Senior Production Finance Manager - Theatre

We're working with a growing theatre company based in Woking, looking for a Senior Finance Manager to lead the Production Finance function and support a busy portfolio of live productions. This is a senior, hands-on role with responsibility for a team of four, combining production accounting, technical accounting, tax, cash flow and stakeholder management.

Responsibilities:

• Oversee weekly production reporting, providing General Managers with a clear view of pre-production costs, running profits and show-by-show performance
• Lead and manage a team of 3 production Finance professionals, ensuring timely and accurate production accounts
• Oversee monthly management accounts, group reporting and production profit forecasts
• Manage and oversee production, group, SPV and investor cash flow forecasting and reporting
• Ensure appropriate technical accounting treatment is applied across productions, including consolidation, equity accounting and level of control considerations
• Oversee taxation and compliance requirements across productions, including Theatre Tax Relief and other relevant production tax matters
• Ensure statutory accounts and tax returns are completed accurately and on time
• Act as a key point of contact for the annual audit, working closely with auditors and senior finance stakeholders
• Review weekly payment runs and work closely with purchase ledger and payroll teams to ensure effective transactional processing
• Contribute to budgeting and reforecasting processes, maintaining accurate show-by-show profit forecasts
• Identify and lead process improvement initiatives, making effective use of existing and new finance systems
• Provide technical accounting and tax advice to the Productions team and wider business

Requirements:

• ACA, ACCA or CIMA qualified accountant
• Strong experience within live entertainment, theatre or production finance
• Proven experience in production accounting, ideally across multiple live productions
• Strong understanding of the technical accounting, taxation and compliance requirements relevant to live productions, including Theatre Tax Relief
• Previous line management experience, with the ability to lead and develop a team
• Comfortable managing multiple priorities and delivering accurate work to tight deadlines
• Experience of process improvement and finance systems, with a track record of improving processes and ways of working
• Strong Excel and financial reporting skills
• Must be able to commute to Woking and work in the office 3 days per week

Handle actively welcomes applicants from under-represented backgrounds - we pride ourselves on attracting the best talent for every opportunity through a commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion.