Senior Director, Franchise Revenue and Accounts Receivable

The Sr. Director, Franchise Revenue and Accounts Receivable will lead the Franchise Revenue and Accounts Receivable functions to ensure accurate and efficient close, internal and external reporting, and controls. This role will establish and set the vision for the department, including partnering with various cross-functional teams and managing various franchise revenue and Accounts Receivable, scaling processes with appropriate level of automation and centralization and ensuring that there are effective controls in the process. The successful candidate will be action-oriented with a blend of both operational and some technical accounting experience and will seek to build strong relationships with and deliver superior service to all key stakeholders. This leader will have a critical role in Project Feather and public company readiness to take current processes to the next level, ensure successful implementation and continued development of supporting systems and ensure both they and the team anticipate and adapt to meet future challenges.

This position sits within our Atlanta based Global Support Center with an expectation to be onsite 4 days per week.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Global responsibility for Franchise revenue, accounts receivable, cash collections, financial close and reporting process, ensuring compliance with U.S. GAAP, internal controls, company policies, and company procedures for accurate and timely reporting. There is a high focus on business partnership supporting the franchise segment leadership and customer service expectations of franchisees, in addition to managing cash collections and working capital needs.

• Direct the end-to-end processes for franchise revenue, payment services and loyalty programs, including billing, payments and application of cash receipts for all brands (both domestic and international) to meet close and reporting deadlines (subledger and ledger) for approximately 33,000 franchise locations, representing multi billions in annual revenue.
• Direct the department’s daily matching and support monthly cash reconciliations in our cash management tool to meet close and reporting deadlines. Cash balances are greater than $1B, with and debt is securitized at the brand levels with compliance standards.
• Analyze financial data to identify trends and variances to support the business regarding revenue performance. Partner with the Finance leadership with ad hoc projects and analysis as required.
• Oversee the teams to meet close and reporting deadlines, with control execution.
• Direct and supervise the month-end and quarter-end close process activities, including review of subledger activity, support for account reconciliations, and analyses with a focus on process and governance.
• Manage and develop a high-performing team where inclusion and diversity are leveraged for innovation and continuous improvement. Develop a culture of collaboration, training, and success.
• Provide leadership and feedback on employee performance and identify opportunities for improvement. Drive employee engagement and career development for team.
• Meet department financial goals by continually driving process improvement throughout the organization.
• Integrate acquisition processes and personnel into centralized teams, processes, and systems, including new franchisees and ICR transfers.
• Oversee internal control process including identifying and updating key controls and process narratives to ensure Sarbanes-Oxley compliance.
• Develop and maintain relationships with key stakeholders, such as Treasury, IT, Financial Systems, AP, Enterprise Applications, Product team and brand leadership, etc., and provide support as required.
• Provide detailed analysis to support Finance, senior management, and the business.
• Partner with Financial Reporting to ensure appropriate reporting and disclosure of accounting activity recorded by the department.
   

Scale Initiatives

• Own and be responsible for conceiving and implementing new technologies and automation of processes.
• Work closely with Finance transformation team to review the end-to-end processes and evaluate opportunities to scale through digitalization, centralization, or automation.
• Lead software implementations and system enhancement design including providing business requirements and system testing to drive efficiencies by automating manual tasks.
• Operationalize the end-to-end customer journey by implementing processes, methodologies, and policies with a focus on speed, scale, and repeatability.
   

EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE QUALIFICATIONS

• 4-Year degree in Accounting or related field.
• Certified Public Accountant.
• 10 years of progressive accounting experience.
• ERP, financial systems experience.
• Experience in leading high performing teams, located across multiple support centers.
• Experience with process improvement, change management and systems implementations.
• Prior experience managing relationships with external audit firms is strongly preferred.
• Prior experience in industry and with franchisor strongly preferred.
   

REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS or ABILITIES

• Strong finance acumen and customer service focus.
• Strong technical, analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to combine technical abilities, business acumen and U.S. GAAP knowledge to develop and deliver solutions for business partners and senior management.
• Excellent communication skills and a customer service, problem solving approach that will facilitate open dialogue and engagement with both external and internal constituencies is a requirement.
• Strong knowledge of internal controls and able to determine and recommend new changes to controls.
• Ability to work in a dynamic, fast paced, fast growing company where adaptability is imperative.
• Oracle knowledge a strong plus.

DECISION MAKING AUTHORITY 

• This position has decision making, managing, and hiring authority.

DIRECT REPORTS  

• This position has 5-7 direct reports.
   

 

Inspire is a multi-brand restaurant company whose portfolio includes more than 33,300 Arby’s, Baskin-Robbins, Buffalo Wild Wings, Dunkin’, Jimmy John’s, and SONIC restaurants worldwide. We’re made up of some of the world’s most iconic restaurant brands, but we’re much more than just a restaurant company. We’re a team of hundreds of thousands who individually and collectively are changing the way people eat, drink, and gather around the table. We know that food is much more than a staple—it’s an experience. At Inspire, that’s our purpose: to ignite and nourish flavorful experiences.