Job Title:Senior Finance Officer (Management Accounts)

Job Description

Job Title:Senior Finance Officer (Management Accounts)

Responsible to:Financial Controller

Bristol Music Trust

Launched in May 2011 the Bristol Music Trust is a new and exciting independent charity with two distinct aims.

The first is to manage the operations of Colston Hall, Bristol’s largest concert venue, where people have been enjoying music since 1867; developing a diverse musical programme, leading a major capital refurbishment programme and securing its commercial success. The Hall presents a wonderful opportunity to build a diverse Music & Arts Centre; comprising a traditional concert hall, a smaller intimate hall and an inspiring newly built foyer.

The second aim is to drive forward music across Bristol; working in partnership with city wide organisations; leading on musical education, commissioning new works, supporting local musicians, and promoting music across all communities to build on the vibrant talent already in the city. Much more, we want the Bristol music scene to stand out with its own unique culture and internationally renowned reputation.

Bristol Music Trust’s vision is to put music at the heart of Bristol life, and to lead a strategic, holistic, citywide approach to promoting music so that it flourishes through performance, composition, participation and education.

Finance Team

The Finance team is headed by the Head of Finance and is responsible for ensuring that Bristol Music Trust’s resources and activities are managed effectively. The wider team works to enhance our commercial opportunities and maximise the resources available to meet the charitable objectives and creative ambitions of the organisation. The team is also responsible for ensuring that appropriate controls are in place to meet all legal and regulatory requirements.

The Finance team is responsible for all the Trust’s accounting, finance and budgeting requirements, including the recording and monitoring of income and expenditure, maintenance of adequate financial controls, preparation of budgets, internal and external financial reporting, financial analysis, and compliance with tax and other regulations. The work of the department is varied and includes giving professional financial guidance and support to other departments (Programming, Marketing, Operations, Box Office, Development and Bristol plays Music, the Education side of Bristol Music Trust); identifying areas for cost savings and maximising income generation; agreeing show settlements with external promoters for hall rentals; processing ticket income and costs for our own concert promotions; monitoring the performance of the Trust’s trading subsidiary, BMT Enterprises Ltd; and producing statutory accounts to be filed with Companies House.

Purpose of Job

The Senior Finance Officer (Management Accounts) has responsibility for providing management reporting and financial analysis that meets the accounting, commercial and management needs of Bristol Music Trust as an effective and commercially astute business operation. The post holder will also assist with projects to develop reporting frameworksand processes to ensure that the Finance Team provide an efficient and effective service.

Key Responsibilities

Management Accounting

1. Lead the preparation of monthly management accounts (including Income & Expenditure Statement, Balance Sheet, Cashflow Statement and Departmental Analysis) in an accurate and timely fashion; be responsible for posting month end adjustments and running month end routines; investigate variances against budget and prior year as appropriate; work with the Financial Controller to update the full year forecast as required.
2. Managing the month end timetable working with other members of the Finance Team to ensure deadlines are met.
3. Prepare the month end Balance Sheet reconciliation.
4. Meet with budget holders to review financial performance YTD; Support budget-holders with the effective management of their budgets.
5. Analyse and report on performance against KPI’s.
6. Provide ad-hoc financial reports and analysis on request.
7. Assist the Financial Controller in the preparation of the quarterly VAT Return.
8. Be commercially aware, identifying areas for potential cost-savings and opportunities for increased income generation across the range of business activities.

Project Work

1. Develop and improve the monthly management accounting pack including developing a monthly cash flow statement.
2. Work with the BPM Business Manager to improve financial reporting frameworks for Bristol Plays Music.
3. Work with the Financial Controller to plan and implement improvements to BMT SAGE 200.

Essential – The role holder must have the following:

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Have or be working towards a professional accountancy qualification (CIMA, ACCA or similar)

Recent experience of working in a finance capacity within a busy office environment.

Excellent IT skills and recent experience of the use of IT packages (Microsoft Excel, Word and Outlook in particular) and Finance IT Systems.

Strong working knowledge and experience of preparing management accounts and reports.

A good working knowledge of VAT.

A good working knowledge and recent experience of the use of information technology in financial management and the ability to apply that experience to develop and improve the finance systems at Bristol Music Trust.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Recent experience of managing projects and the ability to see projects to completion.

Strong organisational and time management skills.

Creative thinking in relation to problem solving.

Resilience and an ability to work on own initiative and effectively as part of a team.

ACCURACY AND ATTENTION TO DETAIL

Achieves a high standard of accuracy in maintaining financial records and preparing information for internal and external customers/clients.

Able to work methodically, paying attention to detail and is able to check their own work for errors.

COMMUNICATION

Excellent communication skills, with the ability to deal effectively with people at all levels of Bristol Music Trust.

Is able to effectively transfer key and complex information to all levels of staff, adapting the style of communication as necessary.

Accurate standard of written and verbal communication.

ADAPTABILITY AND FLEXIBILITY

Able to generate new ideas and make suggestions for change.

Remains resilient whilst working under conflicting demands.

Has the ability to respond and adapt to changing circumstances and to manage and solve problems.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

Provides an excellent level of customer service both internally and externally.

Seeks to provide added value where appropriate.

Understands customer requirements and is able to deliver services to meet a diverse range of needs across the organisation.

PLANNING AND ORGANISING

The ability to work well under pressure and manage conflicting deadlines.

Workload delivered within deadlines and to agreed standards.

Responds positively to changing priorities and can re-plan accordingly.

TEAMWORK

Works co-operatively and flexibly with peers to achieve common goals.

Ability to work effectively as part of a team.

Proactive in taking on additional tasks

NUMERACY

Able to work with numbers and analyse quantities of data to draw meaningful conclusions

Desirable

Experience working in or an interest in the arts and charity sectors.

Experience of using SAGE 200 accounting package.

Occasional Duties

The role holder will carry out any other duty that is reasonably required.

Your usual place of work is Colston Hall, Bristol, but you may be required to work at other locations that are reasonably placed.

Date created/modified: July 2017

Created by: Caroline Grime, Financial Controller

Approved by: Marguerite Jenkin, Finance & Commercial Director

OUTLINE OF TERMS AND CONDITIONS:

TITLE OF POST:Senior Finance Officer (Management Accounts)

SALARY:£28,000 per annum

CONTRACT:Fixed Term Contract – 12 months

HOURS: 37 hours per week 9:00am – 5:30pm Monday to Thursday, 9:00 – 5:00pm Friday (core business hours)

ANNUAL LEAVE: 24 days leave plus bank holidays, increasing to 29 days after 5 years of continuous service.

PROBATIONARY PERIOD: 6 months

PENSION: Bristol Music Trust operates a Defined Contribution Pension Scheme with a 5% employer contribution, subject to a minimum employee contribution.

Application Procedure:

To apply for this job please complete the Bristol Music Trust application form available online at In the section of the application form entitled “Further information”, please make sure you explain how your skills, knowledge and previous experience, whether paid or unpaid, are relevant to this post and how they meet the criteria listed on the employee specification in the job description by giving practical examples.

The closing date for applications is 9.00am on Thursday 27 July 2017. Please submit your application using one of the following methods:

E-mail: (quoting “Senior Finance Officer” in the subject line)

Post: HR Department, Bristol Music Trust, Colston Hall, Colston Street, Bristol, BS1 5AR

Bristol Music Trust will then draw up a short-list of candidates to invite for interview.

Bristol Music Trust is committed to being an Equal Opportunities Employer.