Agency Accountant/Engagement Specialist

Company Description

gyro is the Global Ideas Shop. We are 600 creative minds strong, united by a single mission: to produce ideas that are humanly relevant.

We bring together a myriad of talents, including visionaries, artists, strategists and experts across a range of disciplines, to fulfill this mission for our clients. We are bound by our core beliefs in open thinking, the desire to embrace change and the belief that great ideas can come from anyone and anywhere. We call this unconventional culture UNO. It celebrates inspiration, collaboration and mutual respect and it is what defines us.
As a vital part of gyro, you’ll be comfortable building the kind of closeness with others that means you know the punch lines to each others jokes, what everyone’s favorite pizza is and quite possibly share the stories that you shouldn’t. You will smile, even when it’s tough because you know you are not alone. We talk to each other, we work together and we share all the challenges and triumphs a creative life brings.
This is UNO.

If you choose to join us, this is what you will do while you are here.
Supporting the Strategy & Planning team across all on-going client work and new business development. Support strategic initiatives through intelligence gathering, research design-analysis and strategic support materials (e.g. research findings, briefing materials).
We’re looking for an independent thinker with a creative edge, who is curious and passionate about people, brands, marketing, social and digital. The Junior Strategist must be a natural collaborator across the Strategy team, and other disciplines, including Account, Creative and Project Management.

Job Description

We are seeking an experienced Accountant to perform day-to-day operations accounting and analysis work, monthly reconciliations and close, analytical and general accounting support, and assisting/training account staff with proper billing and vendor set up needs. The Accountant will be involved in all aspects of monthly accounting for an advertising agency, which will include client billing, revenue recognition, monthly reconciliations and month end financial statement preparation.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Meet with account staff on weekly basis to discuss status of jobs
Review weekly office reporting and analyze ongoing trends
Prepare monthly/ongoing client billing invoices for Chicago agency
Recognize revenue on monthly billings using the percentage of completion revenue recognition methodology
Reconcile deferred revenue monthly
Mid-month review of job status with account staff for purpose of determining monthly revenue
Meet with account staff to complete month end review of open jobs to assess the validity of the forecast
Support Chicago account teams with preparation and review of vendor provider agreements, and other documents
Support Chicago account teams with review of client statements of work and terms and conditions
Act as liaison between Account teams and Accounts Payable
Accuracy and timeliness in execution of all assigned tasks
Ability to anticipate needs and facilitate work
Cooperative relationship with internal team, with a customer service mentality
The candidate must have reconciliation experience, be detail oriented and skilled at multitasking. As the Agency Account you will be the key point of contact for our account executives for related billing questions; therefore, the ideal candidate will be able to communicate with a variety of people and flexible enough to deal with multiple projects and different types of clients at the same time.
The ideal candidate uses Microsoft excel on a daily basis to „dump“ and analyze data, multi-tasks as a matter of fact, takes extreme pride in getting work done right the first time, seeks perfection and is able to interact with all levels of personnel.

Qualifications

• Bachelor‘s Degree in Accounting or Finance
• 3 – 5 years of related accounting work experience
• Agency experience would be helpful
• Ability to read and comprehend instructions, correspondence and common business documents and legal documents. Ability to write business correspondence. Ability to effectively present information in one-on-one and small group situations to employees.
• Ability to apply common sense understanding in order to carry out detailed written or oral instructions. Ability to calculate percentage of completion revenue and to calculate deferred revenue.
• High level of proficiency in excel
• Reconciliation and analytical experience a must
• Billing experience a must
• Ability to analyze financial data, prepare financial reports, statements and projections
• General journal and ledger accounting experience
• Good communication skills to be able to create relationships/trust with account staff so their clients can be analyzed more efficiently. Ability to easily and clearly communicate at all levels of the organization in both written and oral form.
• Strong attention to details, timelines, deliverables and accuracy
• Desire to work in an ever-evolving organization with a high level of urgency
• Drive to exceed expectations and become a trusted precision and performance team member.

Additional Information

What you will get from us in return is:

Experience working in a culture of inspiration, education, collaboration and celebration — an environment where you will grow as an individual within the advertising and marketing communications profession. The opportunity for advancement in the strategy and account planning discipline, or in other agency disciplines that may peak your interest along the way. And of course, the bragging rights that come with working for the B2B Agency of the Year.