Working Capital Manager
Allen & Overy
- USA
- $135,000-160,000 per year
- Permanent
- Full-time
- US CFO, Director of Working Capital, Senior Manager of Working Capital
- Head and Senior Manager of Pricing & Commercial Management
- US Practice leaders
- Working capital controllers, practice managers, and pricing managers
- US partners, matter managers and fee earners
- Shared Service Centre (SSC) teams
- Working capital teams
- Develop an understanding of our clients and matters with their billing requirements and use this knowledge to take the lead in driving the monthly process, identifying areas for continual improvement across the various stakeholders involved in the process.
- Liaise with client contacts at senior levels, to assist with coordinating the billing process to meet client requirements and to ensure timely resolution of queries.
- Troubleshoot issues arising in practice areas supported by your WCCs and act as a point of escalation for queries.
- Meet with partners to review current matters, obtain billing forecast information and follow up to ensure that all pledged billing is actioned in a timely manner each month. Oversee and follow up on the processing of action items, such as time transfer, time write off, dispatch of billing guides, disbursements, etc.
- Oversight and review of invoices, ensuring time and disbursements are accurately charged in accordance with client billing guidelines.
- Uphold department standards and preserve integrity of established revenue accounting controls.
- Work closely with the business acceptance unit to ensure engagement terms are complete for all matters and that all financial elements are addressed.
- Oversee the full working capital cycle for your area of the business, including practice areas supported by you directly, and also encompassing those supported by your WCCs.
- Monitor WIP for working capital hygiene purposes, to clear inventory that is no longer recoverable in a timely manner. Flag inventory and accounts receivable issues that may impact the lock-up profile.
- Assist with matter inception process, review engagement letters and agreements to ensure that agreed billing rates are accurate for new instructions.
- Support the cash allocations team to assist with the allocation of client related payments and oversee client money balances and ensure that funds are being applied/refunded in a timely manner.
- Review billing write offs and ensure any material amounts are escalated, prepare write-off narratives for write-off committee approval.
- Matter profitability and project management
- Presentation of financials at partner meetings to raise awareness of opportunities to enhance matter profitability.
- Analyze current billing and profitability information for reporting and problem-solving including profitability analysis of individual matters.
- Prepare draft budgets for matter partner's review prior to accepting new engagements.
- Project manage matters to monitor utilization of staff, and control margins through the assessment of time and cost write-offs, and support measures to increase margins where possible.
- Proactively monitor practice group busyness reports.
- Act as a business advisor to partners and other fee earners, working closely with their assistants and other support functions.
- Provide supporting materials and information for client meetings.
- Draft matter budgets for all instructions in conjunction with the matter manager and ensure automatic alerts are activated to ensure progress is reported.
- Establish working relationships with the offshore SSC Finance Teams.
- Management and Development
- The role has line management responsibility for a small team of Working Capital Controllers:
- Provide leadership, seek opportunities for growth and create a collaborative and successful team.
- Set annual objectives for the team and ensure quarterly performance reviews are held taking into account each individual's aspirations, A&O finance strategy, and future development of finance function.
- Ensure team work load is appropriately balanced and partners are receiving support.
- Assist the team to continually advance their knowledge.
- At least 7 years experience in an operational role in a leading company/firm with operational responsibility.
- Pro-active self-starter with tenacity, possessing excellent communication skills.
- Excellent analytical and numeracy skills are a prerequisite for the role with an appreciation for the realities of a fast moving practice.
- Strong analytical, numeracy, and team management skills.
- Intermediate level experience in Microsoft Office, including Excel, Word, Outlook and PowerPoint.
- Excellent attention to detail, prioritization and organizational skills.
- CPA qualification and experience with 3E is desirable but not essential.