Introduction

Who we are:

The Economist Group is a global media and information-services company that exists to champion progress with customers currently spread across 159 countries and an active subscriber base of 1.2 million. We provide individuals and organisations with the expertise, insights and perspective to press forward.

The Finance team’s vision is to partner with the Group in driving profitable growth, through finance excellence. We support our businesses to make effective commercial and operational decisions; provide information and analysis to management and the Board to support strategic decisions; manage working capital to quickly convert profit into cash; develop and maintain a strong control environment to comply with legal, statutory and tax legislation in all territories we operate in.

With over 100 Finance professionals operating from offices in London, New York, Hong Kong & Gurugram, we are rapidly building a substantial presence in Gurugram to become our largest finance hub. You will be joining our global organisation at a pivotal moment, working with finance and business colleagues from around the globe to deliver the Finance vision.

The Business:
• an iconic brand with a history dating back 179 years
• a truly global business with customers in over 150 countries
• a unique combination of B2B and B2C Businesses

The Finance Team:
• be part of our Finance Transformation programme, reshaping our processes and the

technology we use
• work closely with finance and business colleagues from around the globe
• ability to influence in an organisation of 1,600 people

The role We are looking for an experienced Business Accountant who will have the responsibility for managing subscription revenues derived from digital 3 rd parties, sales to B2B customers and other revenue streams from 2 nd rights and licensing activity. In addition, the role involves accounting for certain costs relating to the overall Circulation business including overheads. The Business Accountant will also assist FPA teams with analysis and working with the finance team at large to improve processes and efficiencies globally. The role also supports accounting for our new start up Education business which sells education courses and content to customers. The position will report initially into the Finance Manager - Economist based in the UK and support the Economist Business Unit. Once the role is transitioned it is envisaged that the role will report to the Business Accounting Manager, based in Gurugram, India.

The role will cover requirements from the group globally, particularly requests from London. As such, while the role is based on local hours (9:00-5:30pm in Gurugram) some flexibility will be required to cover day-to-day contact with London and occasional meetings with other global offices.

Accountabilities

Key Accountabilities:
• Global digital third party revenue accounting
• Accounting for the Education business revenues and costs
• Second Rights and Licensing accounting
• Accounting for Circulation sales made to B2B customers

Overhead accounting Bad debt provisioning for circulation related sales Variance analysis for digital revenues for inclusion in management reporting packs
• Partnering business managers involved in managing 3rd party, 2nd rights and licensing, B2B circulation and Education sales to ensure completeness of activity
• Balance Sheet reconciliations
• Support year-end audit
• Liaise with Financial Planning and Analysis teams to enable smooth flow of delivering monthly forecasts and budgets
• Ad hoc projects/ analysis as required

Experience, skills and professional attributes

The ideal skills for this role are:

Skills / Attributes
• Education and training
• Qualified Accountant
• Bachelors degree in finance
• Previous work experience
• Experience of management accounting including accruals and variance analysis
• Experience of working on budgets and forecasts
• Balance sheet reconciliations
• Working to deadlines
• IT
• MS Office, Excel to intermediate level, Powerpoint, Peoplesoft
• Key skills
• Attention to detail and Accuracy
• Ability to manage own deadlines and prioritise work
• Good written and oral communication skills
• Personal attributes
• Commitment to quality and timely service delivery
• Self-motivator, eager and willing to learn
• Pro-activity and responsiveness

Performance Measures:
• Accuracy of accounting
• Level of support provided to the business and own team
• Ability to meet reporting deadlines
• All reconciliations fully up to date, maintained and issues followed up promptly
• Timely production of budgets and forecasts
• Ability to provide well-presented information and insightful analysis of information

The Economist Group values diversity. We are committed to equal opportunities and creating an inclusive environment for all our employees. We welcome applicants regardless of ethnic origin, national origin, gender, gender identity, race, colour, religious beliefs, disability, ****** orientation , age or marital status