Description

Property Accounts Assistant

Over the past 15 years in business, our focus has been to provide great service, transparency, and value to our landlords and tenants. We pride ourselves on being fair and reasonable and have experienced steady growth year on year, almost entirely organically, with the help of our fantastic and dedicated team and loyal clients.

Responsibilities will include (but not be limited to):

  • Managing utilities and broadband accounts and associated mail.
  • Generating landlord Monthly Rental Statements (MRS).
  • Reconciling bank accounts.
  • Importing rental payments.
  • Monthly management fees and stats.
  • Arranging landlord payments.
  • Managing rental accounts.
  • Updating Property Managers and landlords regarding rental payments.
  • Management of tenant arrears and overpayments.
  • Processing supplier invoices for rent deduction and payment.
  • Supplier payment run and emailing remittances.
  • Processing ad-hoc payments.
  • Keeping accurate data records of statistics and payments.
  • Credit card reconciliation.
  • Monthly profit and loss accounts and balance sheets.
  • Company accounts.
  • Purchase/sales ledgers and credit control.
  • Monthly payroll.
  • Monthly pension submissions.
  • Entering data on SAM database and checking accuracy.
  • General accounts administration.
  • Using Excel spreadsheets to record and compare data.
  • Using Sage and Xero software.
  • Year-End Accounts.
  • Holiday cover for accounts team where required.
  • Communicating with landlords, tenants, suppliers, and team members.
  • Assisting the accounts and wider SPM team as required.
  • Attending training meetings and courses for CPD.
  • Keeping up to date with property legislation and regulation to keep landlords and tenants safe.

Person specification:

  • Speak and write fluent English with evidenced Right to Work in the UK. A command of other languages is of benefit, but not essential.
  • Excellent organisational and time management skills with the ability to prioritise and complete busy workload effectively.
  • Ability to show adaptability within role and use own initiative.
  • Creative thinker who can demonstrate innovation to our SPM working environment.
  • Experience in property lettings/estate agency is preferred.
  • Able to innovate and identify improvements to the service offered.
  • Keen eye for detail and good timekeeping.
  • A people person.
  • Self-driven to complete tasks – able to work on own as well as part of a team.
  • A positive problem-solving attitude towards role, and the ability to maintain positivity, especially when challenges arise.
  • Being professional.
  • Knowledge of GDPR and Office 365 and TEAMS.
  • A full, clean driving licence is desirable but not essential, with no more than 3 penalty points. Minimum of 2 years of driving experience is desirable. We have a fleet of Company cars which our team members drive when visiting properties.
  • Good navigational / geographic knowledge of the Edinburgh and Lothians area is desirable.
  • Alignment to our Core Values.

The 3 core measures and principles for our company are keeping everyone Safe and Happy while keeping our company Sustainable.

Working Hours & Environment

  • Part-time 20-30 hours a week, flexible start and finish time between 08:00hrs and 17:30hrs Mon-Thurs and 08:00hrs – 17:00hrs on a Friday (including 1 hour’s unpaid breaks). Some flexibility with regards to hours of work to suit the needs of the business and colleagues.
  • The role also requires 1 Saturday a month (4-5 hours), on a rota basis – typically from 8.30am to 12.30pm pay for these days is included in annual salary and Saturdays can be swapped to suit. After 6-12 months, there is a choice to adjust salary, and opt out of, or back into, the standard monthly Saturday rota, effective at the start of the new year.

Salary/Benefits/Working Hours:

  • Starting salary – £26,000 – £28,000 based on a full-time 40-hour week (pro-rata for parttime), including 1 hour of unpaid breaks, paid in arrears on the 2nd last working day of the month, including Saturday rota. Salaries are reviewed on an annual basis. Please note that from October 2024 standard full-time hours, as a trial, will be reduced to 37.5 hours per week.
  • SouthSide will cover the costs associated with the studying and exams to be a member of ARLA. As the studying for the ARLA qualification takes place in personal time and requires a commitment from you, upon successful completion and achievement of the qualification, you will receive an additional £1,000 on your annual salary (the following month). Should you leave the company within 3 years of the ARLA a pro-rata amount of the cost incurred for the ARLA qualification will be recovered. Should you leave and you relinquish your qualification i.e., not going into property management then no recovery of the costs incurred by the company will be made.
  • SouthSide will also cover the renewal costs of accreditations and memberships already achieved, including ARLA, LETWELL and SafeAgent, where applicable.
  • Pension Scheme after 3 months (contributions matched by the company up to 5%).
  • Company Health Insurance after 6 months (WPA) up to 5% of salary.
  • Opportunity to participate in Profit Share Scheme after 12 months.
  • 28 days paid holiday including all bank holidays plus 3 additional days of personal wellbeing time (PWT) per year. Holidays can be difficult to accommodate during the busiest periods. Holiday allowance does increase when certain length of service milestones is reached.
  • Regular 1-1 meetings with line manager.
  • Wellbeing Check-Ins.

Company Continued Professional Personal Development Days (CPD)

  • The company will take the opportunity to close for 2-4 additional Saturdays per annum (this is over and above the 1 Saturday a month required to work) for continued professional and personal development by bringing in speakers to help develop our team and will cover the cost of the training from external companies. In addition, optional training in the evening or during the working day will also be available to meet CPD requirements.
  • However, we are currently reviewing the company training requirements, therefore in 2024/5, training sessions on a Saturday will change, and instead be held as shorter training sessions on a weekday evening from 4.30pm – 6.30pm.
  • ARLA level training provided with the opportunity to obtain the ARLA Level 6 Qualification funded by the company.
  • Additional company sponsored training courses are also available and team members are encouraged to take ownership of their personal and professional development by seeking opportunities to learn.

Company Events and Socials:

  • At SouthSide we believe in building good relationships within the team and hold company social events and team activities by department and companywide.
  • We also hold annual milestone, 5-year, 10-year and 15-year Club events for team members that have been with the company for 5-years or more.
  • A bottle of prosecco to celebrate your birthday!
  • Friday drinks