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home Legal, finance and accounting
Accounts or finance assistant

Accounts or finance assistant

Level 2 - Technical Occupation

Maintaining an efficient and accurate finance function within a business.

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Summary

This occupation is found in organisations of all sizes whether small, medium, large or global.

They may work in the accounts or finance department of a company, a solo owned business or partnership. In the public sector they may work in settings such as local government, hospitals, schools and colleges. They may work within a firm of accountants providing services to a range of clients.

The broad purpose of the occupation is to carry out accounting and finance tasks. These tasks support the creation of items such as financial statements and other data. Their work is carried out under supervision following set procedures for most tasks. Such tasks may include financial data entry, reconciling figures, trial balances, double-entry bookkeeping, handling accounts payable and receivable. 

An accounts or finance assistant is an integral part of the team responsible for maintaining an efficient and accurate finance function within an organisation. 

The accounts or finance assistant is responsible for assisting accountants with routine duties. These can vary depending on the team structure and size of business. They use digital finance and accounting systems and tools to collate and enter data. An accounts or finance assistant’s work would include tasks such as financial and accounting data entry and basic bookkeeping  duties. They will also work with sales or purchase ledgers. They will run calculations to ensure that records and payments are correct and may be involved in the recording of cash transactions.

In their daily work, an accounts of finance assistant interacts with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders. This could include junior colleagues, supervisors, senior managers, clients and customers, suppliers, lenders and government agencies.

An accounts or finance assistant will  gather and input financial data and check that work for errors. They work under supervision to contribute towards the creation of accurate financial statements and data to help the organisation run effectively.

Typical job titles include:

Accounts administrator
Accounts assistant
Accounts payable clerk
Assistant bookkeeper
Business accounts administrator
Cost accountant assistant
Finance assistant junior
Junior cashier

Keywords:

Accounting
Accounts
Assistant
Business
Finance

Knowledge, skills and behaviours (KSBs)

K1: Principles of English law that may have an impact when working in accountancy, including elements of contract law, employment law, company law, data protection and anti-money laundering regulations.
K2: Foundations of professional ethics and codes of conduct in a finance and accounting environment.
K3: The different types of legal entity and organisational structures and their relevance for financial and accounting activities.
K4: Digital financial and accounting packages and applications including databases and spreadsheets.
K5: The role of accounts and finance within an organisation including interaction with internal and external stakeholders.
K6: Principles of using and maintaining financial records including accounts payable, accounts receivable, cash management and payroll.
K7: Fundamental concepts of the commercial landscape and its impact on the organisation.
K8: Principles of bookkeeping and controls.
K9: Principles of cost recording systems within an organisation.
K10: The differences between financial and management accounting.
K11: Principles of corporate social responsibility (CSR), ethics and sustainability regarding finance and accounting.
K12: Principles of cyber-security and working safely online within a finance and accounting context.
K13: Principles of data handling including the significance of dates and the timing of transactions such as dates of invoice and payment
K14: Principles of data security and legislative requirements regarding data handling in a financial and accounting context.
K15: Approaches to diversity, inclusion and cultural awareness and their impact on finance and accountancy activities.
K16: The impact of sustainability and environmental good practice on accounting and finance activities.

S1: Record transactional data.
S2: Use the organisation’s standard tools and processes to examine data to identify transactional issues such as, reconciliations and inconsistencies between invoices.
S3: Recognise and rectify routine errors, escalating as necessary.
S4: Plan and review accounting and finance tasks.
S5: Communicate with stakeholders to deliver accurate and timely results, avoiding jargon, using language tailored to the audience and different media methods with an appreciation of the risks and benefits to the business of social media and other digital applications.
S6: Use finance and accounting software packages to accurately input and manage data to contribute to routine accounting tasks.
S7: Handle data and digital technology in line with cyber and data security requirements, using data securely and safely, including backing up data.

B1: Team working to provide support and collaborate with others to help achieve the goals of the organisation.
B2: Flexible and responds constructively to changing work requirements.
B3: Self-motivated to seek and act upon feedback, displaying commitment to personal and professional development.
B4: Vigilant in their approach to accounting and finance tasks, paying close attention to detail and aware of the consequences of errors.
B5: Professional in their approach to their work and others to meet the requirements of professional ethics and codes of conduct.
B6: Focussed on the importance of delivering excellent service, identifying, meeting or exceeding stakeholder expectations.
B7: Takes responsibility for sustainable outcomes in their actions and approaches to the role, performing duties respecting environmental good practice, specific to both the occupation and those recognised externally.
B8: Committed to personal wellbeing and an awareness of the support and resources available to help them.

Duties

Duty D1

Be aware of the organisation's needs and activities and their impact for accounting and finance.

Duty D2

Identify, collate and process financial and accounting data from primary sources such as business records.

Duty D3

Examine financial and accounting data to identify issues with quality and reliability as instructed and in accordance with guidance.

Duty D4

Rectify errors in financial and accounting data, escalating problems beyond their remit as appropriate.

Duty D5

Reconcile transactional data to minimise the chance of errors in financial and accounting outputs such as sales and purchase invoices, sale and purchase orders, bank statements and payroll.

Duty D6

Plan and review workloads with supervisor to ensure best use of time to complete allocated tasks efficiently.

Duty D7

Communicate with internal and external stakeholders using appropriate methods and professional language. Examples may include letters, ‘phone, face-to-face, e-mail, video call, online chat functions etc.

Duty D8

Use financial and accounting software packages to input and manage data safely and securely in line with organisational instructions.

Duty D9

Provide support to team members to help ensure that financial and accounting activities are carried out within expected timescales and quality expectations.

Duty D10

Keep up to date with developments to enhance relevant skills and take responsibility for own professional development.

Occupational Progression

This occupational progression map shows technical occupations that have transferable knowledge and skills.

In this map, the focused occupation is highlighted in yellow. The arrows indicate where transferable knowledge and skills exist between two occupations. This map shows some of the strongest progression links between the focused occupation and other occupations.

It is anticipated that individuals would be required to undertake further learning or training to progress to and from occupations. To find out more about an occupation featured in the progression map, including the learning options available, click the occupation.

Progression decisions have been reached by comparing the knowledge and skills statements between occupational standards, combined with individualised learner movement data.

Technical Occupations

Levels 2-3

Higher Technical Occupations

Levels 4-5

Professional Occupations

Levels 6-7

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Legal, finance and accounting