14697 - Accounting Director, BU P&L - Virtual

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The Director – Business Unit (P&L) Accounting is a newly created senior leadership role within Kelly Services' Controllership organization, reporting directly to the Chief Accounting Officer. This role owns full P&L accountability for Kelly's Business Unit segments — SETT (Science, Engineering, Technology, and Telecom), ETM (Enterprise Talent Managed), and EDU (Education) — including revenue, cost of services (COS), accounts receivable accounting oversight, and BU-specific SG&A (facilities, travel, etc).

The ideal candidate brings deep revenue accounting expertise across services businesses (staffing, professional services, managed services, consulting, etc.), demonstrated ability to build a new team from adjacent legacy organizations, strong partnership skills with Finance Business Partners and operations leadership, and experience owning full P&L accountability for large, complex service-line segments.

Our Director – Business Unit (P&L) Accounting is accountable for:

1. Full P&L Ownership by Business Unit Segment

• Own the full P&L for each BU segment (SETT, ETM, EDU) — revenue, cost of services, accounts receivable accounting oversight, and BU-specific SG&A.
• Direct BU-specific transactions: program revenue accruals, deferred revenue, unbilled AR, rebates, pass-throughs, tech fees, VMS/MSP fees, on-bill activity, and BU-attributable accruals across PeopleSoft and Workday.
• Own the draft and review of each segment P&L during close, ensuring revenue and COS are recognized accurately, and margins reflect underlying business results.
• Provide inputs to External Reporting — service-line revenue schedules, GP by segment, segment narratives for MD&A, and program footnote support.
• Maintain internal controls over revenue and COS (JE approval workflow, BPR responses).

2. Partnership with Finance Business Partners and BU Leadership

• Serve as the accounting partner to Finance Business Partners (ETM Finance, SETT Finance, EDU Finance leadership), who remain the primary business interface with segment leadership.
• Coordinate closely with segment leadership on rebates, deferred revenue, milestone billings, ETC updates, and other transactions requiring business context.
• Partner with operations, project management, and program teams to ensure timely revenue recognition, accurate COS capture, and clean AR aging.
• Provide segment-level accounting judgment on complex revenue transactions, coordinating with Technical Accounting & External Reporting on ASC 606 questions and any new-standard implications.

3. BU-Specific SG&A Ownership

• Own BU-specific SG&A — facilities, travel, BU-level accruals attributable to the segment — for each business unit. Books JEs for these BU-attributable SG&A items. Corporate SG&A (facilities/marketing/legal/technology at the corporate level) is owned by the Operational Accounting team.
• Provide segment-level SG&A reporting and BPR support, integrated with segment P&L reporting.
• Coordinate with Corporate Consolidations & Controls on the cost-center architecture that supports the BU-vs-corporate SG&A split.

4. Team Build-Out, Stand-Up, and Transformation

• Stand up the BU (P&L) Accounting function from staff currently sitting within ETM Finance and SETT Finance (accounting-work portion), building a new integrated team from adjacent legacy organizations.
• Define role boundaries with Finance Business Partners (who remain in the ETM/SETT Finance FP&A/business-partner structure) to ensure clean scope and no duplicate work.
• Establish segment-level playbooks, close calendars, and reconciliation frameworks that align with the enterprise close set by Corporate Consolidations & Controls and the Operations Accounting team.
• Drive AI and automation adoption within the BU (P&L) function — revenue automation, unbilled AR forecasting, margin-anomaly detection, accrual estimation.
• Support the R2R transformation program — including Horizon/Helios Workday Financials cutover — on cutover readiness, post-go-live stabilization, and the ongoing definition of the BU/Shared Process operating model.

