AP/AR Specialist

About Us - Who We Are

The Lock Group is a collective of B Corp certified creative production specialists, united by a shared mission: to help brands realise their vision and transform their business through industry-leading and culturally resonant content.

We operate at the intersection of culture and commerce, balancing artistic integrity with

commercial ambition. Our work connects, inspires, and creates lasting impact that goes

beyond delivering results.

We amplify distinctive, creative voices and help brands show up in more original, relevant, and impactful ways, building legacy through meaningful storytelling.

The Position

The AP/AR Specialist provides essential support to Lock Group’s finance team, contributing to the accuracy, efficiency, and integrity of financial operations across four entities in the UK, USA, France and Netherlands. This role performs daily accounting tasks, and records management to ensure smooth and compliant financial processes. Working closely with the Finance Manager, the AP/AR Specialist helps maintain up-to-date financial records, supports management reporting, and contributes to informed decision-making across the business.

Responsibilities:

Accounts Payable 

• Entering purchase invoices and expenses into the finance system to the correct nominal codes, following cut-off procedures for month and year end reporting, accounting for correct treatment of taxes (e.g. VAT), ensuring purchase invoices are booked to correct project/job numbers (where appropriate) and capturing and reporting purchase invoices that require to be treated as prepayments. 
• Proposing weekly payment runs (including bulk payments) to suppliers for weekly cashflow meetings held by senior management based on the due dates of outstanding purchase invoices and priority suppliers, adjusting payment runs based on feedback from cashflow meetings and preparing the agreed payments in local banking systems.
• Managing central Accounts inbox including forwarding purchase invoices to finance system and communicating with internal team members and external suppliers about payment dates and queries in a timely manner.
• Reviewing aged creditors to identify and resolve errors (e.g. mispostings) and reporting any identified issues with suggested solutions to Finance Manager
• Assisting in forecasting outgoing cashflows beyond the current week’s payment run based on priorities, financial information and knowledge of supplier requirements.
• Maintaining clear and up to date suppliers records (e.g. addresses, contacts, payment terms) within finance system
• Processing Bank and Credit Cards Reconciliations within finance system with reference to bank feeds/statements, spend management software, and supporting documentation (e.g. invoices, receipts). 
• Filling out supplier set up forms for Finance Manager approval
• Preparing and presenting suppliers reconciliation when needed
• Processing and reconciling employees’ expense forms within and without spend management software, including ensuring appropriate authorisation, correct spend classification, supporting receipts and correct tax treatment.
• Identifying and proposing opportunities to streamline Accounts Payable processes and assisting in implementation of approved changes.     
• Reporting to Finance Manager in a timely manner any issues or challenges identified in the Accounts Payable process (e.g. errors, missed purchase invoices, supplier communications).

Accounts Receivable and Credit Control

• Vendor set up with customers including completing new vendor forms provided by customers and registering with client portals for submission of invoices.
• Entering sales invoices into the finance system based on instruction from business through billing Slack channels and sales orders raised, ensuring customer and financial information is correct, invoices are booked to correct project/job numbers, sales taxes are accounted for correctly (e.g. VAT), and cut-off procedures for month and year end reporting is adhered to.
• Submitting sales invoices and other required information to customer online portals accurately and in a timely manner to ensure prompt payment.
• Reconciling sales invoices to billing requests and sales orders where multiple invoices are raised over a period of time, including accounting for any requested additional invoices for overages.
• Identifying and responding to internal (e.g. producers) and external billing enquiries.
• Managing credit control through maintaining accurate and up to date financial information in finance system (e.g. correct ageing, up to date bank reconciliations) and regular chasing of outstanding debt with reference to escalation framework, requesting assistance from internal team members and management to chase long outstanding debt or deal with sensitive customer relationships. 
• Reviewing aged debtors to identify and resolve errors (e.g. mispostings) and report any identified issues with suggested solutions to Finance Manager.
• Assisting in forecasting incoming cashflow based on analysis of outstanding aged debt and knowledge and experience of customers. 
• Identifying and proposing opportunities to streamline Accounts Receivable and Credit Control processes and assisting in implementation of approved changes.     
• Reporting to Finance Manager in a timely manner any issues or challenges identified in the Accounts Receivable and Credit Control processes (e.g. errors, missed sales invoices, customer communications).

Month-end Procedures

• Providing financial information to Finance Manager to support month and year end reporting (e.g. summaries of sales invoices raised and purchase invoices posted post-month end, prepayments identified from purchase invoices posted, summaries of sales invoices raised in the month)
• Balance Sheet reconciliations for Bank, Credit Cards, Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable on a monthly basis
• Support the team with similar duties in other entities as cover or during busy periods.

Essential Skills and Requirements:

• Three years plus experience in Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable and Credit Control, media/creative/agency production industry preferred.
• Accounting/Finance degree preferred, but not essential if offset by experience.
• Experience in AP/AR for entities based abroad, particularly USA and Europe, preferred but not essential.
• Strong and confident verbal and written communication skills including ability to provide clear presentation of identified issues to Finance Manager and concise and tactful responses and conversations with internal stakeholders, suppliers and customers while maintaining strong relationships.
• Strong organisational skills and attention to detail to ensure accurate and timely financial information is maintained in the finance system and inbox management is kept up to date. 
• Proactive identification of issues, errors and improvement opportunities with Finance Manager.
• Strong ethical ethos including upholding integrity in the finance function and maintaining confidentiality of financial information both internally and externally.
• Essential experience with Xero financial software, additional experience with Odoo preferred but not essential.
• Proficient and experienced in Microsoft Office, ideally intermediate in Excel, with basic knowledge of communication software such as Slack.
• Essential experience with online banking and spend management software.

Perks and Benefits

We want you to do great work and enjoy a great life outside of it. Our benefits are designed to support your wellbeing, growth, flexibility and day-to-day life:

• Generous time off policies 
• One paid volunteering day
• Work from anywhere for up to 5 days a year
• Confidential Employee Assistance Programme
• Mental Health First Aider support
• Fertility and menopause leave
• Cycle to Work and eye care support
• Electric car, home & tech, nursery and season ticket salary-sacrifice schemes
• Quarterly studio events, summer and Christmas parties
• Peer-nominated recognition and long-service rewards
• Dog-friendly studio
• B Corp certified, sustainability-focused workplace

Equal Opportunities

We’re committed to creating a workplace where everyone feels welcomed, valued and able to thrive. We believe diverse perspectives and experiences lead to better creativity and collaboration. If you need any adjustments during the recruitment process, we’re happy to support.

Please state your salary expectations on your application.