Firm Summary
White & Case is an elite global law firm serving leading companies, financial institutions and governments worldwide. Our long history as an international firm means we are perfectly placed to help our clients resolve their most complex legal challenges wherever they may be.
With lawyers operating from more than 40 locations, working in virtually every country of the world, we have invested heavily in building a high-quality full-service practice competing at the top of the market. We are distinguished by our on-the-ground presence in the world's key financial markets and our strengths in handling complex cross-border work.
It's not just about our global network of offices; it's the global interconnectedness of the Firm that our people, and our clients, value most. We work well together across geographic and practice boundaries. It's one of the reasons we attract and retain cross-border work. And why we attract a diverse group of people.
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Our lawyers are globally minded, enterprising, collaborative and committed to excellence. Diversity is a core value of our Firm and it has been recognized with numerous awards and top rankings around the world. Our people represent 90 nationalities and speak 80 languages.
Position Summary
Responsible for the management of the finance and accounting function in the Tokyo office and expected to work closely with partners to maximize the office's profitability.
Our Functional Area
The Global Finance team is led by the Firm's CFO, Steve Wrede, and is made up of approximately 280 team members around the world. Committed to our 2020 strategy for profitable growth, our core functions include billing and collecting Firm invoices, statutory accounting for the Firm and for individual offices, creating and distributing management reports, processing payments to vendors or reimbursements to employees and managing payroll for our people. Together, we work seamlessly across our network of offices and countries where we operate. Ours is a multicultural, diverse and supportive team, where everyone's contribution is welcome and where we share a mutual ambition to achieve our goals and take the Firm from strength to strength.
Our team's remit includes partner compensation and the maintenance of partner equity accounts; strategic procurement of vendor services; global tax strategies; inventory management, and finally analysis of the profitability of clients, matters and groups of timekeeper. We work with partners and with other business services groups to establish hourly billing rates as well as client-specific fee arrangements. Our Treasury team is responsible for global cash management, foreign currencies and hedging.
In consultation with Firm leaders, we set annual global revenue and expense budgets across Regional Sections and offices, including legal and business service departments. The team continuously reviews expenditures throughout the year to ensure that the Firm's resources are being used efficiently.
Duties and Accountabilities
These responsibilities are illustrative only. Responsibilities may vary and develop as the role progresses and there will be a need to review responsibilities periodically.
- Being always "on top of" the overall financial performance of the office and being pivotal to the identification and implementation of actions that will improve the office's financial results.
- Ensuring accurate financial data is available by set deadlines at office, regional and firm-wide levels (e.g., monthly reporting).
- Responsible for preparing annual budget and mid-year projections. This will involve working closely with other offices and meeting tight deadlines.
- Ensuring that the business planning and budgeting process is proactively used to drive profitability.
- Ensuring that the business planning and budgeting process is proactively used to drive profitability.
- Continually assessing actual vs. budget progress, and overseeing the financial projections throughout the financial year.
- Ensuring proper and tiemly working capital management. This includes overseeing time recording, billing, collections, treasury management and other receivables and payables - and also driving ever-better billing and collection initiatives.
- Ensuring that all local statutory and tax requirements are complied with.
- Working with the human resources department to ensure payroll is properly calculated, including split payroll arrangements.
- Providing routine and ad hoc financial data to partners and managers. This includes working directly with partners on bill payments, write offs, credit control and client/matter profitability.
- Ensuring partners are supported and have access to financial models concerning themselves and their practice.
- Coordinating with internal and external auditors and ensuring internal audit recommendations are implemented in a timely manner.
- Ensuring that all procedures, particularly internal control are properly in place to ensure the finance team meets its objective.