Job Introduction

We are looking for an experienced Finance Officer to work as part of the Westminster School Finance Team to be responsible for the accounts receivable function for the School for an immediate start.

The role is a key member of the Finance team, currently consisting of eight people at Westminster School, providing accounting services largely based from school offices. The team comprises a financial accounting team lead by the Senior Financial Controller who together with Finance Planning and Analysis Manager report into the Finance Bursar who is head of the department.  

Responsible To:  Senior Financial Controller 

 Purpose: 

• Prepare termly fee bills for the School ensuring that all fees and recharges are included on the parent’s fee bill.  Raise ad hoc sales invoices.
• Identify overdue accounts and ensure that the School Policy and terms for the collection of accounts receivable are followed. 
• Respond to parent and staff queries about fee related matters by telephone, email or in person in a helpful, supportive and proactive manner.

Role Responsibility

Fee Billing 

• Prepare termly fees bills for parents and use the appropriate charge levels and applicable VAT rates.
• Liaise with trip leaders and other members of staff to ensure that all additional charges are invoiced on time.
• Ensure that any change to fees due, such as pupil moves to boarding, are picked up and charged appropriately.
• Ensure any additional charges such as the Alumni joining fee, healthcare scheme and critical illness policies are charged and administered with the relevant organisations.
• Ensure all bursaries, scholarships and fee discounts are recorded correctly.  
• Ensure that all leavers are invoiced and deposits returned as appropriate. 
• Respond to and resolve queries from parents arising from the termly invoices.
• Prepare a termly reconciliation of pupil fees with the school management information system.

Sales invoice 

• Prepare monthly sales invoices for customers and enter onto the sales ledger.
• Liaise with the relevant members of staff to ensure that all additional charges are invoiced on time and cash collected.

Cash Collection

• Manage the setup of new direct debit agreements for all parents who want to start paying by direct debit.
• Process the direct debit files for the School, following up with parents on failed collections.
• Allocate cash received via bank transfer or by direct debit to parent’s accounts.

 Overdue Accounts

• Produce an aged debtors list and monitor the list throughout the term in conjunction with the Senior Financial Controller.
• Initiate standard reminders adhering to the School policy for Fees Collections. 
• Negotiate with late payers via letter, email, and telephone according to the School policy for Fees Collections. 
• Draft and send non-standard letters and emails related to arrears, disputes, and queries. 
• Regular referral and communication with debt collection agencies. 
• Escalate to manager, Finance Bursar or Head of Legal and Compliance as necessary.

 Other 

• Prepare all documentation with regard to the fees ledger for the annual audit.
• Ensure that pupil and ‘bill payer’ information is up to date in the finance systems.
• Keep a record of the registration fees, acceptance fees and deposits paid by prospective students. Cross check with the Admissions department on a regular basis. 
• Arrange for repayment of deposits and ensure the fees account is cleared on leaving the School.
• Ensure that the schools data protection policy is followed at all times.
• Undertake any other duties as are agreed as being in keeping with the general nature of the role as required by the Senior Financial Controller.

The Ideal Candidate

Please refer to the below (attached) person specification.

Equal Opportunities

We are an equal opportunities employer. We therefore encourage candidates to apply irrespective of age, disability, marriage or civil partnership status, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion and belief, gender identity, sex or sexual orientation.

Safeguarding and Child Protection

Westminster School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. Applicants must be willing to undergo child protection screening appropriate to the post, including checks with past employers and the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Package Description

Required for: as soon as possible

Location: Deans Yard - Westminster School

Hours of work: 09:00 - 17:00, Monday to Friday with an hour lunchbreak

Contract: full-time, permanent

Salary: £40,000 per annum.

Benefits include:

 - Free school meals when on-site

 - 25 days paid holiday, as well as a discretionary Christmas shutdown period

 - Generous School pension scheme and 

 - Free access to the School’s leisure facilities, including a fitness gym (restricted hours). 

 - Cycle to Work Scheme and season ticket loans following completion of our standard probation period 

 - Private medical insurance (opt in).

The deadline for applications is midday on Wednesday 30th April 2025. Interviews will take place shortly after the closing date.

About the School

Working at Westminster

Westminster School is a busy, purposeful and vibrant place to be and an excellent workplace. The community is made up of 750 pupils, 120 teaching staff and 108 support staff.

Westminster School is friendly and welcoming, and all newcomers quickly become part of the rhythm of life here.

There is a real sense of community here as, being a boarding school many members of staff and pupils live on site and the School’s premises are very much treated as a home away from home. School life starts before breakfast and continues way beyond the working day; as a result, there is always a lively atmosphere in and around School and always someone to share a tea and biscuit with in the Common Room. Support staff as much as teaching staff are encouraged to embrace the School’s day-to-day activities, whether that be attending an evening concert or a morning service in the Abbey.

At Westminster we will always select the best candidate for every position. We do know, however, that we can only truly choose the best person on every occasion if a broad and diverse pool of candidates see the job advertised and are encouraged to apply.

As such, we continue to work on how our job roles are encountered, and particularly welcome applications from groups who have traditionally been underrepresented here.

Westminster School is for everyone, regardless of gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation or any other protected characteristic. We hope you are encouraged to apply.

The School

Westminster School is an independent day and boarding school for boys aged 13-18 and girls aged 16-18, with a long history, a distinctive ethos, and a unique sense of place in the very heart of London. Pupils achieve exceptional examination results and entrance to some of the top universities in the world. It is a busy, passionate and purposeful place where independent and deep thinking is enjoyed, encouraged and respected by all, and where holistic excellence is nurtured and valued.

While the School is one of the foremost centres of academic excellence in the country, its commitment to academic life does not make it a hothouse for passing examinations. Pupils’ success at examinations and entry to leading universities is instead a result of their enjoyment of academic enquiry, debate and search for explanation, well beyond published syllabuses. Pupils are intellectually, socially, ethically and politically engaged and our aim is to ensure that their enthusiasm for learning is developed further, allowing them to take full advantage of the opportunities presented to them in the future. At Westminster, pupils have the freedom to lead on projects outside of the classroom and embrace a whole range of extra-curricular activities and interests. A host of pupil-led societies take place every week at the School, often with expert guest speakers, and pupils can choose to study an additional language, play an instrument or two, volunteer in local primary schools, row along the Thames, take part in plays and musicals, and much more. 

The School’s ethos resides in the enduring values of the liberal tradition reflected in the 1560 Charter of Westminster’s Elizabethan foundation, where it is stated that: ‘the youth which is growing to manhood, as tender shoots in the wood of our state, shall be liberally instructed in good books to the greater honour of the state’. Whilst academic and cultural attainments are highly prized at Westminster, the School is fully committed also to each pupil’s spiritual, moral, emotional and physical development and wellbeing – with a particular emphasis on drawing out individual talent wherever it lies – and to prepare young people for fulfilled private and public lives.

From September 2028, the School will welcome both girls and boys at 13+ entry, offering a Westminster education to all. By 2026, Westminster Under School will have opened its brand new pre-prep for girls and boys at 4+ and girls will have joined boys in Years 3 and 7, at the 7+ and 11+ entry points. By 2030, all year groups at Westminster School and Westminster Under School, from ages four to 18, will be fully co-educational, reflecting the School’s dedication to inclusivity and excellence. 

Westminster School