A tour accountant is responsible for the financial operations of a large scale
concert tour
A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific to ...
. Normally, a tour accountant will report to both the
tour manager
A tour manager (or concert tour manager) is the person who helps to organize the administration for a schedule of appearances of a musical group (band) or artist at a sequence of venues (a concert tour). In general, road managers handle tour deta ...
(for all matters regarding tour financial operations), and to the artist manager/business manager (for overall financial reporting).
From a tour perspective, the tour accountant will normally: handle periodic financial transactions (either with artist management, or promoter), including per diem draw, wire transfers of both direct (promoter > artist management) and indirect (promoter > tour accountant > artist management; usually box office receipts collected at settlement by tour accountant) funds, per diem distribution, hotel settlement, currency exchange (international tours), negotiate all local tax issues (concerning artist earnings in each individual local market), and constantly work to clear up any "grey areas" during the advance, that have the potential to affect show settlement. Although normally, tour members will be paid by either artist management/business management, or accounting firm, the tour accountant will act as the "conduit" between the parties, while the tour is operating.
If a tour is not large enough to warrant utilizing a tour accountant, the
tour manager
A tour manager (or concert tour manager) is the person who helps to organize the administration for a schedule of appearances of a musical group (band) or artist at a sequence of venues (a concert tour). In general, road managers handle tour deta ...
will normally assume his/her responsibilities, as listed above. Generally, the only exception to this is if artist management travels with tour, and opts to handle the aforementioned.
The path to becoming a tour accountant usually involves either advancement through the ranks (a great deal of experience with a specific artist, or artist management company), or via a more traditional route (secondary, post secondary education and degree, followed by employment with either artist management company, or specialized entertainment accounting company).
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Accountancy occupations
Concert tours
Occupations in music