Finance role
Director of Financial Reporting Recruiters
No postings. No stacks of resumes. No chasing. You interview a short list.
Financial Headhunters: Hire a Director of Financial Reporting to run technical accounting closures and present results to the board without asking for daily input.
This is what we do all day: recruit accounting, finance, banking and insurance professionals.
No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire.
Need someone now? Call 305-306-4829.
We offer a candidate replacement guarantee on standard search agreements. The applicable period and exact terms are set out in the signed client recruiting agreement.
- Head of Financial Reporting
- Financial Reporting Director
- No upfront fee
- Pay only if you hire
- Accounting, finance, banking and insurance
- We reach people who aren’t on job boards
- Replacement terms on standard searches
01
What does this hire really come down to?
Your firm needs a leader to control the technical details of consolidation and follow tax or regulatory rules. You hire this person to sign off on the math in financial statements so ledger data remains accurate under audit scrutiny. This role is about internal controls. The candidate must build a process that answers questions from auditors and investors without you reviewing every technical memo.
Good directors reconcile accounting standards with the limits of your specific software. They do not just copy numbers. They explain why a line item changed from the previous period. If your reporting process breaks during month-end or relies on manual spreadsheets, this person must identify the system gaps and build automation to help the department scale.
This role is required to manage quarter-end deadlines. Describe your process for checking a predictable workflow and audit readiness. You need someone who explains technical accounting positions to the CFO and board with facts. They must manage the stress of audit deadlines while teaching direct reports how to fix ledger errors and perform account reconciliations.
02
What do we check before you see anyone?
- 01We ask them to explain a specific memo they wrote regarding revenue recognition or business combinations to see if they can defend their logic to an auditor.
- 02We ask how they handled a disagreement with an external auditor over a specific accounting treatment to see if they stood their ground or lacked a factual basis.
- 03We test their work in consolidation software and ERP systems to see if they have solved data errors across different company entities or international sites.
- 04We look for evidence they built or maintained internal controls that satisfied private or public audit requirements.
- 05We ask how they handle a staff member who consistently misses deadlines to see if they provide training or simply take over the work themselves.
- 06We ask them to explain a volatile balance sheet item to a non-financial board member to see if they can summarize complex data without using accounting jargon.
03
Where do we find them?
We look in the reporting departments of large companies where high transaction volume and strict regulations force directors to manage specific details. These professionals look for new jobs when their current organization limits their access to strategic projects or prevents them from changing the reporting workflow.
We also talk to senior audit leads looking to stop traveling to client sites. These individuals move to industry to apply technical rules in one specific business. They seek roles where they can influence the financial health of the company and track the long-term impact of their own accounting decisions.
04
Which hiring mistakes should you watch for?
- 01Managers often favor candidates who worked at a direct competitor even if those candidates cannot fix broken reporting systems or manual spreadsheet processes.
- 02Firms wait to start a search until a quarter-end crisis happens, which forces them to pick a person who maintains the status quo instead of someone who improves the process.
- 03Hiring managers ignore a candidate who cannot explain accounting logic in plain English, assuming their technical background is enough despite the requirement to report to a board.
05
The search in three steps
- 01We map your current reporting tools and technical requirements to define which specific accounting challenges the candidate must have already solved.
- 02We contact currently employed professionals and ask them to explain how they fixed specific accounting errors in their previous roles.
- 03We send you a shortlist of candidates who pass your technical tests with a summary of their leadership style and their specific track record with board communication.
How your Director of Financial Reporting search runs
How does The Six-Step Search work?
One sequence, from a well-defined seat to a shortlist you can judge.
Search Calibration
We start with a call about the seat, the books, the owners and the people the hire will work with. We learn what the role must fix in the first year and what would make a candidate wrong even if the resume looks right.
You get: A written search brief: scope, must-haves, deal-breakers and the pay range, agreed with you.
Market Mapping
We map the companies and institutions where the right people already work: similar size, similar ownership, similar complexity, in your market and in others.
You get: The target list of companies and institutions we will search, reviewed with you before outreach.
Professional Contact Intelligence
We find direct ways to reach the people on the map. Most are employed and not reading job boards, so reaching them takes real research.
You get: Direct routes to people who are not on job boards, researched for your search.
Persistent Personalized Outreach
We call and write to people individually and follow up. Interest varies, so we discuss the actual opportunity rather than promising a particular response.
You get: One-to-one conversations about your actual role, followed up, never a mass email blast.
Live Candidate Qualification
We speak with every candidate before you do. We check scope, systems, reporting lines, compensation expectations, location and why they would move.
You get: Only candidates we have spoken with, checked on scope, systems, pay, location and motive.
Candidate Intelligence and Process Support
You receive a short written brief on each finalist covering what they have done, where they are thin and what they want. Then we help with interviews, references and the offer.
You get: A short written brief on each finalist, plus help with interviews, references, counteroffer risk and the offer.
Questions people ask
How long should I wait after starting before seeing a reporting director candidate list?
We start the outreach process the day you engage us. We deliver qualified candidates once they pass our technical audit scenarios.
How do you evaluate if a candidate can handle our specific systems and reporting complexity?
We ask candidates to explain how they corrected data errors in past roles. We match their previous software projects to your current system maturity.
What is the best way to handle a situation where our top candidate is given a counteroffer?
We confirm why the candidate wants to leave their current firm before we begin the search. We keep that motivation clear throughout the process so the candidate remains committed to your job.
Can we conduct this search without our current reporting team or board finding out?
We perform all outreach with total discretion. We restrict the amount of detail shared with candidates until you approve moving to the interview phase.
What are the financial terms if we move ahead with hiring a presented candidate?
You pay only after the candidate starts the job. We sign a contract outlining the specific terms before we begin any search activity.
What is the fee for a Director of Financial Reporting search?
No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire. The fee and terms are agreed in writing before we start.
What is your guarantee?
We offer a candidate replacement guarantee on standard search agreements. The applicable period and exact terms are set out in the signed client recruiting agreement.
What don't you do?
We do not post your Director of Financial Reporting job and forward whoever applies. We do not send stacks of unscreened resumes, and we do not recruit outside accounting, finance, banking and insurance.
Start a search
Tell us about the seat.
No upfront fee. You pay only if you hire.
We offer a candidate replacement guarantee on standard search agreements. The applicable period and exact terms are set out in the signed client recruiting agreement.
Not ready to start a search?
Get a practical read on the talent market or the job description. No fee or obligation.
What does the published pay data show?
$166,570 national annual median. SOC 11-3031: Financial Managers.
BLS reports Director of Financial Reporting within a broader occupation. It does not publish separate wages for this exact title, credentials, seniority or industry. Compare the listed SOC duties with your actual role before using this range.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. Released 2026-05-15. This is not a separately measured salary for this exact title.
Read the full salary guide