Context
Lay & Wheeler is one of England’s longest standing fine wine merchants, established in 1854, and recognised as one of its leading names. The business is known for its outstanding range of wines, buying directly from top Domaines and Châteaux in Bordeaux, Burgundy, Rhône, Loire, Champagne, Italy and South Africa, which it sells exclusively to private clients.
At Lay & Wheeler, we’ve been sharing our passion for fine wine with customers for over 170 years. As one of the UK’s leading wine merchants, we pride ourselves on providing personalised service, deep industry knowledge, and access to some of the most sought-after wines worldwide.
Overview
We are looking for a proactive and detail-oriented Finance Administrator who can efficiently manage multiple financial tasks. The ideal candidate should bring a good understanding of financial controls, a keen eye for process improvements, and excellent communication skills. The Finance Administrator will play a key a role in managing our financial processes, improving debt control, and ensuring smooth day-to-day financial operations. If you are detail-oriented, organised, and eager to contribute to a dynamic finance team, this role is for you.
Key Responsibilities
In this varied role, you will be responsible for a range of financial tasks, from credit control to reconciliations and transactional processing. You will help maintain financial accuracy and support the wider finance team with reporting and controls.
Credit Control & Debt Management
- Oversee the general debt management process to improve the company’s debt profile.
- Ensure financial data fields in Microsoft Dynamics NAV are accurately maintained.
Payment Processing & Reconciliations
- Run monthly payment collection processes and manage reconciliations.
- Identify and correct errors or discrepancies in accounts.
- Handle failed payments, including collecting outstanding funds and setting up new payment plans.
- Process customer refunds accurately and efficiently.
Transactional Finance & Ledger Management
- Send invoices, credit memos, and statements to customers as needed.
- Set up or update payment options and related bank accounts.
- Ensure customer payment details are correct and up to date.
- Monitor finance email inbox and respond accordingly.
- Process invoices, ensuring correct coding and purchase order matching.
- Perform bank and credit card reconciliations.
- Raise sales invoices for external and intercompany customers.
- Manage weekly payment runs and supplier statement reconciliations.
- Post cash book transactions and process payments.
- Assist with month-end close processes and annual audits.
- Perform balance sheet reconciliations and support financial reporting as required.
To perform the role to a high level, you’ll be able to demonstrate the following skills:
Strong Organisational Skills: With the ability to multitask and prioritise workloads.
Communication: Excellent communication and organisational abilities, with the capability to manage multiple activities.
Attention to Detail: High level of attention to detail and accuracy in all tasks.
Tech-Savvy: Strong Excel skills and confidence working with financial data. Experience with Sage One and/or Microsoft Dynamics NAV is a plus.
Self-Starter: Ability to work independently and collaboratively with excellent communication skills, both internally and externally. A proactive approach to process improvements and financial accuracy.
To perform the role to a high level, you’ll be able to demonstrate the following skills:
- AAT qualification is desirable but not essential
Benefits
Joining Lay & Wheeler means being part of a supportive and inspiring work environment. We value our team members and offer a range of benefits, including:
- Salary commensurate with experience, competitive with market
- An annual bonus scheme, based on company and individual performance
- Employee-employer matched pension contributions of 5% each
- BUPA Private Healthcare
- Company-sponsored social events
- Opportunity for wine education sponsorship
- Team member discount on wine
- A day’s paid leave for your birthday
- An opportunity to build your career, not just take a job
If you are ready to contribute your skills to an exciting role, please send a cover letter explaining what you can bring to the role, along with your CV to the People team, [email protected].
This role is based in our Suffolk office with the ability to work from home on a hybrid basis.