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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Manager of Financial Reporting

💰 $110,000 - $170,000

FinanceAccountingCorporate Reporting

🎯 Role Definition

The Manager of Financial Reporting is a senior accounting leader responsible for end-to-end financial statement preparation, technical accounting, regulatory and SEC filings, and maintaining robust internal controls and close processes. This role coordinates external audits, mentors a team of accountants, partners with FP&A, tax, treasury and operations, and drives continuous improvement through ERP and reporting tool enhancements. Ideal candidates combine deep US GAAP/IFRS and SEC reporting experience with strong systems, project management and people leadership skills.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Senior Financial Analyst with consolidated reporting responsibilities
  • Senior Accountant or Accounting Manager (general ledger & month-end close)
  • SEC Reporting Analyst or Technical Accounting Senior

Advancement To:

  • Director of Financial Reporting
  • Corporate Controller
  • VP of Accounting / VP Finance
  • Head of Technical Accounting

Lateral Moves:

  • FP&A Manager / Director
  • Compliance & SOX Manager
  • Accounting Systems / ERP Program Manager

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Lead the monthly, quarterly and annual close cycle, ensuring consolidated financial statements are prepared accurately and delivered on schedule; own balance sheet reconciliations, P&L review, and close checklist governance to drive a predictable close cadence.
  • Prepare and review GAAP-compliant consolidated financial statements and supporting footnotes, ensuring accuracy for internal management reporting and external stakeholder distribution.
  • Manage SEC reporting for public companies, including preparation and review of 10-Qs, 10-Ks, 8-Ks and other filings, coordinating with external counsel and investor relations to meet all filing deadlines and disclosure requirements.
  • Interpret and apply complex US GAAP and IFRS technical accounting standards (including ASC 606, ASC 842, lease accounting, revenue recognition, impairments and derivatives), and provide timely guidance to accounting teams and cross-functional partners.
  • Own SOX internal control design and testing for financial reporting processes; lead remediation efforts, maintain control documentation, and coordinate with internal audit and external auditors to demonstrate control effectiveness.
  • Serve as primary liaison to external auditors and tax advisors throughout year-end and interim audits, providing schedules, reconciliations, explanations and timely responses to audit inquiries to ensure efficient audit execution.
  • Supervise, coach and develop a high-performing team of financial reporting accountants; set goals, perform performance reviews, allocate resources across reporting cycles, and recruit talent as needed.
  • Drive consolidation activities including intercompany eliminations, minority interests, equity method investments, and multi-entity accounting to produce a single, auditable set of consolidated results.
  • Lead technical accounting research and memos for new transactions (M&A, equity-based compensation, complex contracts), assessing alternatives and recommending accounting policy positions to senior leadership and auditors.
  • Oversee the preparation of management and board-level financial packages, presenting monthly and quarterly results, key variances, trends, and KPIs to executive leadership and the audit committee.
  • Coordinate accounting for acquisitions, divestitures, and restructurings: perform purchase price allocations, carve-out reporting, transition accounting, and integration of acquired entities into consolidation processes.
  • Implement and optimize financial reporting systems and ERP features (NetSuite, Oracle Cloud ERP, SAP, OneStream, Hyperion) and reconciliation tools (BlackLine) to automate manual tasks, improve data integrity, and accelerate reporting timelines.
  • Develop and maintain accounting policies, procedure manuals and financial reporting templates to ensure consistency, compliance and scalable processes across multiple legal entities and jurisdictions.
  • Lead cross-functional projects to enhance data flows between GL, sub-ledgers and reporting tools; collaborate with IT, FP&A, tax and operations to align chart of accounts and reporting hierarchies.
  • Conduct monthly variance analysis and commentary on revenue, gross margin, operating expenses, and key balance sheet drivers; identify root causes and recommend actionable operational and financial controls.
  • Manage complex areas of accounting including stock-based compensation, deferred revenue, leases, fixed assets, goodwill and intangible assets; ensure correct recognition, measurement and disclosure in financial statements.
  • Oversee preparation of the tax provision schedules and coordinate with tax teams for income tax accounting (ASC 740) inputs required for financial statement reporting and audit support.
  • Ensure compliance with regulatory and statutory reporting requirements across jurisdictions, including local GAAP translations where applicable and ensuring timely distribution to local statutory teams.
  • Establish and monitor KPIs for the reporting function (close duration, number of adjustments, audit findings, control effectiveness) and lead continuous improvement initiatives to reduce risk and accelerate delivery.
  • Provide support for investor relations and external communications during earnings releases, investor days, and due diligence processes for fundraising or M&A activity, including preparation of supporting schedules and Q&A.
  • Drive training programs to upskill accounting staff on GAAP/IFRS updates, reporting tools, SOX compliance and month-end best practices to build a resilient and knowledgeable reporting organization.
  • Lead ad-hoc financial analysis and special projects requested by the CFO, including scenario modeling, accounting impact assessments for strategic initiatives, and coordination of cross-functional task forces.

