Financial Controller - Theatre

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.

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