Film Production Accountants Are Required

The “Film and Television Production Industry” requires accountants just like any other production business. There is a catch, though. You need experience to get hired, and you can’t get hired without experience.

EXPOSURE TO THE FILM INDUSTRY IS LIMITED

The Film Production Industry is isolated, even to the point of seeming to be a closed arena. The production accountants, under horrific time constraints, cannot train new people. The studio finance and accounting personnel must safeguard the privacy of the film budgets, “Cost Reports” and distribution deals. So, how does a person get exposed to the industry specific reports, practices and terminology?

FILM ACCOUNTING 101 WORKSHOPS – CPE 23 HOURS

This practical hands-on workshop of 2 intensive days gives attendees an opportunity to practice all activities associated with being an assistant film accountant, gaining a thorough practical understanding of the entertainment general ledger software and much of the terminology. The immediate follow-up of 6 live on-line training webinars brings you into a senior level of Film Accounting through managing the Film Budget and Cost Report (the financial statements of film productions).

SMALL CLASSES OF LESS THAN 20 PEOPLE

The classes are small and all attendee’s questions are addressed, providing the attendees with a controlled and friendly environment to learn the film production industry specific practices and terminology.

TAMPA BAY – Sat/Sun May 2^nd and 3^rd – 2015

I hope to see you there. Click here for more info.

 

Cheers / John

 

PS: For more info on the life of a Film Accountant see my article at https://filmproduction.wordpress.com

Film Tax Incentive Audits – What Is Sufficient Knowledge?

Most States require that any audit of State Film Tax Incentives be performed by someone who  “...must have sufficient knowledge of the accounting principles and practices generally recognized in the film and television industry.” (I list three film production-popular popular State’s audit instructions below). That’s a classic chicken and the egg conundrum. What is sufficient knowledge and how do you get that first audit?

I would say the two biggest differences between a normal business audit, and an audit of a film or television production for the State film tax incentive, is:

1. an understanding of the functions and forms interfacing between accounting and the production, and

2. the expectations of the film producer – quite different from a CEO of a usual business enterprise.

Connecticut solved the conundrum by only listing the State qualified auditors who had completed my workshop – “Film Accounting and Auditing”. I have put the full workshop on 4 online self-study courses

Please check the State references below to give you a flavor of the audit instructions.

To find out more about solving that problem with attaining “sufficient knowledge …”, see http://www.filmaccounting.com/filmaccounting-cpe.htm

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Louisiana Link: http://204.196.223.30/docs/film/00_Audit_Guidelines-July2012.pdf
Document Title: Motion Picture Incentive: Audit Guidelines
Reference:                Page 1 of 8 under the “General Section”
Quote: “The audit must be performed in accordance with auditing standards generally accepted in the United States of America, as set forth in Generally Accepted Auditing Principles (GAAP) and Generally Accepted Auditing Standards (GAAS). The auditor must have sufficient knowledge of accounting principles and practices generally recognized in the film and television industry.”

Michigan: http://www.mi.gov/documents/filmoffice/Audit_Instructions_252701_7.pdf
Document Title:        Audit Instructions and Expenditure Certification Guidelines:
Reference:             Page 2 of 4 in the “General Section” sub-section (m)
Quote: “The audit must be performed in accordance with auditing standards generally
accepted in the United States and the auditor must have sufficient knowledge of accounting
principles and practices generally recognized in the film, television and digital media industry.”

Connecticut Link: http://ct.gov/ecd/lib/ecd/auditinstructions.pdf
Document Title:        Audit Instructions
Reference:  Page 1 of 10, Part 2. General, sub-section (e):
Quote: “The audit must be performed in accordance with auditing standards generally
accepted in the United States of America and the auditor must have sufficient knowledge of accounting principles and practices generally recognized in the film, television, commercial and digital media industry.”

Film Accounting and Auditing-CPE New York Lic#002443

Whew! I finally got the Continuing Professional Education (CPE) License Number for the New York workshop on “Film Accounting and Auditing”.

You may, or may not, know, but there are some States that have a list of rules that the Certified Accountant (of whatever branch) needs to track, and then it’s up to the person claiming the CPE to be honest about it (like Michigan, California, Louisiana). Then there are some States which positively make the Author/Instructor crawl over broken glass to get the course/ workshop approved and “Licensed” by the State (like Florida and New York).

The New York State Education Department gives it a very thorough review (as did Florida as well), so it’s time for me to proudly advertise my New York Sponsor License #002443 just before Sunday’s workshop in New York (at the delux Post-Production facility in Soho).

A quick word about the workshop – it’s designed to give the Certified Public Accountant a full rundown on the Film Accounting industry specific terminology and methodology, as well as to show the CPA how to do any State audits for the Tax Incentive much quicker.

Go to my web site and you’ll get more info about it:  http://www.talkfilm.biz

– John