Finance Associate

Established in 1977, GOAL is an international humanitarian agency dedicated to alleviating the suffering of the poor and the vulnerable and is currently operating in 14 countries world-wide. GOAL delivers a wide range of humanitarian and development programmes, ranging from humanitarian relief in disaster situations to supporting the development of healthcare services and building sustainable livelihoods. Since its foundation, GOAL has allocated more than €910 million to programmes in over 60 countries.

Overview:

The primary purpose of this role is to operate the payrolls for GOAL Ireland, GOAL UK, GOAL US, and International, which have a combined headcount of approximately 200 staff. This position will also perform an important supervisory and review role of the Purchase Ledger and Donations functions.

Core Streams for this role:

· HO, UK, US, International payrolls

· Timesheets for all the above

· Review/Supervise the Purchase Ledger

· Review/Supervise Donations

Payroll – General

• Work with HR and external agencies to ensure the four company payrolls are processed accurately and on time each month
• Prepare and post the payroll journals to Sage (GOAL’s accounting system)
• Optimise cost-recovery by processing of staff timesheet cost allocations
• Manage payroll, tax, and pension queries from staff and other stakeholders
• Reconcile the payroll bank accounts
• Reconcile the payroll balance sheet accounts
• Keep all filing organised and up to date
• Maintain good communications with GOAL’s HR department, overseas offices, and external payroll agencies to ensure good information flow
• Maintain good data security and confidentiality at all times

Payroll – GOAL Ireland

• Payroll processing for GOAL’s Head Office is outsourced to a payroll agency. The payroll manager plays a pivotal review and advisory role in the process
• Review and input to HR payroll files, review agency reports, and resolve any queries, prior to recommendation for processing
• Prepare the monthly pensions report for GOAL’s pension broker
• Advise staff as needed on the operation Ireland’s PAYE system
• Provide support to HR in matters of tax residency

Payroll – UK, US

• Both the UK and US payrolls are outsourced to payroll agencies. The payroll manager is the key link between GOAL and these agencies, providing input, reviewing agency reports, and making recommendations for processing
• Support HR as needed to handle payroll and tax related queries
• In partnership with our US auditors, ensure US State Employer tax registrations and filings and payments are up to date at all times.

Payroll – International

• Process this payroll in-house, using both Excel and Sage Payroll
• Ensure correct application of Irish PAYE, USC and PRSI, as appropriate to both tax-resident and non-tax resident (in Ireland) staff.
• Report as required to Revenue on time each month via ROS.
• Manage the PAYE Exclusion Orders process in relation to Irish staff working overseas.
• Manage the PRSI Special Collections process for overseas staff, ensuring staff ‘Retention Certificates’ are up to date at all times, and issuing the appropriate remittances, returns, and employee certificates.
• Operate the Volunteer Development Worker Scheme for PRSI where appropriate
• Provide international staff with a statement of their earnings with GOAL as and when requested
• Process expense claims and deductions (including pay taken in-country) as advised by HR through the payroll
• Input to pre-departure and pre-hire conversations on tax residency, Social/National Insurance and tax matters

Purchase Ledger

• Provide support and supervision for the Purchase Ledger Finance Officer
• Review the proposed payments report and any manual payments prior to presentation to the Senior Accountant for authorisation
• Review the purchase ledger ‘batches’ to ensure accuracy of information about to be posted to Sage.
• Check and authorise the creation of new payees in our online banking facilities
• Review and approve the month-end reconciliations of the purchase ledger assistant (bank accounts and creditors ledger).
• Help streamline the payments process through engagement with technology and review of GOAL’s internal processes

Donations

• Provide support and supervision for the Donations Officer

· Review the donations batch reports before approving in CRM (GOAL’s donations system)

· Review and approve the monthly CRM donations summaries, and enter to Sage

· Reconcile CRM to Sage data on a monthly basis

• Maintain good communications with the Fundraising department to ensure good information flow and co-operation

Other

· Provide support to other team members on an ongoing basis to ensure departmental objectives are achieved.

· Keep standard operating procedures documentation for your functions up to date

· Represent the finance dept on procurement and tender committees as and when required

· Any other reasonable and appropriate duties as assigned by line manager

Person Specification

Essential:

· An experienced payroll operator or finance professional, with a minimum of three years relevant experience

· Accounting Technician, qualified or part-qualified Accountant or Tax professional or similar

· Fully conversant with all aspects of payroll calculation, employment taxation in Ireland, including tax residency considerations

· Excellent IT skills. The role requires a high level of competence in use of Microsoft Office products, accounting and payroll packages, and various online applications. These include but are not limited to: Excel, Word, Teams, Outlook, Microsoft Dynamics, Sage Payroll, Sage, banking and other online applications.

· Very strong commitment to accuracy and attention to detail. Needs to be very comfortable working with large complex spreadsheets.

· Flexible ‘can-do’ attitude – a genuine team player. Committed to timely achievement of department goals.

Desirable:

· Experience or understanding of UK and US payroll taxation desirable

· As GOAL operates in an international environment, the candidate must be comfortable operating in several currencies

· Excellent interpersonal, telephone, and written communication skills

· A pro-active self-starter who can think on their feet, plan ahead, can spot issues or anomalies and take appropriate action, and is comfortable dealing with a diverse range of queries from internal stakeholders.

· Excellent organizational skills

. Ability to identify priorities, works well under pressure, and towards several objectives simultaneously