Role Summary

The Senior Manager - Lease Accounting is accountable for end-to-end lease accounting integrity under IFRS 16 / ASC 842, ensuring:

• Lease population completeness and contract data integrity
• Accurate ROU asset and lease liability accounting
• Lease reconciliations are timely certified in OneStream
• Full compliance with SOX / ICFR / IPE standards

The role owns lease accounting governance, close readiness, and control discipline, ensuring consistent, audit-ready outcomes across NIQ entities.

Role Purpose

To deliver accurate, controlled, and compliant lease accounting outcomes by:

• Owning lease accounting lifecycle integrity and governance
• Driving high-quality reconciliations and certification discipline
• Ensuring complete and accurate lease population and contract inputs
• Leading teams and stakeholders to achieve predictable, first-time-right close execution

Key Responsibilities

1. Lease Accounting Ownership & Close Governance

• Own end-to-end lease accounting lifecycle and close execution
• Govern:
• Close calendar
• Readiness
• Cutover activities
• Ensure timely and accurate:
• Lease accounting
• OneStream certification

2. Lease Population & Data Integrity

• Ensure completeness and accuracy of lease population
• Govern lease data inputs including:
• Contract terms
• Payment schedules
• Modifications and updates
• Maintain strong controls over master data integrity

3. Accounting Accuracy (ROU & Lease Liability)

• Ensure accurate accounting for:
• ROU assets
• Lease liabilities
• Govern accounting treatment for:
• Lease modifications
• Remeasurements
• Discount rate changes
• Ensure consistent application of IFRS 16 / ASC 842 standards

4. Reconciliation & Certification Governance

• Ensure lease tool-to-GL reconciliations are complete and accurate
• Drive timely OneStream certification with strong tie-out discipline
• Maintain high standards of:
• Documentation
• Evidence traceability
• Validation controls

5. Controls, Compliance & Audit

• Ensure compliance with:
• SOX / ICFR controls
• IPE evidence standards
• Maintain audit-ready lease accounting processes and documentation
• Support and lead internal and external audit engagements
• Ensure traceability of:
• Accounting outputs
• Approvals
• Supporting evidence

6. Lease Modifications & Remeasurements Governance

• Govern processing of:
• Lease modifications
• Remeasurements
• Ensure strong control discipline over:
• Data changes
• System updates
• Accounting impacts
• Minimize rework through robust validation processes

7. Stakeholder Management & Cross-Functional Alignment

• Partner with:
• Real Estate teams (lease population, contract changes)
• Legal teams (contract terms and modifications)
• Controllers / Statutory teams
• RTR SDL / Close Governance teams
• Ensure alignment across:
• Lease data inputs
• Accounting treatment
• Close dependencies

8. Team Leadership & Capability Development

• Lead Lease Preparer, Reviewer, and SME teams
• Establish clear accountability for:
• Lease accounting quality
• Control compliance
• Close timelines
• Build a culture of:
• Ownership
• Quality discipline
• Continuous improvement
• Develop team capability and succession pipeline

9. Issue Management & Continuous Improvement

• Lead issue triage for:
• Lease accounting discrepancies
• System or data issues
• Drive:
• Root Cause Analysis (RCA)
• Corrective and preventive actions
• Improve:
• Reconciliation quality
• Data accuracy
• Control effectiveness

10. Performance Management & Metrics

• Monitor and drive performance across:
• Reconciliation quality
• Certification timelines
• Lease population completeness
• Ensure adherence to:
• SLA / CSL metrics
• Close governance standards

Top Skills for Success

• Lease accounting expertise (IFRS 16 / ASC 842)
• Controls, Compliance & Audit (SOX / ICFR / IPE)
• Reconciliation governance and certification discipline
• Lease lifecycle management (population, modifications, remeasurements)

Key Outcomes / Success Measures

• Complete and accurate lease population with governed contract data inputs
• Timely, certified OneStream lease reconciliations with strong tie-out discipline
• Accurate ROU asset and lease liability accounting, including modifications and remeasurements
• Audit-ready lease accounting processes with traceable evidence and SOX/IPE compliance
• Reduced close risk through effective issue triage and documented resolution

Tools & Systems

• Lease Accounting Tools High
• OneStream (Lease Reconciliations & Certification) High
• SAP GL High
• Microsoft Excel High
• Problem solving (RCA / CAPA) and issue escalation
• Stakeholder management (Real Estate, Legal, Finance)
• ERP & lease systems (SAP, lease tools, OneStream)
• Analytical skills (variance, reconciliation, data validation)

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or related field
• CA / CPA / ACCA (preferred)
• 8–12 years of experience in R2R / Lease Accounting / Financial Accounting
• Strong expertise in:
• Lease accounting standards (IFRS 16 / ASC 842)
• Experience with:
• ERP systems (SAP)
• Lease accounting tools (preferred)
• Proven experience in:
• Team leadership
• Stakeholder management
• Close governance