Finance Officer

Overview

Are you highly organised, great with numbers, and motivated by delivering excellent customer service? This is a fantastic opportunity to join Buckinghamshire Council’s Finance Services team as a Finance Officer within Accounts Receivable (AR).

You’ll play a key part in ensuring our financial transactions are accurate, timely and compliant, helping us deliver an efficient and customer‑focused service to residents, suppliers, and internal teams. Whether you’re starting your finance career or looking to build on existing skills, this role offers progression, development and the chance to be part of a supportive, collaborative team.

About us

Buckinghamshire Council is a relatively new organisation that combines the strengths and expertise of the previous five councils in the county to create positive change for local people, communities, and businesses. We are firmly focused on the future and have made a clear commitment to serve residents better and to provide stronger representation for Buckinghamshire, both locally and nationally. 

About the role

As a Finance Officer, you will support the smooth processing of financial transactions across the Council. Working within a busy, friendly team, you’ll ensure invoices, payments and receipts are handled accurately and on time, while responding to customer and supplier queries with professionalism and care.

Key responsibilities include:

Grade 2:

• Prompt and accurate clearance of unallocated income and customer receipts.
• Carry out timely processing activities in relation to various types of income receipt activities.
• Reconciliation and maintenance of control accounts.
• Support team to monitor customer (internal and external) request and respond to or direct the enquiries to the appropriate officers.
• Ensure compliance with policies and procedures.
• Build good working relationships with all stakeholders.
• To carry out duties as and when directed by the Team Leader.

Grade 3:

• Prompt and accurate clearance of unallocated income and customer receipts.
• Reconciliation and maintenance of control accounts.
• Carry out timely processing activities in relation to various types of income receipt activities.
• Monitor customer (internal and external) request and respond to or direct the enquiries to the appropriate officers.
• Maintain an efficient and effective administration to provide audit trails and adherence to policies and procedures.
• Assist in setting up, administration, maintenance and compliance of income collection devices
• Build good working relationships with all stakeholders.
• Identify and recommend areas where improvements could be made within own role / team.
• Proactively follow up where information is incomplete, ambiguous or contradictory.
• Ensure accurate VAT codes are used for different income types.
• Requesting accurate master data setup for Finance systems where appropriate.
• Assist in running processes such as Direct Debit runs, etc.
• To carry out duties as required by the Team Leader.

Any-Desk:
As an ‘any-desk’ worker, you’ll need to be connected to our network to access digital folders and resources, but this can either be from home or an office location when required. You will be required to work from the office a couple of times a week, depending on your role and team requirements.

About you

We’re looking for someone who has:

Essential skills & attributes

• Strong numeracy and excellent attention to detail
• Clear written and verbal communication skills
• Good ICT capability, including use of standard software packages and databases
• Ability to follow procedures and work methodically
• Strong organisational skills and the ability to manage your own workload
• A collaborative, team‑focused approach
• Confidence speaking with customers to provide accurate information

Desirable

• Experience within finance or accounts receivable
• Studying AAT or other finance-related qualifications (Grade 3)
• Ability to explain financial information to non‑specialists
• Understanding of wider Council services

If you are proactive, customer-focused and eager to contribute to a high-performing finance service, we’d be excited to hear from you.

Please see the attached job summary for further information about this role.

Other information

To find out more about this role, please contact Joseph Steers at [email protected]

This post is covered by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore applicants are required to declare:

• All unspent cautions and/or unspent convictions

For further information on how long it takes for cautions and convictions cautions to become spent, please refer to our guide on the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (updated 2023) | Nacro

We reserve the right to close the vacancy once we have received sufficient applications, so please be advised to submit your application as early as possible.

We understand that candidates may use AI tools to assist with their applications. While we welcome innovation, we expect all submissions to reflect your own experience, skills, and achievements accurately. Please ensure your application is truthful and demonstrates your personal capabilities, as this will be assessed during the selection process.

Buckinghamshire Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults at risk.

Our values and culture

We have a set of values, which our employees have chosen, that represent what we are – Proud, Ambitious, Collaborative and Trustworthy.

By joining Buckinghamshire Council, you can expect:

• a fair and inclusive culture
• the chance to really make a difference to those around you
• health and well-being initiatives including an Employee Assistance Programme, Mental Health First Aiders and mindfulness workshops
• a unified voice through our Employee Representative Group
• ongoing support, and the opportunity to develop and progress in your career with us
• opportunities to take part in fun activities such as fundraising and social events

At Buckinghamshire Council, we know that our biggest strength comes from the people that work for us, and that’s why we’re working hard to ensure we continue to be an accessible and inclusive organisation.

From dedicated staff networks overseen by our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Steering Group, to proudly standing as a Disability Confident employer, it’s important to us that all our colleagues feel engaged, listened to, and valued. Our offer of flexible working empowers a productive and happy workforce and allows employees to combine work with other responsibilities and commitments.

We believe our workforce should reflect the diverse communities we service in Buckinghamshire, and are looking for like-minded individuals to join us in promoting equality, fairness, and inclusion for everyone.

About the Business Unit

Resources cover a wide range of specialisms, including Human Resources, Finance, ICT and Business Operations. Our main focus is supporting the other directorates to provide the best possible service to our residents. To do that, we have to make sure we have the right people in the right roles across the organisation. From our finance teams, working strategically to ensure the best value from public money; to HR keeping our employees healthy and happy, each service is vital in making sure Buckinghamshire Council has what it needs to run effectively and efficiently.

As well as providing high quality services to other areas of the Council, you could also be helping us build on the revenue which comes from our external clients. If you are ambitious, customer-focussed and bursting with new ideas, we want to hear from you.

We recognise and reward you

Hard work and success deserves recognition. That’s why we pride ourselves on the benefits we give our people. We actively encourage a good work-life balance and promote flexible and agile working arrangements. We provide discounts on various Cafés, restaurants, shops and auto enrolment onto our generous Pension Scheme. In addition to the opportunity to gain membership to Costco, we have discounted gym memberships, travel discounts with Arriva and much more.

https://jobs.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/working-buckinghamshire-council/