Work with us: Finance and Reporting Officer

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Young Sounds UK is recruiting for a full-time Finance and Reporting Officer to join our team. The Finance and Reporting Officer will be responsible for the effective day-to-day running of the charity’s finance function, by processing transactions accurately, maintaining robust financial records, carrying out month-end activities, and providing financial information to budget holders and senior staff.

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Reports to:	Finance and Operations Director
Contract:	Initially 12 months, to be extended by mutual agreement. There will be a three-month probation period.
Hours:	Full time (35 hours per week), pattern to be agreed within core organisational hours of 09:00 to 17:00 Monday to Friday.
Annual Leave:	26 days per year, plus bank holidays.
Salary:	£35,000 per year, plus statutory pension contributions as applicable.
Location:	Home working with some travel for meetings and events. Any travel and accommodation costs will be reimbursed.

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About Young Sounds UK

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Young Sounds exists because musical talent is everywhere but opportunity isn’t: family finances and other obstacles too often get in the way. We’re here to change this in two key ways: 

• We support young musicians from low-income families with funding and other help; 
• We support music education through training, advocacy and research.  

We became an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation in April 2023 and also joined an expanded cohort of National Youth Music Organisations (NYMOs). We currently support over 1,000 individual young people across the UK every year and demand for our support is increasing. It’s an exciting time to join a pioneering organisation at the forefront of British music education.

Our small and fully remote team work across the UK, comprising a mix of full time and part time employees supported by specialist part time and term time freelancers. 

Young Sounds UK is the working name for registered charity Awards for Young Musicians.

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Role Overview

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The Finance and Reporting Officer will be responsible for the effective day-to-day running of the charity’s finance function, by processing transactions accurately, maintaining robust financial records, carrying out month-end activities, and providing financial information to budget holders and senior staff. 

Alongside this the role has an important part to play in data management and activity reporting. Working with the Data Officer you’ll assist with the maintenance and interrogation of programme monitoring data, ensuring information is accurate and timely. 

You’ll need to be organised and with a great attention to detail. We’re seeking someone who is output orientated, whilst able to ensure the integrity of the information being presented. You’ll also need to be thorough at a transactional level yet able to summarise efficiently to a range of audiences. 

Working with a broad range of stakeholders across the team, as well as trustees, auditors and external suppliers, you’ll need clear communication skills including being able to communicate financial information to non-finance colleagues. It’s a busy role and you’ll need to be adept at juggling a variety of responsibilities at the same time.

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Working relationships and expectations

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You’ll report to the Finance and Operations Director, but work closely with colleagues throughout the organisation including: 

• Area leads, as budget holders and data stakeholders. 
• Colleagues in the Development team who lead on fundraising. 
• Our part-time Data Officer, who leads on our data visualisation tools. 
• Trustees, particularly members of the Audit and Risk Committee. 

You’ll also work closely with external stakeholders including suppliers, partners, and auditors. 

This is a homeworking position with some flexibility required to travel for meetings and events. Office equipment will be supplied as required. Any travel and accommodation costs will be reimbursed.

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Key tasks

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Maintaining Ledgers

• Process purchase invoices, ensuring correct authorisation and coding, and resolve queries with suppliers and internal staff. 
• Prepare and process payment runs, ensuring appropriate authorisation and supporting documentation. 
• Process company purchasing card transactions, ensuring appropriate authorisation and supporting documentation. 
• Raise sales invoices (where applicable) and manage credit control. 
• Process income receipts, including notifying the Development team and sending reports as needed. 
• Complete regular bank reconciliations, posting transactions as necessary. 
• Maintain accurate general ledger postings, including accruals, prepayments and other journals.

Payroll

• Process monthly payroll using Xero, including actioning changes, ensuring appropriate authorisation. 
• Check draft payroll reports, coordinate payment approvals and confirm payments are released on time. 
• Maintain payroll records and documentation securely, including year-to-date and year-end records. 
• Respond to payroll queries from staff. 
• Submit statutory returns and related payroll administration e.g. RTI submissions and end-of-year processes. 
• Coordinate pension auto-enrolment submissions and any required communications. 
• Post payroll journals and reconcile payroll control accounts.

