Company Overview:
Party City Holdings, Inc. (PCHI) is the largest party goods supplier and party retail chain in the world. We are also the country's premier retailer of Halloween costumes, accessories, and decorations. PCHI is made up of two divisions, Retail and Wholesale. At PCHI, we like to have fun! We are helpful, passionate, and creative. We inspire our customers with exciting concepts, themes and ideas and provide everything they need to bring them to life. We make it easy to create unforgettable moments.
Job Overview:
Reporting to the Chief Accounting Officer, this role manages the company’s close consolidations process, preparation of external filings and serves as the primary voice on technical accounting interpretations and adoptions. The role will support the accounting and reporting of all complex, or non-standard transactions. This role operates proactively and will interface with the corporate office and business segment personnel at various levels of the Company, as well as with internal and external auditors.
They will also be responsible for managing the relationship with the respective outsourced team in India. They will have demonstrated the ability to communicate cross-culturally and clearly document processes while providing effective leadership to deliver departmental KPIs.
Responsibilities include regularly partnering with key team members to: (1) ensure accuracy of consolidations and reporting and (2) improve the processes and internal controls related to these areas.
Primary Responsibilities/Accountabilities:
- Manages the team responsible for consolidation of financial results and preparation of external reports
- Identifies, researches, and evaluates the accounting treatment for all significant and complex transactions.
- Serves as the lead author of technical accounting memorandums for all complex, corporate or non-standard transactions (i.e., divestitures, acquisitions, treasury transactions). Memos should detail facts, circumstances, and accounting for and financial reporting of such transactions.
- Reviews journal entries for complex, corporate or non-standard transactions including entries required at the consolidated, divisional or intercompany levels. Provide guidance to functional accounting teams on the operationalization and implementation of accounting requirements.
- Determines how complex transactions should be presented, reported, and disclosed at the statutory and consolidated level. This includes ensuring accurate presentation of financial statements and disclosures in accordance with US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rules.
- Reviews (and serves as backup preparer for) quarterly and year-to-date earnings per share calculations.
- Conducts a detailed review of the divisional and consolidated statements of cash flow.
- Reviews (and serves as backup preparer for) month-end close activities associated with equity accounts; including review of stock compensation or other equity transactions; preparation/review of monthly equity statements, including account reconciliations of common stock, additional paid in capital, other comprehensive income, and retained earnings.
- Leads annual impairment evaluations for goodwill and intangible assets. Prepares related periodic account reconciliations.
- Reviews financial statements and Forms 10-Q, 10-K, 8-K (including earnings press releases), proxy statements filed with the SEC.
- Reviews (and serves as backup preparer for) financial statement disclosure checklists on a quarterly basis.
- Serve as a primary liaison with external and internal auditors on technical accounting matters, quarterly reviews and interim and annual internal control and financial statement audits.
- Collaboration with internal and external parties to support annual audit reporting, quarterly reporting needs, and other regulatory filings requirements, as needed.
- Provide ad-hoc support to the organization and advise businesses on financial accounting and reporting issues and transaction structuring. Reviews business specific memos as required.
- Support merger, acquisition and divestiture activity and due diligence. Assist with evaluating the accounting consequences of potential transactions and review of business combination valuations and purchase price allocation to ensure that scope, methodology and key assumptions are understood and supportable. Works to consolidate and integrate financial close and reporting processes of newly acquired entities.
- Monitor, research and analyze emerging accounting issues from the SEC, IASB, FASB and other regulatory bodies for applicability to the company. As required, manage accounting, reporting and document the implementation of new accounting standards as they are released and become effective. Maintains, updates, and evaluates new accounting policies and procedures in line with new pronouncements, as needed.
- Monitors peer group filings to identify industry trends and best practices for disclosures.
- Develops/updates global accounting policies and procedures. Provides training, as necessary.
- Maintain relationships so that businesses are continually compliant GAAP, stays current on reissued / new corporate policies and provides early identification of transactions that could have a potential accounting/reporting impact.
- Maintains and performs consistent processes mapped to Sarbanes Oxley (SOX) controls related to job responsibilities. Develops or updates internal controls, policies, and procedures as applicable and mitigates and remediates issues identified through internal and external audit processes.
- Assist on transformation and system implementation activities, special projects and other responsibilities as needed/assigned.