Interim Director – Lead Production Accountant – A+E Factual Studios

A+E Networks; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

A+E Networks seeks an Interim Director – Lead Production Accountant to manage financial operations for its productions. The role entails leading a remote team, overseeing accounting functions, and collaborating with various departments to ensure financial compliance in unscripted show productions. Candidates should possess extensive production accounting experience and strong leadership skills, with a preference for those familiar with remote team management.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of production accounting experience in television or film.
• Solid leadership experience while being comfortable as an individual contributor.

Responsibilities

• Manage a remote-based team of 5-6 staff/freelancers.
• Oversee financial management and cost reporting for productions.
• Serve as liaison between Production Accounting and FP&A.

Skills

Leadership

Financial Management

Production Accounting

Excel

Education

BSBA in Accounting, Business, or Math

Tools

Entertainment Partners products

SAP

Job description

Most people don’t realize the importance of the Finance department in keeping our business operating without hitches and delays. That’s probably because we oversee many of the more quietly glamorous, back-office functions that drive our bottom line. We not only forecast, build and manage budgets, we also collect and analyze important data that helps leadership make the best decisions. All of this sounds exciting to you because you love numbers and spreadsheets, and especially love great entertainment.

Job Description

THE ROLE : Interim Director – Lead Production Accountant – A+E Factual Studios

The Interim Director – Lead Production Accountant role will be charged with leading a remote-based production accounting team of 5-6 staff / freelancers, responsible for managing all aspects of accounting, reporting and compliance. The role will partner with Physical Production, Creative, Business Affairs, Corporate Accounting, Treasury, FP&A and Senior Management for the development, production, and delivery of premium unscripted content. The ideal candidate will have both production accounting experience and exposure to working with corporate accounting and finance teams and have experience managing a high-volume slate of shows and development projects for internal A+E Networks and outside third parties. This assignment is slated to last 7-10 months. The role can be executed in person at one of our offices in Los Angeles, Chicago, or New York City, on a hybrid basis or can be considered fully remote from a list of approved states.

Primary Responsibilities (Non-Exhaustive) :

Financial management and cost reporting for show productions and development.

Manage a remote-based team of professionals.

Set-up shows within A+E’s production accounting ecosystem.

Hire and manage show accountants as needed.

Manage general ledgers, cost reports and trial balances for all productions.

Review and post general ledger entries, reclasses, etc.

Prepare monthly bank reconciliations and distribute month-end close packages to Corporate Accounting and FP&A

Distribute and reconcile petty cash.

Review and approve invoices, wire transfers and production p-card transactions, including detailed management of Cashet accounts.

Manage production payroll through multiple staffing agencies, while ensuring proper labor documentation and compensation rates are provided to and from both the production crew and the employment agency of record.

Update show cost reports and general ledgers on a regular cadence and as agreed with Corporate Accounting, FP&A and Physical Production.

Serve as key liaison between Production Accounting and FP&A.

Proactively be informed and knowledgeable about industry trends and news relating to production and production accounting.

Technical Skills & Systems Knowledge :

Expertise with the full suite of Entertainment Partners products and services (Smart Accounting, Movie Magic, etc.).

Intermediate or advanced Excel knowledge, including complex modeling.

Experience with payroll providers (EP, Atrium, etc.).

SAP experience is ideal, but not critical.

Basic Qualifications :

Minimum of a BSBA degree (ideally in accounting, business, math, etc.) – MBA, CPA or other graduate degree is a plus - but not necessary.

10+ years of production accounting experience in television or film.

Solid leadership experience and, at the same time, comfortable working as an individual contributor.

Other Desired Experience :

In-house studio experience.

Experience working with unscripted productions.

Experience working with a remote team in multiple states and time zones