Finance Architect & Lead for a Creative Agency

Respective Collective; New York (NY); On-site; USD 100,000 - 125,000; Full time

Job summary

Respective Collective in New York City is seeking its first dedicated finance leader to design and own the system that tracks revenue, costs, and cash.

Reporting to the COO, you will deliver monthly closes, P&L, balance sheet, and cash forecasts, turning complex numbers into actionable insights for creative leadership.

This build role focuses on creating scalable processes, automations, and dashboards rather than maintenance tasks.

Qualifications

• 4–6 years in accounting with ownership of monthly close.
• Experience building new processes you can articulate.
• Fluency in accrual accounting; senior finance leader in the room.
• Speed and agility; finance answers ASAP, not a week later.
• Meticulous organization; nothing gets dropped.
• Strong spreadsheet capabilities; automate repetitive tasks.

Responsibilities

• Monthly Close: Full monthly close within 10 business days.
• Financial Reporting: P&L, balance sheet, cash flow, and COO summary.
• The Freelancer Machine: Onboarding, W-9s, invoice intake, payments, 1099 filings, NYC rules.
• Job Costing: Per-project P&Ls to reveal real margins.
• AR & Client Billing: Billing, AR, and collections across retainers and milestones.
• Cash Management: Rolling 13-week cash forecast.
• Systems & Dashboards: Tooling selection, process docs, leadership dashboards.

Skills

Financial reporting

Monthly close ownership

Accrual accounting

Spreadsheet automation

Cross-functional communication

Process design

Attention to detail

Education

CPA or CPA candidate

Tools

Spreadsheets (Excel)

Accounting software

Job description

Respective Collective in New York City is seeking its first dedicated finance leader to design and own the system that tracks revenue, costs, and cash.

Reporting to the COO, you will deliver monthly closes, P&L, balance sheet, and cash forecasts, turning complex numbers into actionable insights for creative leadership.

This build role focuses on creating scalable processes, automations, and dashboards rather than maintenance tasks.