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farah saberi

Accounting & Payroll Professional


Hi there - thank you for coming to my website!

I'm an accounting and payroll professional with 15+ years of experience, mainly in the startup space, and have a history of driving impact through developing and managing accounting and payroll processes from the ground up.

I've always found working at startups to be deeply satisfying. Building systems and processes to support a new business venture that I can get excited about is a lot of fun, and I've met some really great people in all different fields throughout my career.



skills & expertise

Software

extras


  • Netsuite
  • Quickbooks Online
  • Full Circle Lite
  • UKG Ready
  • Namely
  • Gusto
  • ADP
  • Paychex
  • Track1099
  • Avalara
  • G-Suite
  • Microsoft
  • Concur
  • Expensify
  • Asana
  • PTMS (Property Tax)
  • LaCerte (Fixed assets)
  • Creation and maintenance of Employee handbook, including T&E Policy
  • Enact and enforce internal controls/security measures around payroll and accounting
  • US GAAP, ASC 606 and ASC 330 specifically
  • Audit/Due diligence for startups
  • Inventory costing, WIP, and raw materials experience
  • Experience with 3PL and in-house warehouse logistics teams
  • On-site inventory cycle counts
  • Presentation creation and discussion moderation


WORK EXPERIENCE

     pocket.watch, inc.

Senior Manager, Accounting, September 2023 - present
  •  Coach, develop, and manage Accounting Manager and Staff Accountant
  • Manage month end close, including account analysis, journal entry review/approval, etc
  • Move payroll function from Namely to PEO (Insperity) to reduce tax liability and operational expense
  • Oversee invoicing, revenue recognition, and negotiate issues for various large content platforms including Disney+, Hulu, Peacock, as well as in-house linear and VOD channels
  • Evaluated and selected an AI platform to design an automation strategy to improve accuracy and reduce manual effort in complex creator content royalty reporting
  • Tax and compliance, including registering with states as needed, resolving tax notices, liaising with CPA for tax returns, prepare and file sales tax returns, etc.
  • Weekly review of cash flow with CEO and VP of Finance and Strategy
  • Provide ad hoc reporting to department heads
  • Produce quarterly content royalty statements for 40+ creators across 15+ platforms, incl. Amazon, Hulu, Disney+, Comcast
  • Additional responsibilities as Sr. Accountant listed below (Feb 2018-Feb2022)

     pomteam

Senior Accountant, January 2023 - September 2023
  • Provide eight clients, including lifestyle/media, entertainment, software, subscription services, eCommerce, and wholesale/retail, with accounting services
  • Process semi-monthly payroll for employees and contractors
  • Tax and compliance work including registering with states as needed, researching tax notices, completing Federal Census requests, closing out of states, obtaining proper licensing, etc.
  • Month end close entries, maintain various balance sheet schedules, bank reconciliation, and variance analysis
  • Assist with audit requests and due diligence
  • Provide recommendations on process improvements
  • HR administration including on- and off-boarding employees, maintaining compliance with state, local, and federal employment law and best practices
  • Maintain schedules and reporting based on clients’ industry-specific needs
  • Member of committee that developed internal interview process and revamped job descriptions to support internal growth

     wave sports + entertainment

Payroll Manager, March 2022 - January 2023
  •  Standardize pay period org-wide, including drafting communications, hosting informational sessions, managing transitional payroll, and manually calculating adjustments
  • Process bi-weekly and semi-monthly multi-state payroll for 150+ employees
  • Project manage full system implementation of UKG Ready - including Time & Labor Management, HR, Payroll, and Benefits modules
  • Create and distribute org-wide communications and trainings related to transition from Gusto to UKG Ready
  • Co-lead DEIB Council, developed and executed successful programming including Courageous Conversations speaker series
  • Register company for tax and unemployment in new states as needed
  • Manage state registrations and tax rates, investigate and resolve tax notices
  • Partner closely with legal and accounting teams, communicate staffing and comp changes, bonuses, and other key updates
  • Responsible for payroll accounting, including calculating and posting monthly accruals, reconciling payroll balance sheet accounts, and analyzing variance
  • Maintain high levels of confidentiality 

     pocket.watch, inc.

