Commitment: Two days per week, pattern flexible | Location: Central London offices, hybrid — typically one day on site | Rate: £450–£550 per day | Reports to: Managing Director

Accountancy Capital is recruiting a Fractional Financial Controller for an established, profitable media and publishing group in central London — a portfolio of print and digital titles, a growing events arm, and content licensing income across UK and international markets. The business runs on a capable bookkeeping team and a supportive external accountant; what it lacks is senior financial control, and the MD wants two days a week of exactly that: someone to own the numbers, sharpen the margins by title, and make the month-end tell the truth about a business with more moving parts than its size suggests. The client's identity is shared before any interview.

Why media finance is its own discipline

Publishing finance rewards a controller who understands its particular shapes: revenue recognised across subscriptions, advertising, events and licensing — each on its own timing; deferred income that dwarfs the debtor book; royalty and contributor accounting with contractual settlement cycles; commission structures on advertising sales; and title-level profitability where overhead allocation makes or breaks the analysis. An FC who has lived this — in publishing, media, events or an adjacent contract-revenue business — will find a familiar puzzle in excellent underlying shape. One who has not will spend their two days learning it at the client's expense, which is why relevant sector experience leads the person specification below.