Fractional Finance Operations Manager (contract)

Simpler Media Group (“SMG”) is seeking a fractional (part time) finance operations manager with strong QuickBooks Online skills to perform core finance operations including general bookkeeping, AP, AR, collections and annual state and local filings.

This is a part time, remote contract position. Location is flexible and hours are somewhat flexible. However, you must work during US business hours as you will collaborate with internal teams and interface with our US-based clients.

QuickBooks Online is our primary platform and we operate on a hybrid cash/accrual basis. Payroll is not part of the responsibilities, beyond reporting and reconciliation, as we use a PEO for HR, payroll and payroll taxes. We have a fractional CFO and CPA that you will liaise with. You will report to the CEO and work closely with the Sales and Delivery teams on invoicing and client onboarding.

Responsibilities

* Invoicing, AR & Collections

Own invoicing and AR operations end-to-end. We generate about 20-25 invoices per month as a mix of ad hoc and structured twice-monthly operations. Invoices are generated from Salesforce closed-won opportunities, then delivered electronically via QuickBooks Online and/or supplier platforms.

This part of the role can require onboarding SMG as a supplier for new clients, setting up our profile and navigating the intricacies of platforms like Coupa and Ariba. Critically, you'll drive on-time payments by proactively staying on top of aging receivables and following up firmly and professionally to keep average days to payment on target. This is an area where we’d like to see you bring creativity, automation and new tactics to the role.

* Bookkeeping & Reconciliations

Own all the regular bookkeeping operations, including monthly reconciliations, chart of accounts classifying and department level classing of transactions. Work with department heads to understand and correctly categorize monthly expenses. Work with the Sales department to audit and correctly classify all incoming revenue. Work with the CEO on occasional refactoring of the chart of accounts.Annually, you will close the books, file city and county filings, liaise with the CPA on tax operations and process 1099s for US contractors.

* Accounts Payable

Pay contractors and bills each month using a variety of payment tools, including QuickBooks Online’s bill pay, our bank’s ACH and Wires interfaces, individual vendor payment links / interfaces, etc. Additionally, you will own the onboarding of new vendors on an ad hoc basis, ensuring we have all required information to make payments.

* Expense Management

Play gatekeeper on the COGS and expenses side, with a careful eye on budgets and pattern changes. Quickly spot off target expenditures and work with the respective teams to identify and understand them.

How to Succeed

Key to success in this position is strong attention to detail, being self organized and independent, a proactive approach to AR, being resourceful and creative, and being comfortable learning new digital tools.

You do get to work at your own pace, but you will be supporting a busy CEO and several quickly-moving, geographically distributed teams. So there are times when quick responses or quick action are necessary

Requirements

Given the remote nature of this work you MUST be a strong written communicator and comfortable with modern digital tools. And you must have 4-5 years of bookkeeping experience with 2+ years of QuickBooks Online experience.

You must be strong with

• QuickBooks Online: our primary accounting platform. You must have deep experience with the online version of the product. Having desktop experience is not sufficient.
• General accounting: core AR/AP, cash basis reconciliation, annual closing of the books.
• Annual administrative operations including filing / managing annual 1099s, city / local taxes (e.g., San Francisco business filings), etc.
• General digital workplace tools, including Google Workspace Email, Google Sheets/Docs, Slack, etc.

Nice to have

• Salesforce: We pull some reports and perform a few key operations in Salesforce. Previous experience is not required but is helpful.
• Supplier Management Platforms: Our clients utilize supplier management platforms such as Coupa, Ariba, Graphite Connect, , etc. Familiarity with these platforms will be helpful.
• Artificial Intelligence: Comfort with Claude and ChatGPT as a utility that helps you do your job, solve problems or craft communications is a plus. SMG is a heavy user of AI tooling in its operations.

About Us

SMG is a San Francisco-based, digital media, events and research company. Founded in 2003, we operate 3 online publications: CMSWire.com, Reworked.co and VKTR.com. Our core mission is to advance the careers of our professional members through high-impact knowledge, networking and recognition.

Our team is remote-first and globally distributed. We are an outcomes-focused organization — we set goals and provide people with the resources they need to achieve them. Read more: SMG Culture

Interested? We look forward to hearing from you!

Pay: $45.00 - $60.00 per hour

Benefits

* Flexible schedule

Application Question(s)

* This is a long term, part-time, contract position. Please explain how this fits with your current employment goals and/or lifestyle.

Experience

• Bookkeeping: 4 years (Required)
• Quickbooks Online: 2 years (Required)
• Accounts receivable: 2 years (Required)

Work Location: Remote