Accounts Receivable and Revenue Accounting

Background:

Driven by the Beacon initiatives, functionalization of the corporate functions and re-alignment of the Finance Operating Model, State Street has established the Global Accounting Operations (GAO) organization in 2017. GAO is a process-focused organization responsible for the majority of the record-to-report (R2R) activities performed at State Street. Organizationally, it combines all groups performing these activities Globally and also includes Accounting Centers residing in State Street Shared Service locations in Poland, India and China. GAO organization is established on principles of Global Process Ownership and process excellence, owning all aspects of business-as-usual activities within R2R areas and driving process improvements and automation Globally.

To achieve this objective, GAO has been structured into several distinct global units each is responsible for all aspects of selected major groups of R2R activities, such as Close & Consolidations, Revenue/Expense Accounting, Payroll Accounting, Inter-company Transactions, Specialized/Pro-ducting Accounting, Cash/Deposit governance and others. Each global unit will be responsible for all aspects of business-as-usual activities within their group of processes, as well as process re-engineering and automation activities – this includes leading process assessments; driving process design and process re-engineering work; co-owning technology initiatives bringing automation to GAO organization, working in close collaboration with the teams in Finance Technology, Finance Re-Engineering, Data Management, and other partnership organizations.

Basic Purpose of Job::

The Revenue, AR, BU Accounting SME will be responsible for all aspects of revenue recognition, US GAAP, and day-to-day management of a team of experienced Accounting professionals that provide support to Global Revenue Accounting group. This individual will provide subject matter expertise in the area of accounting related to Revenue Accounting which include:

• Revenue Accruals under GAAP/IFRS revenue recognition principles
• Fee Reserve Analysis
• Revenue Adjustments and Inter-company Revenue
• Account Reconciliations & Certifications
• Accounts Receivable; Billed and Unbilled (including aging’s)
• Monitoring & Processing of Client Concessions / Revenue Reversals
• SOX Controls
• Cash Applications

In addition to Business As Usual (BAU) responsibilities as described above, this role will lead the process re-engineering, standardization, and automation efforts.

Business As Usual (BAU) Activities:

• Collaborate closely with the onshore team to understand expectations and deliverable timelines and ensure that deliverables of the team are load balanced as compared to team staffing.
• Develop the team to adopt “owner’s mind set”, work independently, and effectively manage timelines
• Manage resources to assist with ad-hoc projects and new transactions to support the GAO Accounting controller group
• Lead the day to day activities of an accounting team that is performing Revenue Accounting.
• Performing managerial reasonableness reviews and discussing reporting & analytics deliverables prepared by the team to ensure results make sense, that messaging is on point for the audience and ensuring the core objective of the deliverable is met
• Provide support to key stakeholders of the team to present analytical results, findings
• First point of escalation within the local reporting line for dealing with issues (people/process/technology) and ensuring that compliance requirements are adhered to (e.g. company policies surrounding standard of conduct, information security, employment regulations)
• May be required to participate in or conduct a wide range of accounting and financial analyses on critical and complex issues which may include variance analysis and accounting transactions.
• May serve as a subject matter expert on particular accounting transactions. Coordinate with onshore team / Accounting Policy to determine appropriate accounting treatment for complex transactions
• Coaches the team and works with onshore leadership to establish the team member goals and gather feedback for performance appraisals.
• Participate in or manage function specific projects as needed
• Ensure completion of deliverables within the committed timeframe including assistance with development of deliverable plans, attending deliverable specific or recurring meetings between the team and the onshore team. Team deliverables revolve around
• Collaborate with Revenue Operations (Billing) teams on initiatives, errors, new contracts, etc.

Oversight of Revenue team performing the following Accounting activities:

Daily:

• Monitor General Ledger activity for accuracy based on US GAAP rules
• Preparation of manual journal entries for accrual and adjustment revenue activities
• Cash application of receivables
• Follow up with the Business on aged billed and unbilled items

Monthly:

• Maintain accuracy of revenue accrual process
• Coordinate month-end close including preparation / oversight of manual journal entries Oversight of account reconciliations and certifications
• Perform SOX controls

Quarterly:

• Prepare Regulatory and Internal reporting
• Perform SOX control testing
• Fee Reserve Analysis

Ad-Hoc:

• Prepare and update process narratives/procedures and flow charts
• Response to internal and external requests including variance analysis and inquires
• Participate in Ad Hoc projects and new transactions
• Perform user access reviews & certifications

List of Accounting systems:

• RMS (Revenue Management System)
• SLCM (Securities Lending Credit Management)
• Oracle
• VMW
• CBS
• MCH
• Badger
• Cash Manager or Instruct
• Salesforce
• STARS
• Essbase
• Discoverer Viewer
• Oracle Finapps

Process Re-Engineering, Standardization, and Automation:

• Lead the process Re-Engineering, Standardization, Automation
• Responsibility for ongoing process improvements
• Responsibility for execution of right-placement strategy
• Implementation support of the GAO process re-engineering and automation efforts

• Master’s Degree in Accounting, Chartered Accountant (CA) or Certified Public Accountant (CPA)/MBA-Finance with 5-8 years of progressive experience in R2R areas with major financial institutions
• Extensive practical experience and knowledge of the US GAAP and IFRS accounting standards
• In-depth knowledge of the supported products.
• Understanding of international regulatory landscape, experience with statutory accounting/reporting groups across several major international geographies.
• Experience of building and maintaining strong control environment (risk excellence, experience with SOX, RCSA controls, etc.), establishing policies, procedures and strong internal controls.
• Demonstrated leadership in improving/building-out the above process groups for multiple geographies and business areas
• Extensive experience of managing teams performing day-to-day accounting operations, month-end and quarter-end activities for the above areas of accounting
• Experience of leading re-engineering of R2R (record-to-report) processes and driving similar centralization of the end-to-end activities for the major financial institutions

• Proficiency in Microsoft Office suite (Excel, Access, PowerPoint, Word, Visio), advance levels of Excel (pivot tables, formulas, excel workbook maintenance best practices)
• Knowledge of Hyperion Essbase ,Oracle Financials
• Knowledge of Spotfire, Tableau, Cognos data analytics and visualization (or similar) a plus
• Conceptual understanding of company-wide financial architecture (GL, sub-GL technology, specialized tools) applicable to the above process groups of processes
• Senior-level communication skills, presentation skills, prior experience of interacting with multiple stakeholders (Legal Entity and Geography controllers) in NA, EMEA, APAC
• First or second level management expertise required
• Independent decision-making capabilities, demonstrated thought leadership
• Pride of ownership with the ability to deliver high quality results timely
• Self-motivated, self-assured, and self-managed
• Strong analytical and ability to analyze and summarize complex financial transactions
• Strong attention to details
• Problem solving skill
• Highly organized with ability to multi-task and work under high pressure deadlines
• Must be able to work in a fast paced environment