Senior Accountant — West Los Angeles, California | Pacific Executive Search

Senior Accountant

(Job ID: 2070)

West Los Angeles, California

On-Site

Direct Hire

Entertainment

$100,000 – $110,000 base

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Overview

Stepping into this hands-on Senior Accountant position means navigating the intersection of sports, media, and entertainment within a private equity-backed company undergoing a significant financial transformation. Based in Brentwood, this role combines the rigor of public accounting audit experience with the practical demands of production and corporate accounting, including the company’s inaugural US GAAP year-end audit. Reporting directly to the Director of Finance, the successful candidate will influence financial reporting, revenue recognition under ASC 606, and the buildout of new accounting systems in a fast-evolving environment.

Title: Senior Accountant
Industry: Conglomerate
Location: West Los Angeles

Responsibilities

Lead the monthly close process, ensuring timely and accurate balance sheet reconciliations and financial statement preparation.
Compile and analyze monthly financial reports for management and private equity stakeholders, highlighting key variances and trends.
Review and maintain revenue contracts with a focus on ASC 606 compliance, including managing variable considerations and minimum guarantees.
Oversee accounts payable workflows, coordinating with shared services to process vendor payments and customer invoicing.
Manage production accounting tasks such as invoice processing, vendor onboarding, payroll for productions, and client reimbursements, keeping these activities distinct from corporate financials.
Develop and maintain budget-to-actual tracking and forecasting tools for production projects, contributing to cash flow planning and financial forecasting.
Support the year-end audit process by preparing schedules, responding to auditor inquiries, and ensuring compliance with US GAAP standards.

Qualifications

Must-Have:
- Approximately 3 to 5 years of accounting experience, combining public accounting audit exposure with industry practice.
- Strong proficiency in US GAAP, particularly ASC 606 revenue recognition and month-end close procedures.
- Experience preparing financial reports, balance sheet reconciliations, and supporting audit processes.
- Comfortable managing both technical accounting judgments and detailed transactional bookkeeping.
- Ability to work onsite full-time in Brentwood, engaging directly with finance leadership and cross-functional teams.
Nice-to-Have:
- Background in entertainment, media, or production accounting environments.
- Progress toward or attainment of CPA certification.
- Familiarity with transitioning accounting systems, such as moving from QuickBooks to NetSuite.
- Experience with budgeting, forecasting, and cash flow management in a private equity-backed setting.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do companies mis-hire at the Senior Accountant level?
Because they hire based on task lists instead of ownership. Two candidates may both mention reconciliations, journal entries, and close support, but only one has truly owned balance sheet areas, resolved issues independently, worked directly with auditors, and operated with minimal supervision. Titles vary widely in the market. Ownership is the more reliable signal.
When is a Senior Accountant actually ready for promotion?
Usually when they stop simply executing assigned work and start identifying issues before they surface. Promotion to Accounting Manager or a broader leadership track is less about how many close tasks someone can perform and more about whether they have become a source of reliability, judgment, and escalation control.
Why are finance and accounting roles in private equity-backed companies different?
Because the expectations are usually sharper. These environments often involve more pace, more visibility, more accountability, and more change than slower-moving businesses. Candidates are often expected to produce cleaner reporting, better discipline, and faster adaptation while operating under leadership that is highly focused on results. Pacific Executive Search's private equity insights explain why these environments require more specialized hiring.
Is the CPA really required for roles like this?
Sometimes yes, and often functionally yes even when the posting says "preferred." At leadership levels especially, the CPA frequently acts as a credibility signal for hiring managers, auditors, lenders, investors, or boards. There are exceptions, but in many accounting searches it remains one of the clearest markers of technical foundation.
How do strong candidates typically evaluate opportunities like this?
Strong candidates rarely evaluate a role based on title alone. They look at what the position actually owns, how the function is viewed internally, whether the environment is stable or in transition, and what success will realistically look like in the first 6 to 12 months. Many first discover a role through a posting, but the strongest career decisions usually come from understanding the context behind the opportunity, not just the job description. In accounting and finance hiring, that level of context is often what separates a lateral move from a meaningful one. Learn more about how strategic accounting and finance searches differ from transactional recruiting.
Is direct NetSuite experience actually necessary?
Not always. What matters more is whether the candidate has handled a similar level of system complexity and can adapt quickly. That said, in lean environments, cleanups, or fragile closes, direct NetSuite familiarity can materially reduce ramp risk.