Financial Reporting

• Carry out month-end processes, including reconciliations. 
• Support budget holders in managing their budgets, sharing routine reports, reconciling budget sheets and meeting to discuss budget positions. 
• Assist with the preparation of monthly management accounts by preparing supporting schedules. 
• Assist with cashflow reporting by preparing cash based actual reports and assisting with forecasting. 
• Draft delegated funder financial reports and support grant claims by compiling figures, reconciling to the finance system, and maintaining a clear audit trail. 
• Maintain finance records and filing in line with internal finance controls policies, audit requirements and retention schedules. 
• Coordinate and service quarterly internal audit procedures. 
• Support year-end audit preparation by providing documentation, reconciliations and responding to auditor queries. 

Data Reporting

• Support the production of wider monitoring and management information reporting, working with colleagues to ensure reports are timely and accurate. 
• Liaise with the Data Officer and area leads to coordinate the collection of data related to the organisation’s programme activities in line with the reporting timetable. 
• Support the Finance and Operations Director with the implementation of new reporting mechanisms, as needed. 
• Undertake data audit activities including data cleansing and quality checks in Salesforce (or other systems) as requested. 

Other tasks

• Manage the finance inbox. 
• Attend the weekly team call on Mondays 10.00 to 10.30 where possible, and an in-person all day meeting every two months. 
• Be responsible for team meeting minutes from time to time: this is shared across the whole team. 
• Attend the monthly online Audit and Risk Committee meeting. 
• Be responsible for the minutes of the Audit and Risk Committee monthly meeting.  
• Handle all financial and personal data appropriately, in line with best practice and the organisation’s GDPR and Safeguarding policies. 
• Contribute to the organisation’s ongoing development, by engaging in discussions as appropriate and undertaking training as requested or in pursuit of personal development. 
• Contribute to the organisation’s strategic priorities, including to equity, diversity and inclusion, ensuring that this informs all activities. 
• Work in a flexible manner in line with the organisation’s objectives and be willing to occasionally undertake other duties as reasonably requested.

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Person Specification

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Key Skills

• Strong organisational and time management skills. 
• Ability to work to high levels of accuracy, with attention to detail while meeting deadlines. 
• Ability to prioritise competing needs. 
• Strong numerical, verbal and written communication skills. 
• Proficiency in accounting software (ideally Xero), Microsoft Office suite (especially Excel), and with customer relationship management (CRM) tools and databases.

Personal Qualities

• Proactive, with the ability to work remotely from home and to manage own workload efficiently without direct supervision. 
• Highly motivated with a commitment to and understanding of good finance and data practices, including understanding the importance of clear audit trails. 
• Inquisitive but pragmatic, enjoys interrogating information whilst meeting reporting deadlines. 
• A good collaborator who enjoys problem solving.

Experience

• At least 3 years working in an all-round finance role for a charity or other non-profit. 
• Experience of running payroll for a small to medium team. 
• Experience working with a range of stakeholders, including communicating financial information to non-financial colleagues. 
• Proven experience of working to multiple competing deadlines.

The following would also be desirable

• An accountancy or bookkeeping qualification. 
• Experience of reporting non-financial monitoring data. 
• Experience of working with sensitive data together with an understanding of current data legislation GDPR. 
• Enthusiasm and passion for music in all forms!

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How to apply

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Please submit your application using this form: click here 

You will be asked to attach a supporting statement of no more than two sides of A4, addressing how you are a strong candidate for the position, details of relevant experience etc. You are advised to address the selection criteria for the role as detailed in the Person Specification.   

Please note that applications will be shortlisted on an anonymous basis, so any identifying information should not be included in the supporting statement and will be removed prior to sharing with the panel.

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Key dates

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• The deadline for applications is 12pm (noon) on Monday 22 June 2026. 
• Applicants invited to interview will hear from us by Friday 26 June 2026.  
• Interviews are expected to be held via video call, likely 02 and 03 July 2026 (TBC).  
• Those successfully shortlisted will be given a task ahead of the interview, to demonstrate some of the skills mentioned in this job description. Details will be sent with confirmation of your interview.