Decoded Accounting Manager
Overview
Join a fast-paced marketing and technology services environment as a Decoded Accounting Manager responsible for ensuring the accuracy, timeliness, and integrity of end-to-end media billing. This critical role serves as the financial bridge between Media Buying, Account Management, Client Finance, and Corporate Accounting—helping protect agency margins, prevent cash flow leakage, support contractual compliance, and maintain reliable financial reporting.
The ideal candidate brings deep experience in advertising or media agency accounting, strong media reconciliation expertise, and the ability to translate complex financial information into clear, actionable insights for cross-functional teams.
Required Skills and Qualifications
- 5–8+ years of progressive accounting or financial operations experience.
- At least 3–5 years of experience focused on media billing, media reconciliation, or agency media operations.
- 2+ years of supervisory or team management experience.
- Advanced proficiency with MediaOcean/Prisma .
- Hands-on experience with NetSuite and enterprise financial systems.
- Demonstrated experience reconciling media billing end to end, including matching media delivery data, purchase orders, and vendor invoices.
- Strong understanding of media buying mechanics and agency accounting practices.
- Knowledge of gross versus net billing, agency commissions, sequential liability, markups, performance fees, and retainers.
- Experience managing accounting close activities related to media billing, including accruals, unearned revenue, and deferred agency fees.
- Working knowledge of IFRS 15 revenue recognition standards.
- Advanced Microsoft Excel skills, including PivotTables, VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, Power Query, and complex nested logic.
- Exceptional attention to detail, analytical problem-solving abilities, and sound financial judgment.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain financial concepts to non-financial stakeholders.
- Ability to prioritize competing responsibilities and meet strict deadlines in a fast-paced agency environment.
Key Responsibilities
- Partner with Client Finance to review purchase order generation, media buy matching, and client billing setup across MediaOcean and Prisma.
- Oversee end-to-end matching of supplier and vendor invoices against media delivery data.
- Monitor open media purchase orders and unbilled media inventory to support timely clearance and minimize unbilled aging.
- Investigate and resolve billing, reconciliation, and invoice discrepancies.
- Manage month-end, quarter-end, and year-end close procedures related to media billing.
- Prepare monthly media reconciliation reports, client trust account schedules, and aging analyses for unbilled media and vendor payables.
- Audit media clearing accounts, including accounts receivable, accounts payable, unbilled media, and media accruals.
- Identify variance risks, potential write-offs, duplicate billing, and incorrect gross-up billings.
- Support revenue recognition compliance for media commissions, markups, performance fees, and retainers.
- Evaluate and improve media financial systems, reconciliation workflows, and internal controls.
- Develop and maintain standard operating procedures and compliance checks.
- Support ERP and media software implementations, upgrades, and API integration projects involving systems such as MediaOcean, Prisma, Salesforce, and NetSuite.
- Serve as a key finance liaison to Account Management, Media Directors, Media Buyers, and Client Finance.
- Act as a primary point of contact for client media audits and internal or external financial audits.
Nice-to-Have Skills
- Experience in advertising agencies, media buying agencies, digital marketing agencies, or media holding companies.
- Exposure to business intelligence tools such as Tableau or Power BI.
- Experience using AI tools for discrepancy analytics or financial data review.
- Experience with Salesforce or related client and media operations systems.
- Experience supporting financial systems implementation, optimization, or integration initiatives.
- Familiarity with process automation and reconciliation workflow optimization.
Preferred Education and Experience
- Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or a related field is required.
- CPA, MBA, or progress toward a professional accounting certification is preferred.
- Experience working in a cross-functional agency environment with close collaboration across finance, media, account management, and operations teams is preferred.
Other Requirements
- Work arrangement: Fully remote.
- Engagement length: 4+ months.
- Availability: Ability to start as soon as possible.
- Must be comfortable working independently while partnering closely with distributed, cross-functional teams.
