About Me
I am an experienced Financial Controller, having held such roles since 2006, and am now running my own film accounting business. Previously, I was Financial Controller for 10 years at Doc Society, which funds, produces and connects independent documentary films.
I have strong organisational skills, focus and determination, and work well with creative people, ensuring that their projects are on a sound financial footing.
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I have production and post-production accounting experience on documentary and feature films including:
A Christmas Carol
Nureyev
Attacking the Devil: Harold Evans and the last Nazi war crime
McCullin.
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Check out my CV below.
Skills and Experience
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Over 20 years of financial experience, including leadership, mentoring and management
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Experience of documentary and feature film production accounting
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Strong communication and organisational skills, focus and determination
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Supportive and creative team player
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Highly dependable, outgoing and efficient
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Hard-working, ambitious, willing to learn
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Personable, friendly and good sense of humour
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Extensive knowledge of various computer programs: QuickBooks, QuickBooks Online, Sage, Sun, Centraltime, Newstar, PeopleSoft (super user), Navision, banking software, MS Office
Relevant Work History
Dec 2012 - Nov 2022
Doc Society
London and Amsterdam
Finacial Controller
Doc Society (formerly the British Documentary Film Foundation (Britdoc)) is a not-for-profit group, based in London, with offices in New York, Amsterdam and Sydney, that funds, produces and connects independent documentaries, including Oscar winners and nominees such as CitizenFour, Virunga and Dirty Wars
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Managed the daily, monthly and annual finances, in multiple currencies, for the six companies of the group, including managing the Accounts Assistant and overseeing all audits
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Managed global cost control for the group, including reviewing budgets for projects and major events with project managers and preparing reports for project audits
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Carried out production accounting on MIA Film Project
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Managed financial and administrative aspects of the opening and day-to-day operations of the New York, Amsterdam and Sydney offices, including relationships with bank and auditor, hiring a bookkeeper, setting up QuickBooks finance system and liaising with external payroll
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Trained four colleagues for their new positions within Doc Society, including the roles of Accounts Assistant, Grants Administrator and Office Administrator
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Translated financial information for the non-numeric creative team and present at Board meetings
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Developed relationships with funders, including financial reports and dedicated credit control
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Maintained a close and transparent relationship with the bank to ensure that difficult payments are not rejected, including payments to documentary films that are being shot in conflict zones
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Managed accounting system change from Sage to QuickBooks and upgrade to QuickBooks Online
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Trained colleagues on Excel to advanced levels and provide minor technical troubleshooting
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Supported Doc Society’s ‘Good Pitch’ events, including logistics, backstage and solving last minute crises
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Headed up team of colleagues that planned refugee volunteering week
Aug 2011 - Dec 2012
Financial Controller
Alison at Home Ltd
London
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Was the stand-alone finance person for a small media group that promotes interior design solutions through TV shows, national newspaper features, major exhibitions and online
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Produced all financial data for the group and submitted VAT returns for the three companies
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Forecast future revenues and compiled annual budgets to ensure healthy growth
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Managed the financial relationships with national newspapers (including Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph, Times, Mail on Sunday, Evening Standard), advertisers and exhibitors
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Jointly planned strategy for the group, together with the CEO and COO
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Designed and implemented a new commission structure for the sales team
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Responsible for credit control, successfully pursuing a court case against a non-paying client and recovering all outstanding debt (over £20,000)
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Calculated individual project budgets, including for Ideal Home Show exhibits and photo shoots, and ensured that the team adhered to agreed budgets
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Identified and implemented cost savings of 10% of turnover
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Effectively communicated financial projections and results to the non-numeric CEO
Aug 2006 - Aug 2010
Financial Controller
Dr J H Burgoyne and Partners LLP
London
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Managed accounts team – two Credit Controllers, Accounts Receivable Clerk, Accounts Payable Clerk
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Consolidated and produced monthly, quarterly and annual financial and management information for the Burgoyne Group (eight offices in UK, two offices in US, one office each in Hong Kong and Singapore)
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Enforced credit control procedures which were not being adhered to: in only four years Burgoynes moved from its worst debtor position in May 2006 to maintaining consistently its best position in more than 10 years with average debtor days halved
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Revamped presentation of information for debtors meetings which resulted in greatly improved clarity and focused action plans – debtors meetings became regular monthly occurrences
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Mentored member of team, who had been on formal warning, helping him to organise and prioritise his work and improve time-keeping, with the result that his job was no longer at risk
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Assisted in the smooth implementation of a new automated expenses and time-recording system for fee-earners and support staff and provided guidance, support and training to users
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Helped set up new paperless invoicing system and advised on new case-recording system