Knowledge and Skills

Technical Skills

• US GAAP Expertise: Deep knowledge of US GAAP revenue recognition (ASC 606), cost of service accounting, AR accounting, and services business accounting patterns across staffing, professional services, managed services, and consulting revenue streams.
• Revenue Complexity: Direct experience with multi-element service arrangements including MSP/VMS, SOW percentage of completion recognition, ETC project accounting, rebate and SLA accruals, pass-through revenue, unbilled AR, and deferred revenue.
• ERP Systems: Advanced proficiency with Oracle PeopleSoft Financials and Workday Financials.
• Segment/BU P&L Accounting: Demonstrated ability to own segment-level P&L accountability — segment reporting, margin analysis, GP schedules, segment narratives, and BPR support.
• Data & Analytics: Proficiency with financial data visualization and analytics (Power BI, Tableau) and comfort working with large transaction data sets for margin analysis and anomaly detection.
• AI & Automation: Experience deploying or sponsoring AI/automation for revenue accruals. Familiarity with Microsoft Copilot or similar AI platforms is expected, unbilled AR estimation, margin-anomaly detection, and reconciliation support.

Leadership Skills

• Team Build-Out: Demonstrated ability to build a new team from adjacent legacy organizations — defining roles, integrating staff with different backgrounds, and establishing new operating rhythms without disrupting close quality.
• Leading Through Managers: Ability to lead and develop managers (SETT, ETM, EDU), setting clear expectations and building performance culture.
• Business Partnership: Exceptional partnership skills with Finance Business Partners and operations leadership; comfortable operating in a matrixed environment where FP&A/business-partnering stays with FBPs.
• Change Management: Proven ability to lead through organizational and process change without losing accountability for margin integrity.
• Executive Communication: Ability to present segment results, margin trends, and revenue accounting judgments to CAO, CFO, external auditors, and BU leadership.
• Stakeholder Management: Builds productive relationships with FBPs, Operations, PMO, Sales, and other directors.
• AI & Automation Leadership: Champions adoption of AI/automation for revenue accounting and margin analysis, measuring realized efficiency gains.
• Judgment & Problem-Solving: Strong revenue accounting judgment and root-cause skills for margin issues, unbilled AR anomalies, and complex customer transactions.

Requirements

Education

• Bachelor of Science in Accounting, Finance, or Business Administration (Required)
• Master of Business Administration or Master's in Accounting (Preferred)
• Certified Public Accountant – CPA (Required)

Experience

• 10+ years of progressive accounting experience with substantial time in revenue accounting for a services business (Required)
• Big 4 or national firm public accounting experience (Strongly Preferred)
• 5+ years leading accounting teams with segment or BU P&L accountability in a multi-segment services organization (Required)
• Direct experience with services-business revenue recognition — staffing, MSP/VMS, SOW/ETC project accounting, managed services, or education-services revenue (Required)
• Experience with ASC 606 revenue recognition, deferred revenue, unbilled AR, and multi-element arrangements in a public-company context (Required)
• Demonstrated experience driving close cycle standardization or process improvement across multiple accounting teams simultaneously (Required)
• Experience with complex intercompany accounting, shared services margin accounting, and cross-segment reclassification governance (Required)
• Experience building or reshaping an accounting function from existing staff/organizations (Strongly Preferred)
• Experience partnering with Finance Business Partners and/or FP&A in a matrixed finance organization (Required)
• Experience leading or sponsoring AI and automation adoption within an accounting or finance function (Required)
• Demonstrated ability to evaluate emerging AI/automation tools (e.g., Microsoft Copilot, BlackLine automation, AI-assisted JE drafting) and drive measurable efficiency improvements (Required)

Base pay range for this position is $120,075 - $160,100 per year. Final annual compensation will be based on experience and may vary by geographic location.

Total compensation package including benefits as applicable to the position — understanding that each person has unique professional and personal needs focused on your total well-being. Explore our range of benefits at: Kelly Services | People Regular Staff

Kelly is an equal opportunity employer committed to employing a diverse, equitable and inclusive workforce, including, but not limited to, race, gender, individuals with disabilities, protected veterans, sexual orientation, and gender identity. Equal Employment Opportunity is The Law.