Finance Manager

Finance Manager - Atlas Events

Location: Maroochydore, QLD Work Type: Full-time Salary: $120,000 – $150,000 per year Work Arrangement: Hybrid, with occasional travel to Atlas Events race weekends.

About Atlas Events Atlas Events is a leading Australian event organiser with over 14 years of experience in curating and delivering mass-participation running and multisport events nationwide. Our portfolio includes prominent events such as the Hobart Marathon Festival, EVA Air Brisbane Marathon Festival, 7Cairns Marathon Festival, EVA Air Sunshine Coast Marathon Festival, Hervey Bay Half Marathon Festival, and the Devonport Triathlon. We foster active, healthy, and socially engaged communities by bringing together participants, their supporters, communities, and sponsors. Through these events, we have collectively raised over $4.2 million for charities and community groups.

The Opportunity We are seeking an experienced Finance Manager to lead our finance function and contribute to the ongoing growth of Atlas Events. This role involves responsibility for the complete accounting cycle, ensuring the integrity of our general ledger across multiple events and entities. You will be instrumental in establishing the financial discipline, controls, and forecasting capabilities necessary to confidently scale a transaction-intensive, event-driven business. This is a hands-on position offering significant commercial insight, suitable for an individual who excels in detail accuracy and collaborates with operational leaders to drive informed decision-making.

Key Responsibilities

• Financial Leadership & Reporting
• Manage daily accounting operations, monthly closing procedures, BAS preparation, year-end closing, and audited annual financial statements.
• Maintain the general ledger for multiple entities and events using Xero, ensuring timely and accurate reporting.
• Provide clear and regular financial reports to the CFO/Managing Director and event leads.
• Budget Management & Forecasting
• Lead the annual budget development in collaboration with event managers and department heads.
• Track and report budget versus actual performance at both event and consolidated levels, identifying variances promptly and recommending corrective actions.
• Prepare and maintain a rolling cash flow forecast, accounting for event-driven fluctuations in registration income, sponsorship receipts, and supplier payments.
• Develop event-level P&L reporting to inform pricing, sponsorship, and vendor decisions.
• Controls & Compliance
• Design and implement internal controls for Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable, ensuring accurate and timely vendor payments, correct GST coding, and clear audit trails.
• Ensure compliance with Australian accounting standards, GST/BAS, PAYG, payroll tax, FBT, and income tax obligations; liaise with external accountants, auditors, and the ATO.
• Oversee superannuation, payroll processing, and STP reporting in conjunction with payroll providers.
• Administration & Governance
• Manage annual filings with ASIC and other regulatory bodies, and maintain corporate registers and statutory records.
• Oversee contract management, including supplier agreements, sponsorship contracts, and venue/local government agreements, ensuring tracking of renewals, obligations, and key dates.
• Support employment-related administration, including employment contracts, onboarding documentation, leave records, workers’ compensation, and insurance renewals (public liability, event cancellation, etc.).
• Maintain insurance policies, business registrations, and other operational compliance requirements.
• Process Improvement
• Streamline finance and administration workflows, utilising Xero add-ons and automation to minimise manual entry and reduce the risk of errors.
• Implement KPI dashboards for AP/AR ageing, cash forecasting, and event profitability.
• Strategic Partnership
• Provide timely financial insights to the leadership team to support budgeting, pricing, sponsorship negotiations, and supplier management.
• Attend select race weekends (3–4 annually) to gain operational understanding and strengthen cross-functional relationships.

Required Qualifications

• CA or CPA qualification, or be working towards completion.
• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related discipline.
• A minimum of 5 years of progressive Australian accounting experience, including experience leading or developing a small team.
• Demonstrated success in managing the full accounting cycle, preparing budgets and cash flow forecasts, and supporting external audits.
• Strong working knowledge of Xero.
• Solid understanding of Australian tax and compliance requirements, including GST/BAS, PAYG, superannuation, payroll tax, and FBT.
• Advanced Excel skills and comfort working with high transaction volumes.
• Excellent organisational skills and a process-improvement mindset.

Preferred & Cultural Pluses

• A passion for running, triathlon, health, wellness, or endurance sports, and comfort working within an event-driven culture where workload is influenced by the event calendar.
• Experience in the event industry.

Reporting To: Group Chief Financial Officer / Managing Director Team: You will be part of a small finance and administration team with the potential for growth.