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A skilled lead production accountant is crucial to the success of a film or TV project. It’s also arguably one of the toughest roles for productions to fill.
As a producer or line producer tasked with finding the right production accountant for your project, you may need a little extra support in your search. This is particularly true if you’re newer to the role, or if your go-to production accountant is otherwise booked (or retired).
In this article, we’ll help you plan an effective strategy for hiring your next production accountant. And since lead, or key, production accountants typically hire their own team, this one hire can go a long way toward getting your project fully staffed. Let’s jump into it!
Trusted by producers and production accounting professionals alike, The List is the premier job board for finding production accountants in the entertainment industry. This job listing site was founded by industry leader Emily Rice in 2005, and is now hosted by Wrapbook.
Getting your job added to The List is free and painless. Once you submit, your listing will be reviewed by the managing team. You’ll get an email once your posting is live (usually within 24 hours of submission), and the posting will remain active for 14 days.
One helpful feature of The List? You don’t need to start from scratch when writing your job posting. The input form will guide you through all the important questions, like pay range, software, start date and production type, so you don’t forget any details (more on that later in the article).
Beyond The List, there are a few industry-specific resources to explore in your search for a production accountant.
Ask a trusted fellow producer if they have any favorite production accountants to recommend. This is particularly helpful if your colleague works on similar types of projects as the one you’re staffing, though a skilled production accountant should be able to adapt to new genres or budgets.
When asking your colleagues for recommendations, be sure to get a sense of their working relationship with the production accountant. Ask questions that will help you evaluate whether their working style would mesh well with you and your team.
Industry job boards can be an excellent tool for finding production accountants. Some of our favorites include EntertainmentCareers.net, Mandy, ProductionHUB and Staff Me Up.
Note that these job boards are for filling general production roles, unlike The List, which is exclusively dedicated to finding production accountants and production finance professionals. But plenty of employers do post production accounting jobs on these boards, so you might just find your next great production accountant there!
You can also check out industry business directories like LA 411. LA 411 is a resource for productions looking to fill below-the-line positions, and it has a specific section for payroll and production accountants. While it’s intended for Los Angeles-based productions, it’s worth a look regardless of where your production is based, as production accountants work remotely with increasing regularity.
Production accounting professionals have developed several Facebook groups for networking and job seeking. One of the largest of these is the LA Production Accountants group, but they exist for several cities, including New York and Atlanta.
It’s important to note these groups are created for production accountants, rather than for employers, but they do welcome legitimate job postings. Depending on the group’s privacy settings, you’ll need to either join or request to join before you’re able to post your job to the group.
Connect with industry organizations like your state’s film office, local production companies, or major film schools—they may have recommendations.
You can also find referrals by attending film festivals and screenings. Jot down the production accountants you see in the credits and see if you can chat with the film producers about their experiences working with them.
When tailored searches don’t provide results, you can look to more general online career networking and job sites. Think platforms like Glassdoor, Indeed, LinkedIn, and ZipRecruiter. Keep in mind that while most of these sites allow you to post jobs for free, they all offer paid posting options as well.
In addition to posting jobs, you can also use LinkedIn to search profiles to find production accountants that meet your specific criteria. You can do a detailed search by things like job title, skills, and location, then directly message potential candidates (depending on their privacy settings).
Regardless of where you place your job posting, you’ll attract the best candidates by crafting a clear post that includes the right details. Get specific about your needs and expectations for the role by considering the following questions.
Does your candidate need to be a Certified Public Accountant (CPA)? For most situations, the answer will be no, since production accountants don’t necessarily need this certification.
Not all production accountants have formal accounting training, as it’s typical for them to learn on the job.
Speaking of learning on the job, how experienced does your production accountant need to be? Would you consider an experienced general accountant who is newer to the film industry?
If you have the bandwidth to offer some extra support to your production accountant and a more straightforward project, you might consider someone with a stellar record but fewer years of experience in the field.
When you’re looking at a production accountant’s experience, the types of projects they’ve worked on matter a lot.
Many producers assume production accounting is the same regardless of film type or budget, but that’s not the case. When we interviewed production payroll accountant Tammi Haynes, she highlighted the fact that the type of experience matters greatly—the production accounting skills required for a big-budget studio film are very different from those needed for an independent documentary, for example.
While a skilled production accountant can move from a big studio film to a small indie project or vice versa, it's essential to do so with intention. Make sure your job posting clearly outlines the specific type of project to ensure a good fit.
If your team has already committed to using a particular film production software like Movie Magic, Showbiz, or Shotgun, you’ll want to include this in your listing. You’ll want to know if your candidates have familiarity with the software, or can quickly get up to speed with it.
You’ll also need to consider where you’ll need your production accountant in terms of physical location. It’s common for production accountants to work completely remotely, but your studio or production company may prefer they’re in a physical office.
If your team includes union members, you’ll want to make sure your production accountant has union experience as well.
Finally, does your team plan to take advantage of any tax incentive programs? If so, you may want to specifically advertise for a production accountant with previous experience with the program you plan to use, or knowledge of tax incentive programs more generally.
Including these details in your job posting can help you find the right candidate more efficiently. The List allows potential candidates to sort jobs by software, production type, and work style (remote, onsite or hybrid), which can help the right production accountant connect with you faster.
Looking for more free resources to set your next film project up for success? Check out "Producer’s Guide to Pre-Production" complete with a downloadable checklist. It has advice on everything from building your budget to hiring key crew and cast to setting up payroll.
At Wrapbook, we pride ourselves on providing outstanding free resources to producers and their crews, but this post is for informational purposes only as of the date above. The content on our website is not intended to provide and should not be relied on for legal, accounting, or tax advice. You should consult with your own legal, accounting, or tax advisors to determine how this general information may apply to your specific circumstances.
Shaudi is a Seattle-based musician, theatre artist, writer and social media marketing specialist. She holds degrees from Berklee College of Music and the University of Washington School of Drama.
