Charity Finance Specialist
Immediately Available for New Assignments
FCCA
MSc in Charity Finance

Selected Employment History

Newhampton Arts Centre
Wolverhampton
Senior Finance Officer

Working on a self-employed basis (part time):

• Supporting the trustees and CEO on all aspects of financial management and reporting
• After updating the computerised accounting system, I helped to recruit and train a finance officer to operate day to day finance functions. My focus is very much upon the following:
• Producing regular management accounts and cash flows (particularly in the current climate, when the arts centre has had to close)
• Producing quarterly financial data required for Arts Council England, as a requirement of their grant awards
• Helping the CEO with the submission of annual report to Arts Council England
• Working with CEO on grants claims during the COVID-19 pandemic
• Processing monthly payroll (including furlough claims to HMRC)
• Producing financial year end accounts and liaising with external accountants who undertake an independent examination of the accounts and financial processes

Age UK Birmingham & Sandwell
Head of Finance (interim)

• Supporting the trustees, CEO and senior management team on all aspects of financial management
• and reporting. Initial task was to update the computerised accounting system and streamline it so that financial reports could be extracted quickly and accurately.
• Line-manage and train two finance officers.
• When COVID-19 struck, to operate computerised accounts remotely from my home office, and support the members of the finance team who were also working remotely.

Key responsibilities:

• Produce monthly management accounts, with notes, for senior managers, the Finance
• Sub Committee and Trustee Board and present information to the trustee board.
• Produce cash flow forecasts. Initially these were required quarterly, but from March 2020 (COVID-19 first lockdown) these were required weekly up until the late summer, when they moved back to fortnightly and then monthly
• Produce finance reports relating to restricted funds where needed, and liaise closely with CEO and senior managers involved in fundraising efforts during the COVID-19 crisis.
• Liaise with accountants who processed monthly payroll, ensuring payroll information sent to them was accurate and timely
• Produce financial year end group accounts and charity accounts for audit and liaising with auditors during the audit process, then ensuring that year end reports were sent to Companies House and the Charity Commission

Young Manchester, charity based in Manchester
Head of Finance (interim – maternity cover)
 

• Supporting trustees, CEO and members of the small staff team (we all worked in one room) on all  aspects of financial management and reporting (mainly through linked excel spreadsheets, and data extracted from Sage computerised system)

Key responsibilities:

• Produce management accounts, cash flows and budgets for CEO and trustee board. At that stage, the charity had only been in place for just over a year, so great emphasis was placed upon long term financial forecasting and planning.
• The charity was there to give out grants to smaller organisations based in and around
• Manchester, to support the work they did for children and young people, so I was required also to process the giving out of these grants, ensuring that they were in line with funding provided to Young Manchester, and any restricted criteria set by funders
• Process payroll for Young Manchester
• Process routine finance functions (payments/receipts/bank reconciliations etc) via Sage Accounting Software
• Produce financial year end accounts, and liaise with auditors during the audit process

The Vegan Society, Birmingham
Finance Manager (part time)
 

• Streamlining the Quickbooks Accounting Software used by the charity, and training and supporting
• two members of the finance team and designing management accounts and other finance reports in a way which were best understood and accessible to trustees, CEO and members of the senior finance team.

Key responsibilities:

• Producing monthly management accounts and budgets
• Processing payroll for all Vegan Society staff
• Monitoring grants (restricted and unrestricted)

Self-employed accountant (from 2000 to current)

• Providing financial management support for several charities and 'not for profit' organisations, including:

Current

• Together for Animals (an association of four animal charities: Blue Cross, Spana, Mayhew Animal Home, World Horse Welfare)
• The Junction Project (a Bristol based charity working to reduce drink and drug related dependency)

Past Clients

• Girlguiding South West England - (2009 – August 2018)
• Salisbury Arts Centre - (2000 – 2008)
• Salisbury Hospice - (2003 – 2006)
• Child Welfare Scheme (a charity supporting children in Nepal) - (2001 – 2004)