WHAT DOES A FUND ACCOUNTING MANAGER DO?
Published: Mar 13, 2025 – The Fund Accounting Manager manages general ledger activities for multiple fund entities, including cash reconciliations, loan compliance, and quarterly close processes. This role involves preparing and reviewing financial statements, investor communications, capital calls, distributions, and carried interest calculations. The manager also supports audit processes, investor reporting, and special financial analyses to ensure accurate and timely fund accounting operations.
A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for Fund Accounting Manager
1. Fund Accounting Manager Functions
- Fund Accounting: Maintain the books and records of pooled private investment funds
- Reconciliation: Handle the accounting for and reconciliation of cash, investments, and property
- Transaction Reconciliation: Document and reconcile purchase and sale transactions
- Corporate Actions: Oversee the accounting for complex corporate actions
- Accruals: Assess, estimate, and post monthly closing accruals
- Allocations: Calculate income and expense allocations to each partner
- Distributions: Analyze and prepare distributions and draw-downs
- Reporting: Produce monthly, quarterly, and annual financial reports to clients
- Performance Monitoring: Monitor performance metrics for partnerships and accounts
- Liaison: Liaise with funds’ independent auditors, prime brokers, and administrators
2. Fund Accounting Manager Job Description
- Client Service: Ensure a consistent, high level of client service delivery across client portfolios
- Quality Assurance: Ensure all client deliverables are subject to quality review whilst demonstrating technical expertise
- Relationship Management: Actively develop relationships with existing clients and related parties
- Client Meetings: Manage client relationships, conducting meetings as appropriate
- File Management: Ensure client files are correctly maintained, and all correspondence and documentation are accurately and regularly filed
- Documentation Management: Manage client take-on documentation before commencing engagement
- Fee Management: Ensure fee notes are prepared and circulated to clients
- Team Supervision: Ensure that the team is supervised, directed, and engaged in day-to-day work
- Team Training: Support the team with process and other relevant training and career development considerations
- Technical Support: Support the team with technical considerations that may require an additional level of judgement
- Colleague Development: Offer effective supervision, training, and development of colleagues
- Procedures and Controls: Work with the team to ensure procedures and controls are consistently adhered to
- Internal Representation: Represent the Funds Team at internal operational working groups
3. Fund Accounting Manager Tasks
- Risk Management: Assist with continuous development of the operating framework and risk management
- Business Advisory: Act as a trusted sounding board for internal and external considerations concerning new business risk assessments, financial decisions, and formal client communications
- Oversight: Provide effective oversight of fund accounting processes or functions that may be outsourced to another office whilst still maintaining responsibility
- Client Review: Ensure that a robust periodic client and file review program as required by my client is documented and followed
- Financial Management: Take responsibility for Financial Performance Management
- Budgeting and Forecasting: Contribute to the UK Fund Services' annual budget and forecast-setting process
- Time and Allocation Management: Ensure effective and complete time recording and client portfolio allocation
- Billing Liaison: Liaise effectively with the internal Finance team on billing and draft invoice reviews
- Financial Review: Review aged debt and other financial information as required by the internal Finance team
- Service Offering Development: Assist the Head of Fund Services UK in building the fund accounting service offering in the UK by acting as the first point of contact for proposal drafting, fee estimations, and resource considerations
- Business Development: Work with the business development team to facilitate effective response to opportunities as well as developing and delivering client and intermediary development plans
- Service Line Development: Support the UK Head of Fund Services in the ongoing assessment and development of the UK service line literature
4. Fund Accounting Manager Essential Functions
- NAV Oversight: Performing oversight of all NAVs for private market clients
- Financial Reporting: Reviewing/preparing financial statements and associated reports
- Transaction Review: Reviewing payments and other transactions
- Staff Supervision: Supervising staff, reviewing and signing off on work performed by staff in the Account
- Client Liaison: Liaising with clients and other fund participants
- Deadline Management: Meeting expectations of fund participants, adhering to deadlines
- Relationship Management: Maintaining relationships with investors, investment advisors/managers, banks, brokers, auditors, and other fund participants
- Audit Assistance: Assisting auditors and other fund participants and advisers
- Fund Reporting Ownership: Ownership for all elements of a fund's reporting cycle from review and interpretation of fund governing documentation through to day-to-day accounting tasks, the production of quarterly investor reporting, net asset values, and annual financial statements
5. Fund Accounting Manager Role Purpose
- General Ledger Management: Maintain the general ledger for multiple fund entities using the funds' general ledger, Yardi
- Cash Reconciliation: Review daily bank activities, record cash activities, and reconcile book vs. bank cash balances
- Cash Monitoring: Monitor cash balances and prepare weekly and monthly bank statement reconciliations
- Loan Compliance: Maintain loan compliance with fund lines of credit
- Quarterly Close: Complete the quarterly close process, including preparation and review of journal entries
- Financial Statement Preparation: Prepare and review quarterly/annual financial statements, quarterly capital statements, investor letters, LP distribution and capital call notifications, and quarterly work papers for internal review and quarterly reporting support
- Capital and Fee Calculations: Calculate and review capital calls, distributions, and management fees
- Waterfall Calculation: Calculate and review preferred return, promote, and carried interest waterfalls
- Investor Database Management: Maintain investor database on the external reporting module
- Investor Request Handling: Prepare, review, and complete all investor-level requests and quarterly investor-level questionnaires
- Audit Support: Be a point of contact during the annual audit by providing supporting documentation
- Financial Analysis Support: Assist with preparation and review of ad-hoc financial analysis, projects, system implementations, and special projects