As well as general administration duties such as filing, typing and data entry, finance administrators are required to have experience in budgeting, costing, preparing forecasts and future business plans. It’s a varied role and as usual candidates must have excellent IT skills, especially in packages such as Excel. It’s also an advantage to have a working knowledge of accounting software such as Sage or Quickbooks.

Job description

The Finance Administrator's role is to provide administrative support within the financial department of an organisation.

Financial departments produce a fair volume of often complex documents so it's often essential that candidates have extensive experience within a similar role. There can be many different aspects to the role - you could be involved in accounts payable, where you manage the receipt and payment of invoices received by the business, or your role could be within accounts receivable, where you help to issue invoices to the company's clients. Some roles combine the two, so it's essential you can display a flair for organising. Alternatively, you could be employed help administrate the company's payroll department, ensuring all employees are paid in an accurate and timely manner.

Whatever the nature of your role, some of your daily duties might include:

• The production of invoices to clients
• The maintenance of internal accounting systems such as Excel, Sage, Quickbooks or IRIS
• Generating payments to external suppliers by cheque or by BACS
• Credit control - chasing payment for invoices which are overdue
• Reconciliation of invoices
• Helping to plan and manage internal budgets
• Filing and photocopying
• Liaison with other departments such as sales and HR

You'll be required to work the standard working week of up to 40 hours in most cases though each role is different and you may be asked to work longer hours as and when necessary.

You don't need any formal qualifications, but as is always the case, they won't do your prospects any harm. Most employers are looking for experience gained in a similar role and a track record of being able to perform specific tasks to a high standard. You need to be familiar with accounting related software packages such as Sage and proficiency in the usual MS packages goes without saying.

Employers will be looking for a variety of skills including:

• A high level of numeracy
• A keen eye for detail
• Good interpersonal skills - you could be liaising with internal and external contacts
• Good IT skills, including experience in Excel and other software packages
• The ability to work as part of a team
• Flexibility

Salary Information

It's a general rule with most admin roles that the further towards the south-east you work, the higher your salary will be. Entry level candidates will be looking to earn £12-16k a year. Add a few years experience to your CV and you should expect around the £18-25k mark, depending on where and who you're working for.