Secondary Functions

  • Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory analysis to help business leaders make data-driven decisions; prepare ad-hoc reports from the GL and sub-ledgers as needed.
  • Contribute to the organization’s financial systems roadmap; participate in vendor selection, requirements definition, testing and deployment of reporting and close automation solutions.
  • Collaborate with business units to translate operational processes into accounting requirements, ensuring accurate capture of transactions and timely reconciliation between operational systems and the general ledger.
  • Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies for finance transformation initiatives; act as product owner or key stakeholder for financial reporting modules and integrations.
  • Assist with treasury and cash reporting analytics as needed to align cash positions with balance sheet reporting and forecasts.
  • Support process documentation, training materials and change management activities during system upgrades or accounting policy rollouts.
  • Engage in benchmarking and adoption of leading practices in financial reporting, continuous improvement, and automation across the finance function.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Expert knowledge of US GAAP and practical experience applying IFRS where applicable; proven track record with technical accounting standards such as ASC 606 (Revenue), ASC 842 (Leases), ASC 718 (Stock Compensation), ASC 740 (Income Taxes).
  • Hands-on experience with SEC reporting requirements and filings (10-Q, 10-K, 8-K), including XBRL tagging and EDGAR submission processes.
  • Strong internal controls and SOX compliance expertise, including control design, testing, remediation and documentation.
  • Proficiency with enterprise accounting and consolidation systems: Oracle Cloud / NetSuite / SAP / OneStream / Hyperion; practical experience implementing or optimizing these systems is a plus.
  • Advanced Excel skills (pivot tables, index/match, complex formulas) and experience with Power BI, Tableau, or other reporting & visualization tools to produce management dashboards.
  • Familiarity with reconciliation and close automation tools such as BlackLine or Trintech.
  • Financial modeling and analytical skills for variance analysis, forecasting and scenario planning; ability to translate accounting results into business insights.
  • Experience coordinating with external auditors and producing audit-ready schedules, lead schedules, and supporting documentation.
  • SQL or data extraction skills to query source systems and validate reporting data (desirable).
  • Knowledge of multi-entity consolidation, foreign currency translation, intercompany eliminations and equity method accounting.

Soft Skills

  • Strong leadership and people management skills with experience coaching, developing and scaling accounting teams.
  • Excellent written and verbal communication skills; able to present complex accounting topics to non-accounting stakeholders and the executive team.
  • Strategic thinker with the ability to prioritize competing deadlines and manage multiple close cycles and projects simultaneously.
  • Detail-oriented and process-focused, with a strong bias for accuracy and consistency in financial reporting.
  • Problem solving and critical thinking; capable of diagnosing root causes and driving pragmatic solutions.
  • Collaborative and cross-functional partner who can build trust with FP&A, tax, treasury, legal, IT and business unit leaders.
  • Adaptability and resilience in a fast-paced, high-growth or transformation environment.
  • Project management skills and experience leading system implementations, upgrades or cross-functional process improvements.
  • Ethical judgment and integrity in maintaining confidentiality and compliance with regulatory standards.
  • Customer-service orientation toward internal stakeholders and a results-driven mindset.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or related field.

Preferred Education:

  • CPA, CMA or equivalent professional certification; Master's degree in Accounting, Finance or MBA preferred.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Accounting
  • Finance
  • Business Administration
  • Economics
  • Information Systems (with accounting emphasis)

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 6–12 years of progressive accounting experience with at least 3–5 years in financial reporting, consolidation or SEC reporting roles.

Preferred:

  • 8+ years total experience with a minimum of 3 years managing a financial reporting team.
  • Prior experience at a public company or with public company reporting and SEC filing responsibilities.
  • Demonstrated experience with ERP implementations, reporting tool rollouts, or close automation projects.
  • Audit firm experience (Big Four or equivalent) is a strong plus for technical accounting depth and audit coordination experience.
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