for the efficient posting all rental receipts to Open Housing, checking that entries match banking, collection agent and benefit authority records. Review suspense accounts, identify and resolve discrepancies.
3. Control the processes for posting adjustments to rent accounts, including write offs, benefit revisions for current and former tenants, and sub accounts which are in credit.
4. Liaise with the Income Team on the delivery of rental receipt processes including rent account adjustments.
5. Liaise with ICT colleagues to help resolve data transmission difficulties from collection agents and benefit agencies.
6. Administer the submission of updated tenant information to benefit authorities and new transaction card requests to collection agents.
7. Reconcile movements in stock numbers to the rent debit for all tenure types.
8. Maintain records of rent debit runs and related files and review the interface of entries from Open Housing to the general ledger.
9. Reconcile general ledger control accounts to rent arrears balances in Open Housing.
10. Enter journals to provide for bad debts.
11. Assist in the preparation of rental collection KPIs.
12. Assist in the preparation of annual service charge statements, the setting of charges based on actual and projected costs and the related communications with residents. Process the related adjustments to resident's service charge accounts.
13. Distribute reports detailing service charge income and expenditure against budget, liaise with budget holders to help interpret results.
14. In conjunction with your line manager, investigate and resolve systems issues which impact on rental receipt and service charge functions, reporting to software supplier as necessary.
15. Assist in the identification of processes and procedures which can be improved.
16. Record and allocate bank receipts and payments in a timely and appropriate manner. Match transactions to bank statements, updating cashbooks as appropriate and ensure the correct VAT treatment of transactions.
17. Complete monthly bank reconciliations and resolve any unreconciled items.
18. Liaise with income collection staff and tenants to ensure rent refunds are completed accurately and on time. Prepare rent refund cheques and administer any spoilt cheques.
19. Ensure monies received are recorded to tenant rent accounts and banked in accordance with company procedures and guidelines.
Closing Date: 15th October 2024, 5.00pm
Interview Date: w/c 21st October 2024
For an informal discussion about this role please contact Simon Williamson, Finance Manager - Rents & Service Charges at
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.