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(Describer) Beside four different-size different-color circles connected by lines, title: Career Connections. Under a line graph, title: Financial Literacy.

(Describer) Title: Production Accountant.

I'm Dan Krivicich, CEO of Electronic Vision. We're a digital media company. We do Web sites, we do video production, we do online course creation-- anything dealing with digital media. When I started the company 25 years ago, we were a very small staff-- two, three people. One of us had to take the role of an accountant, or the business office, and at the same time understand how that would affect going to clients and trying to get production sales. So, I learned whatever software was around at that time. QuickBooks is used right now a lot, and it helped me build budgets, it helped me project what the cost of the production was gonna be. If you had to get contract players, what were their rates, how do they affect the production, and how's it gonna affect your bottom line? A production accountant is important because they provide us with the information we need to build cost for productions. For example, what does it cost to have a videographer for X amount of days? What's the cost of doing post or graphics? So, they're very important to the process, and they have to review where we are in productions. By that I mean, what the productions are costing versus what the budget was that we said we'd do it for. And if you're in business, that's very important, because that's your profit. It's important that you understand production. That means you'll have to take courses along the way that teaches you production. You may not want to be a director or a videographer or a web designer, but understanding what those folks have to do and what the process is is important. Of course, it doesn't hurt to take business courses, accounting courses. Doesn't mean you'll be a C.P.A., but understanding accounting software and what works in certain situations that you're trying to do when you're quoting and building a proposal. Other people can come from a strictly accounting background, and I'm sure that happens, but they have to understand that this is a little different. You have a lot of elements when you build quotes and proposals, and it's important for that person to understand what that means in terms of what the hourly rate is. Is any overage covered in your contract? All those things that you have to build as you go along. I think every major and medium city has production facilities. Even more now, because where you had giant facilities with 150 people, there aren't that many of those left. Maybe they have 25. But then you've got small, three-, four-, five-person companies that still need somebody that provides good numbers that tells them they're headed in the right direction. You might wear several hats. You'd probably have to be somebody who builds proposals that takes into account how much is being spent. If you're dealing with contractors, making sure their 1099s are there. You expand your role. You take on a different role in terms working, you know, if it's salaried people, making sure the government gets their income tax. If you're a five-person shop and you're in charge of that part, you're doing lots of different things. If you're interested in this field, start with learning what it is to produce something. And just on a piece of paper, think about what it costs you to do it. Just a simple exercise, like a lemonade stand, but here, you're shooting something. It can be fun stuff, but what did it take? Where did you get the camera? Did you supply any food for somebody? Little things like that. Starting to understand the production process is the first step, in my opinion.

(Describer) Titles: For more information, visit OhioMeansJobs.com. Copyright 2014. Funding to purchase and make this educational program accessible was provided by the U.S. Department of Education. Contact the Department of Education by telephone at 1-800-USA-LEARN, or online at www.ed.gov.

Funding to purchase and make this educational production accessible was provided by the U.S. Department of Education.

PH:1-800-USA-LEARN (V) or WEB: www.ed.gov.

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