Accountancy assistants normally work in a council’s central finance department alongside accountants. In addition, accountants and accountancy assistants may work in other council departments such as education, environmental services, leisure, etc., managing individual service budgets. Accountancy assistants might also be called finance assistants or finance clerks.

Work Environment

Accountancy assistants spend most of their time in the office working on the computer. They may sometimes have to visit other council departments. .They usually work a standard 37-hour week, but must be flexible. Some overtime work maybe available. Part-time work and job-sharing are possible in many councils.

Daily Activities

Accountancy assistants’ duties may include:

• keeping financial records,
• producing and analysing figures for accountants or department managers,
• helping to prepare and audit accounts,
• checking invoices,
• checking and processing expenses claims from staff who have to travel away from their base offices,
• preparing monthly VAT returns.

Some accountancy assistants help prepare annual budgets or grant applications for funding from the UK Government or European Union. Others work as part of an audit team, monitoring the council’s accounting systems. They visit different departments; ask to see random samples of paperwork and financial records and check to see that these are correctly completed. Their exact duties vary according to whether they work in a central accounts section or in an individual department. Accountancy assistants employed in social services for example, may deal with payments to companies who supply equipment to care homes. In education they might assist in preparing the annual budgets to be allocated to individual schools. In a pensions section they may assist with collecting contributions from staff salaries and paying them into the pension fund.

Skills & Interests

Accountancy assistants must:

• have strong numerical skills,
• be accurate and pay attention to detail,
• be able to work to tight deadlines,
• have good written and verbal communication skills,
• have a good telephone manner,
• be capable of working without close supervision,
• have a good knowledge of computerised accountancy systems.

Entry Requirements

There are no minimum entry requirements. However, individual councils often ask for a minimum of four GCSE/S grades at C/3 or above, including English and maths. A relevant NVQ/SVQ Level 2 or previous work experience requiring literacy and numeracy may be acceptable alternatives.

Accountancy assistants are given on-the-job training and may work towards NVQ/SVQs in Accounting at Levels 2-4. By completing these and gaining approved work experience they may also become members of the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT).

For some posts, previous experience of working in a finance office and experience of creating and maintaining spreadsheets may be an advantage.

Estimated salary range

£16,600-£21,300 per year. Salary levels also depend very much on the level of responsibility and whether they are supervising other staff.

Please note that salary information is a guide only and there may be local agreements in place. For further information about salaries for particular positions, please contact your local council directly.

Future prospects & opportunities

A small council might employ up to 20 accountancy assistants. In a large council there might be over 100, working in different departments.

There are prospects of promotion to senior accountancy technician or finance officer, responsible for the work of several accountancy assistants.

Accountancy assistants who gain AAT membership may take further training to become accountants.

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