Payments Assistant

Payments Assistant

Contract until December 2026

Job Purpose

To assist in providing an efficient, effective and quality accounts payable function.

Key Duties I Responsibilities

• To assist in ensuring that all forms of supplier payments are accurately and promptly processed, adhering to legislative deadlines and timescales set by the department to pay external parties within agreed payment terms, dealing with invoice related queries from both internal departments and external suppliers in a professional manner.
• Administer the invoice mailbox on a rota basis, batching invoices for import, dealing with missing information or errors and identifying opportunities to streamline or consolidate.
• To exercise the necessary levels of verification and controls prior to processing supplier payments, including the checking purchase orders and verifying approvals where appropriate.
• To assist in the maintenance of the payments system, including the insertion and amendment of accounts and assigning of Procurement classification codes to suppliers - working in close liaison with the Category Management team.
• To ensure that new suppliers or amendments to existing records follow a strict, auditable process to verify address and banking details.
• To assist in the administration and checking of the invoices associated with the Sub-Contractors Tax Deduction Scheme, checking their validity to fall within the scheme and providing payment details to the Payment Officer for verification with HMRC.
• To negotiate with suppliers in relation to dispute, payment terms and invoice / purchase order reconciliation processes.
• To assist daily in the process of amendments and alterations to existing data on all cheque and electronic payments, undertaking daily reconciliation and checking of payment data and method to ensure the correct payment is made in respect of the payee and service provided
• To follow all procedures to produce and despatch manual cheques and to input and balance all invoices relating to these payments.
• To check and process the reimbursement of petty cash imprests for all directorates throughout.
• To receive and process all enquires ensuring that they are dealt with appropriately, producing information and documentation as and when requested, requesting and checking supplier statements for outstanding invoices/credit notes and requesting missing invoices/credit notes.
• Liaising with internal stakeholders in relation to their supplier queries, and ensuring all disputes are resolved or flagged within the Creditors database to prevent unwarranted payments
• To maintain a detailed understanding and knowledge of all payments systems and procedures.
• To assist in the process, payment and balancing of all purchases made via the electronic ordering system and the Corporate Purchasing Cards, ensuring service users comply with approval and checking processes.
• To assist in the despatch of Tax and rate refund cheques to individual clients, and to also assist in the improvement of such payment processes.
• To liaise and correspond with internal and external clients, government agencies and other external agencies as necessary, resolving difficult and often complex queries both face to face and via the telephone.
• To be aware of and adhere to performance objectives and quality standards established for payment processing in order to comply with national standards such as the Late Payment Directive
• To undertake appropriate job-related training across a broad range of functions including electronic ordering, electronic invoice imports and the processing and payment of invoices.
• To attend anti-money laundering annual courses, and to be up to date with all aspects of payment fraud, and associated legislation and to act with integrity, be vigilant and ensure prompt reporting of suspected cases of fraud.
• To assist in advising suppliers and service users on improvements to controls, payment methods and processes.
• To be familiar with, and adhere to the internal policies, procedures and controls in place to minimise the risk of fraud or data protection breaches, its suppliers and other related parties.
• To actively review external supplier maintenance details held within the Payments system to improve on data accuracy and remove duplication (to include contact details and payment terms and methods)
• To undertake any other duties and responsibilities appropriate to the post.

Guidant, Carbon60, Lorien & SRG - The Impellam Group Portfolio are acting as an Employment Business in relation to this vacancy.