Accounting Technician

The Financial Support Services Unit (FSSU) was established in 2005 and operates under Department of Education (DE) Circulars 60/2017 and 02/2018.

The FSSU is a support mechanism for school management in the Primary, Community & Comprehensive and Voluntary Secondary schools’ sectors which enables them to comply with the provisions of the Education Act 1998 in terms of accountability, transparency and financial responsibility for State and other funding.

The FSSU is the responsibility of the Director of the FSSU.

The FSSU is fully funded by the Department of Education through the Secretariat of Secondary Schools Ltd.

The successful candidate will be an employee of the Secretariat of Secondary Schools Limited (www.JMB.ie).

The purpose of this recruitment competition is to appoint an Accounting Technician who will report to the Director of the FSSU or such person(s) as may have been nominated by the FSSU Director.

The position will be working from home.

Please note, induction training will take place at the FSSU office in Athlone, Co. Westmeath and the successful candidates will be required to attend the induction training at this location.

It is also required to attend a minimum of 2 days per annum at the Athlone office for Team meetings or on other occasions at the discretion of the Director.

Reporting to the Director of the FSSU or such person(s) as may have been nominated by the Director, and working with the Team, the Accounting Technician will have the following role and will be responsible for the delivery of the following services:

• Provide support and technical advice to schools on all aspects of financial controls, procedures, cashflow and budget preparation and financial governance including RCT, VAT, payroll and maintenance of accounting packages

• Provision of support and training for in house Excel based package, Sage 50 and Bright packages

• Development of standard operating procedures and support materials

• Provision of online and remote access support and training to individuals and groups

• Any other deliverables as determined by the Director

• Preparation and delivery of webinar material and training videos

Please note the following:

• Travel will be required for attendance at meetings and travel to schools may be required.

• The role is a permanent role subject to probation period of 6 months.

• Normal working hours are 9am to 5pm. Working hours of 11am to 7pm may be required on occasion.

• The current salary scale is as follows: Executive Officer Higher Scale PPC

This scale is subject to change in line with Public Sector Pay agreements.

• The employer provides access to a PRSA that the employee can contribute to. A matched contribution of up to 5% is provided by the employer following successful probation period. The position is not part of a public sector pension scheme.

• A panel may be formed to fill any vacancies that arise within 1 year from the end of this recruitment process.

The Application Form is available to download from www.fssu.ie

The closing date for applications is Friday October 2nd 2026.

A completed Application Form should be returned by email to recruitment@fssu.ie and the email title should include the following: “Accounting Technician Job Application”.

Shortlisting may apply.

The Secretariat of Secondary Schools Limited is an equal opportunities employer.

The successful candidate must:

(a) Be a fully qualified Accounting Technician or equivalent

(b) Have a minimum of 3 years post qualification experience (PQE)

(c) Ability to work remotely

(d) Excellent level of numerical and analytical skills including collation of data

(e) Excellent communication skills, exceptional oral and written communications capabilities

(f) Ability to communicate effectively and comfortably with client personnel of all levels of accounting expertise through the media of telephone, online and face to face

(g) A high level of knowledge of RCT and VAT procedures relevant to a school environment

(h) Ability to prepare cashflow statements and budgets

(i) Willingness to be adaptable and have an ability to work on their own initiative

(j) Ability to work remotely within a team environment and be self-motivated

(k) Ability to handle multiple tasks simultaneously

(l) Must have excellent MS Office and CRM skills

(m) Familiarity operating various accounting software packages particularly Sage50 and Bright Accounts

(n) Familiarity operating various payroll software packages

(o) Ability to prepare and deliver training on a one to one and group basis and remotely using virtual events platforms such as GoTo and Microsoft Teams

(p) Ability to contribute to development of financial procedures

(q) A high degree of discretion and ability to work with sensitive and confidential data

(r) Commitment to meeting deadlines

(s) Own car and driver’s licence