Royalties manager 13 month Mat cover-Entertainment

A leader in Entertainment, Theatre and Music publishing are looking for a qualified Royalties Manager (Maternity Cover) to be responsible for the timely and accurate collection, processing and reporting of all income, including (but not limited to) First Class, Stock & Amateur, Recorded Music and Film, and for processing and paying royalties, and dealing with all related queries.

We are seeking a CIMA or ACCA qualified accountant, with experience in a senior finance management role and experience of royalty processing, royalty accounting and knowledge of royalty systems.

MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES

First Class Income:

• Key liaison with FP&A and Theatrical & Live team to ensure that all revenue is captured correctly;
• Ensure all advances, fees and profit shares are invoiced and received on time;
• Ensure all royalties pay-outs are accurate and on a timely basis;
• Point of contact for questions from rights holders, responding to queries in a timely and professional manner;
• Ensure a full and comprehensive audit trail of back-up is maintained of each payout.

Stock & Amateur Income Processing & Royalty Pay-Throughs:

• Responsible for ensuring all Stock & Amateur income is collected in a timely manner and processed through Music Maestro on a monthly basis;
• Ensure all income and gross margin is reconciled and agreed with Management Accountant;
• Royalty statements prepared and issued on a 6 monthly basis (quarterly for Escaway);
• Ensure all revenue is recorded accurately in the royalty system, with the required back-up loaded onto the system;
• Process quarterly payment runs including BACS & international payments;
• Process pay-throughs for invoices manually raised by the Stock & Amateur team.

Subsidiary Income & Gross Margin Management:

• Maintain a detailed income calendar for all subsidiary income receipts (including Records, Film, Music Publishing and Other income), timing of royalties processing and pay-throughs;
• Liaise with global partners to ensure that royalties are received on a timely basis, with credit control schedule ensuring all royalty income invoiced and received on time;
• Prepare income variance analysis to be shared with management in a timely manner to communicate and explain material movements in income versus budget, prior year and forecast and to identify key movements for further analysis;
• Ensure Records, Film and Music Publishing income and gross margin are accounted correctly;
• Review inbound royalty reporting for accuracy prior to entry onto royalty system to ensure reflects underlying contracts.

Management Reporting:

• Prepare regular management information on key areas of business, with commentary highlighting any issues, exceptional and/or trends;
• Support annual budgeting and forecasting with analysis of income and gross margin history and trends;
• Work with the Head of Financial Reporting, Finance Director and FP&A team on reporting for Board pack and other scheduled finance reviews;
• Balance sheet reconciliations for key accounts such as customers, advances, accruals etc.;
• Meet monthly with the Theatrical & Live team to ensure recharge of costs incurred and to go through aged debt on First Class income.

Credit Control:

• Reconcile payments received with statements;
• Reviewing aged debtors ledger weekly and pursue collection of outstanding debts;
• Weekly reports circulated to finance team with updates and actions.

Onbase & Royalty Accounting:

• Responsible for creation and completion of Royalty PTIPS on Onbase. Includes all customer and rights holder information and royalty rates. Manage approval of PTIPS with Finance Director, and resolve and investigate any queries timely;
• Enter and reconcile cash receipts to royalty distribution statements;
• Create self-billing invoices and receipts for reconciled payments as required;
• Post all approved royalties paythrough calculations on the Business Central (BC) finance system and monthly reconciliation of interfaced royalties on BC for the period close;
• Create monthly domestic and international Royalty payment runs and remittance advices for approval;
• Monthly office of the shareholder royalty reconciliation and payment summary.
• Monthly accruals of First Class and Stock and Amateur accounting, as well as necessary reversals once funds are received
• Management of generic Royalty ledger email inbox. Prioritise, Investigate and resolve customer queries timely. Escalate any issues to the financial controller or Finance director as appropriate.
• Other ad hoc duties as required.

Audit & Other Reporting:

• Main point of contact for questions and to provide explanations and back-up.

Team Management:

• Part responsibility for line management of Assistant Accountant. Includes supporting personal development, performance reviews and workload management.

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.