Commercial Accountant

Cause and FX Ltd; Auckland; Hybrid; NZD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health and wellness allowance

Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)

Learning & development support

Regular social events

Job summary

Cause and FX Ltd is a premier NZ VFX house based in Auckland. We seek a hands-on Commercial Accountant to own payroll, cashflow forecasting, revenue recognition, and management accounts.

You’ll collaborate with SLT and production teams, coordinate annual R&D tax credits, and coordinate weekly revenue roll calls to keep leadership aligned on financial performance. This role is fast-paced, cross-functional, and requires a proactive mindset.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of accounting or commercial finance experience.
• End-to-end payroll experience (NZ & AU contractor compliance).
• Strong Excel skills and knowledge of NZ bookkeeping, GST, and employment compliance.
• Experience with revenue recognition, including project-based environments.

Responsibilities

• Payroll end-to-end management for monthly cycles.
• 90-day rolling cashflow forecast in Xero, with weekly leadership reporting.
• Weekly revenue roll call with Production team.
• Monthly management accounts (P&L, variance, balance sheet).
• Accounts payable: invoicing, coding, payment batches.
• Client and supplier invoicing aligned to milestones.
• Daily bank and credit card reconciliations.
• Liaise with external accountants; coordinate annual R&D tax credit.

Skills

Payroll experience

Revenue recognition

Excel proficiency

Xero

Smartly

GST compliance

Contractor compliance (NZ/AU)

Tools

Xero

Smartly

Excel

Job description

GREAT CREATIVE WORK RUNS ON GREAT PEOPLE & GREAT NUMBERS!

We're one of New Zealand's leading independent VFX studios - the team behind the effects in some of the world's biggest film and television productions. Our artists create the impossible on screen every day. Behind the scenes, we need someone equally sharp making sure the numbers that power it all are accurate, timely, and telling the right story.

About Us

We're one of New Zealand's leading independent VFX studios - the team behind the effects in some of the world's biggest film and television productions. Our artists create the impossible on screen every day. Behind the scenes, we need someone equally sharp making sure the numbers that power it all are accurate, timely, and telling the right story.

About the Role

This is a hands-on Commercial Accountant position sitting at the heart of our finance function. You'll own the day-to-day financial rhythm of the business payroll, cashflow forecasting, revenue recognition, management accounts, accounts payable, and more. It's operational, it's fast, and no two weeks look exactly the same.

You'll work closely with our Senior Leadership Team, Production team, wider crew and be our day-to-day contact with our external accountants. You'll also coordinate our annual R&D tax credit claim and support the weekly revenue roll call that keeps our production and leadership teams aligned on where we stand commercially.

What you'll Own

• Monthly payroll end-to-end via Smartly, including contractor payments and compliance
• 90-day rolling cashflow forecast in Xero, reported weekly to the leadership team
• Weekly revenue roll call reporting in collaboration with the Production team
• Monthly management accounts including P&L, budget variance, and balance sheet
• Accounts payable - invoice processing, coding, and payment batches
• Client and supplier invoicing tied to project milestones
• Daily bank and credit card reconciliations
• Day-to-day relationship with our external accountants
• Annual R&D tax credit coordination
• Contractor onboarding, compliance, and scheduled payments

What We're Actually Looking For

Someone who's done this before, ideally in a fast-paced, scale up environment where you've had to be adaptable, wear multiple hats, and figure things out without a playbook. You're not waiting to be asked. You flag things early, share information openly, and understand that in a business like ours, finance exists to serve the wider team not the other way around.

Technically, you'll need:

• 5+ years of accounting or commercial finance experience
• End-to-end payroll experience (NZ and ideally Australian contractor compliance)
• Xero and Smartly proficiency
• Strong Excel skills and a solid grasp of NZ bookkeeping, GST, and employment compliance
• Understanding of revenue recognition including percentage-completion accounting (bonus points if you've worked in a project-based or creative environment)

What it's like here

We move fast, are solution focussed and take full ownership in anything we do. We back each other up, and we take the work seriously without taking ourselves too seriously. You'll sit close to leadership and have real visibility into how the business runs, which is great if you want to understand the commercial side of a creative business, and not so great if you prefer to keep your head down.

We're in the office three days a week minimum. We're based in Auckland.

• Health and wellness allowance
• Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)
• Access to ongoing learning & development
• Regular social events and a team that genuinely enjoys spending time together
• A front-row seat to how a creative business runs with real visibility and real impact

Home to a diverse and talented team of creators who excel through collaboration. Our integrity, fairness, and authentic expression make us trusted members of our community. The collective impact of our past, present, and future crew members shapes our growth. We are defined by our people