INTHEBLACK March 2025 - Magazine - Page 38
F E AT U R E
In fact, funding bodies such as Screen
Australia are openly interested in funding
projects that address gender imbalance
and other diversity measures.
“Their agenda is to support minorities,
Indigenous and gender [diversity], and
so on,” Carter says.
ACCOUNTING FOR THE BOX OFFICE
In the development stage of a production,
it is enormously important for the production
accountant to track development funding
and expenses, and assign them to a tracking
ID, Ducki says.
Production companies typically have
a slate of projects in development. However,
once a project is greenlit — meaning it is
funded for production — it is usual for the
production to set up a new special purpose
vehicle (SPV ) to run the production through.
“The development costs and funding are
then moved over to the SPV and form part
of the overall budget,” Ducki says.
“When doing production accounting,
it is also very important to make sure you
understand all the funding which will
be received, so you can track the production
expenditure appropriately and be able
to report accordingly.”
STRONG SUPPORTING CHARACTERS
What Australian producers and their teams
require, says Salmons, is accountants with
knowledge of the Producer Offset rules.
38 INTHEBLACK March 2025
The tax incentives for those in the film
and TV production arena are complex
and challenging to navigate. Right now,
there aren’t enough experienced and
knowledgeable production accountants
or tax experts to manage the workload,
she says.
“I think if there was more awareness
around the quality of work required from
a production accountant and the important
nature of the work they do, more graduate
accountants would be attracted to this area
of work,” Salmons says.
There is great scope for smaller accounting
firms to offer niche service in this space,
Salmons believes.
“It’s very hands on,” she says. “It’s ideal
for diligent BAS agents who can deliver
accurate cost reporting as you go.”
It is the production accountant, Salmons
says, who is really responsible for a happy
ending to the film or TV story. ■
READ
UPSKILL
an article on the
accuracy of the
accountant roles
in film
with CPA Australia’s
range of audit and
assurance courses
