posted 5 hours ago
Financial Controller - Theatre
£60,000 - £80,000 per annum + Bonus + Package
Financial Controller - Theatre
UK-based theatrical production company managing multiple concurrent West End, touring, and international productions are looking for a Qualified ACA, ACCa, CIMA Financial Controller, accountable for the smooth financial management across the group. You will own the month-end close, bank reconciliation discipline, accrual policy enforcement, cash oversight, and management accounts across all entities.
This is a hands-on role. You will lead a small finance team and report directly to the Managing Director. You will be the primary point of accountability for finance being in control - always reconcilable, always current, always explainable.
Key Responsibilities
Month-End Close & Multi-Entity Financial Control:
Own and deliver the month-end close across all entities: bank reconciliations complete, accruals posted, intercompany confirmed, production accounts drafted.
Enforce entity separation rules rigorously - every cost sits in the correct entity, intercompany loan accounts are used immediately, no blurred coding.
Maintain and enforce the group's accrual policy: accrue anything above £1,000 or clearly recurring; weekly production accruals posted by performance week.
Prepare and deliver weekly and monthly management accounts, cashflow forecasts and board-level reporting for all productions and SPVs.
Own the bank reconciliation standard: every entity reconciled weekly, bank balance matching statement, oldest unreconciled item under 30 days.
Production Finance:
Deliver weekly production accounts for all running productions, distinguishing clearly between pre-production and running costs.
Monitor budgets and cost reporting across multiple concurrent theatrical productions.
Deliver accurate and timely royalty statements, including self-billing, minimum guarantees, and pool calculations.
Oversee and assist with weekly and monthly payroll processes across shows as required, including running payrolls when needed for cover.
Ensure weekly tour trading accruals (settlements, cast payroll, travel, theatre contra, royalties) are posted with the correct weekly class.
Statutory & Compliance:
Ensure compliance with VAT returns (per SPV), PAYE, and Corporation Tax, working closely with the Managing Director and external advisors.
Support Theatre Tax Relief (TTR) claims across production SPVs, maintaining clean cost categorisation to support claims.
Act as primary financial point of contact for auditors, tax advisors, and legal counsel.
Cash & Creditor Management:
Own weekly cash oversight across all entities, maintaining an accurate group cash position.
Actively manage creditors: weekly review of top creditors, due/overdue amounts, payment plans for the next 7-14 days, and supplier risk flags.
Systems & Processes:
Maintain and develop QuickBooks (per entity), payroll systems (QuickBooks Advanced), and Dext invoice processing workflows.
Strengthen financial controls, authorisation procedures, and coding standards - every transaction correctly categorised, production-coded, and week-class tagged.
Identify and implement process improvements and automation opportunities across the finance function.
Leadership & Team Management:
Line manage the Production Finance Manager and Accounts Assistant(s), ensuring strong delivery, development, and clear ownership of responsibilities.
Collaborate with Producers, General Managers, and external stakeholders.
Maintain the weekly finance operating cadence: Monday finance control meeting, midweek production finance ops, Thursday cash and creditors review.
Strategic Support:
Advise the Managing Director and Producers on financial risk, opportunity, and sustainability.
Support business planning, scenario modelling, and investor relations (including monthly investor reporting).
Contribute to the company's long-term growth strategies.
Person Specification:
Qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA, or equivalent) - this is a non-negotiable requirement.
Demonstrable experience owning month-end close across multiple entities or subsidiaries, ideally in a group structure.
Strong technical accounting skills: accruals, prepayments, intercompany, bank reconciliations, management accounts.
Hands-on operator comfortable in a small team - this is not a role where you delegate everything downward.
Experience with QuickBooks (or comparable cloud accounting software) and confident with Excel/Google Sheets for modelling and reconciliation.
Commercial awareness and ability to communicate financial position clearly to nonfinance stakeholders.
Experience in theatre, live entertainment, film, or media production finance.
Familiarity with Theatre Tax Relief, SPV structures, or investor reporting.
Interest in process improvement, automation, and building scalable finance operations.
Strong line/people management experience.
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.