Operations Accounting Manager

Operations Accounting Manager Job Description

ABOUT US:

The h.wood Group is a Los Angeles based lifestyle and hospitality company with establishments and events across the United States and Europe. We are committed to providing a warm, inviting, and uniquely lavish experience for our diverse clientele. Our company is built on integrity, creating the world’s best restaurants, nightlife, and events.

Role Summary:

The Operations Accounting Manager owns the day-to-day accounting for our venues and the end-to-end accounts payable function. This role is the operational engine of the accounting department: it makes sure venue-level activity is recorded accurately and on time, that every invoice is coded, approved, and paid correctly, and that the close calendar is met without exceptions.

The position leads our internal Staff Accountants and serves as the primary point of accountability for our third-party accounting partner, which processes AP invoices and executes check runs. The focus of the role is operational: ensuring the transactional data and venue-level results that feed consolidated financial reporting are accurate, complete, and delivered on schedule.

Key Responsibilities

Venue-Level Accounting

• Oversee daily accounting operations across all venues, including daily sales reconciliation, cash and deposit verification, credit card settlement, comps/discounts, and inventory-related entries.
• Own the venue-level month-end close: accruals, prepaids, recurring journal entries, intercompany allocations, and preparation of assigned balance sheet reconciliations.
• Review venue P&Ls for reasonableness before hand-off to corporate; investigate and resolve variances, misclassifications, and unusual activity.
• Partner with General Managers and operations leadership on coding questions, budget-to-actual discussions, and month-end explanations.
• Maintain and enforce the chart of accounts at the venue level to keep coding consistent across locations.
• Monitor venue cash handling and over/short trends; escalated control gaps.

Accounts Payable & Third-Party Team Oversight

• Serve as day-to-day owner of the relationship with our third-party accounting team, including workload assignment, service-level expectations, escalation path, and performance review.
• Oversee full-cycle AP processing performed by the partner: invoice intake, coding accuracy, three-way match, approval routing, and posting.
• Review and approve check runs and other disbursement batches prior to release; ensure payment timing supports cash flow targets and vendor terms.
• Own the AP aging — drive down past-due balances, manage vendor inquiries and statement reconciliations, and resolve disputes.
• Maintain vendor master data integrity, including new vendor setup, W-9/1099 collection, banking change verification, and duplicate prevention.
• Enforce segregation of duties and approval thresholds across the AP workflow; ensure documentation supports audit requirements.
• Coordinate annual 1099 preparation and filing.
• Supervise, coach, and develop the Staff Accountant team — set priorities, review work, and hold the team to close deadlines and accuracy standards.
• Establish clear ownership and backup coverage across venues and functions so no account or process is single-threaded.
• Conduct performance check-ins, deliver feedback, and identify training and growth opportunities.
• Build and maintain written desk procedures for recurring accounting and AP processes.

Controls & Process Improvement

• Identify and close gaps in transactional workflows; standardize processes across venues rather than allowing location-by-location variation.
• Recommend and implement improvements in AP automation, approval routing, and reporting to reduce manual handling and cycle time.
• Support internal and external audit requests with clean, well-documented support.
• Ensure compliance with company accounting policies, GAAP, and applicable sales/use tax and regulatory requirements.

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field.
• 5+ years of progressive accounting experience, including 2+ years supervising staff.
• Hospitality industry accounting experience — restaurants and/or hotels strongly preferred; nightlife, entertainment, or other multi-unit venue operations also considered.
• Demonstrated ownership of a full AP cycle, including disbursement review and vendor management.
• Strong month-end close experience: journal entries, accruals, and balance sheet reconciliations.
• Advanced Excel skills (pivot tables, lookups, large-volume data reconciliation).
• Proven ability to manage competing deadlines across multiple locations or business units.

Preferred

• Accounting experience across a portfolio of restaurant and/or hotel properties, with exposure to F&B cost of sales, banquet/event revenue, and daily sales reporting from POS and PMS systems.
• Experience managing an outsourced, offshore, or shared services accounting team.

Success Indicators

• Close calendar met on time every period, with venue-level packages delivered complete and review-ready.
• AP aging held within target; no missed vendor terms or avoidable late fees.
• Check runs released on schedule with accurate coding and complete approval documentation.
• Reduction in post-close adjusting entries traced to venue-level or AP coding errors.
• Staff Accountants operating with clear ownership, documented procedures, and reliable cross-coverage.

Working Conditions

• Office-based Monday – Thursday, with Hybrid Fridays
• Extended hours during month-end close, year-end, tax deliverables and audit periods.
• Occasional availability outside standard hours to support venue operations.
• Full-time, exempt position.
• Medical, Dental, Vision, and Life insurance with company contribution offered the first of the month after 60 days of employment.