Finance Apprentice

To support the Head of Procurement and Accounts Payable Team Leader in providing an efficient end to end accounts payable service to Paradigm Trust.

Key Duties include:

• To enter purchase orders into the system, ensuring all entries are accurately recorded.


• To confirm with suppliers that orders have been received to ensure that goods and services needed by schools are not delayed.


• To enter goods received notes into the finance system.


• To enter invoices into the financial system in a timely and accurate manner.


• To charge expenses to accounts and cost centres by analysing invoice/expense reports and recording entries.


• To ensure that a three-way match is made with all order invoices - chasing schools for delivery notes and confirmation of goods being received or services completed.


• To match timesheets from agencies to invoices, ensuring accuracy and attention to detail and to perform reconciliation checks.


•  To receive employee expenses, review in line with trust policy and procedure and answer queries from employees as required.


• To work accurately to strict deadlines to ensure that all accounts are up to date, ensuring management accounts provide clear information to stakeholders.


• To monitor the purchase order inbox to ensure that orders are placed on the finance system within agreed timeframes.


• To respond to queries raised from principals and other budget holders regarding purchase orders, invoices and budgets.


• To liaise with external stakeholders to organise work and attend meetings to take notes where necessary.


• To produce reports for budget holders as and when requested.


• To resolve other purchase orders, contracts, invoices, or payment discrepancies and documentation with suppliers.


• To maintain accounting ledgers by verifying and posting account transactions, including credit notes.


• To post prepayments on all invoices which relate to future periods, ensuring correct calculations for posting in the accounts.


• To verify vendor accounts by reconciling monthly statements and to maintain vendor names and data.


• To analyse older purchase orders and write off in the system as necessary.


• To maintain a current and up-to-date list of suppliers on the financial system, deleting any older or unused accounts where necessary.


• To check and vet new suppliers by completing a new supplier form.


• To report VAT taxes by calculating requirements on paid invoices.


• To protect the organisation’s value by keeping information confidential.


• To maintain the professional standards of the trust when liaising with all stakeholders.