Senior Accountant, February 2018-February 2022
  • Transitioned entire accounting function in house from outside firm – payables, receivables, payroll, month end close entries and reconciliations, and solely maintained accounting department for one year
  • Created month end close schedule and cleaned up reconciliation files to reduce close from 6+ weeks to 10 days
  • Set up AP processes including structured weekly payments, formalized approval process, and weekly cash position reporting
  • Manage multiple growing revenue streams (branded content, licensing and merchandising, content sales, advertising) across multiple platforms (OTT, AVOD, SVOD, iOS and Android apps, and wholesale consumer product licensing) alongside Dir. Business Development
  • Revenue Rec in compliance with ASC 606
  • Manage studio production accounting for 6+ concurrent projects, manage production accountants on larger projects
  • Licensing and Merchandising for 100+ licensees
  • Ad media sales for streaming, mobile games (YouTube, Apple)
  • Manage inter-company transactions for 7 subsidiaries and holding companies
  • Support General Counsel with creation of subsidiary hierarchy to ensure union and non-union protections, including registering for IRS FEINs, state registrations, and local tax requirements
  • Content Sales/distribution (Roku, Hulu, Amazon, Pluto)
  • Month and year end close
  • Multi-state payroll processing with Namely for 100 employees across three subsidiaries
  • Assist with implementation of Netsuite, validate and test migrated data
  • Manage AP clerk
  • Review and process weekly payment runs
  • GL accounting
  • Treasury management (wire/ACH payment processing, maintain 17 bank balances, approve weekly check run) 
  • Administrate corporate card program

     good american

Senior Accountant, May 2017-February 2018
  • Hire, train, and manage one AP staff
  • Post daily retail/wholesale cash receipts from multiple sources (Shopify, Returnly, Stripe, Amazon, Borderfree, PayPal)
  • Review weekly payment runs
  • Administrate corporate card program (Visa and Amex)
  • Month and year end close journal entries
  • Inventory accounting in accordance with ASC 330
  • Inventory management, including on-site cycle counts
  • Support Controller through Implementation of Full Circle Lite and transition from QBO

     band of outsiders, llc

Senior Accountant, August 2014-July 2015
  • Full cycle AP
  • Manage AR staff of one
  • Month and Year end close journal entries, bank reconciliations, GL analysis
  • Provide business updates and daily cash flow to CEO and investors
  • Direct support to controller and CEO
  • Partner with NY based logistics team, NY based retail location, factor (Hilldun) for AR, design, and production teams.
  • Book daily sales/refunds for wholesale and retail
  • Process credit card payments for wholesale customers
  • Inventory: prepaid, inventory costing, WIP, raw materials, in accordance with ASC 330
  • Prepare and file sales tax returns for NY and CA
  • Administrate corporate card program (Amex)
  • Process payroll using Paychex
  • Sales/Use tax audit (CA)
  • Assist with HR administration
  • Manage financial aspects of company wind-down with CEO, CPA firm, and investors

     nasty gal. inc.

Accounting Lead/Senior Accountant/AP Supervisor, February 2012-August 2014
  • Manage one staff accountant (as Accounting Lead)
  • Review/approve journal entries
  • Five day month end close
  • Support the accounting department, Controller and Interim CFO through company growth from approximately $24 million to $100+ million per year
  • Administrate corporate card program (Amex)
  • Treasury management, transition from Wells Fargo to Square One Bank
  • Daily cash postings for sales and returns
  • Month and year end close journal entries
  • Inventory management, including on-site cycle counts
  • Hire, train, and manage three AP staff (as AP Supervisor)
  • Review and process weekly payment runs
  • Review/approve AP entry

     smashbox cosmetics

Staff Accountant, August 2008-January 2012
  • Three day month end close
  • Post daily cash receipts for wholesale (Sephora, Ulta, Nordstrom, etc.) and retail ecomm
  • Research and negotiate chargeback claims, and obtain chargeback recoveries as necessary
  • Review/approve AP invoice batches
  • Maintain fixed assets, prepaid inventory and expenses, and inventory accounts
  • Aquired by Estee Lauder in 2013
  • Support internal warehouse logistics team
  • Administrate corporate card program
  • Monthly analysis and reconciliation of investment company
  • Intercompany transactions

     


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