In today’s fragmented and fast-moving media economy, financial reporting hasn’t just become harder—it’s become distorted. Intangible assets, bundled services, and programmatic complexity have blurred the line between growth and illusion. Mohamed Kharbash, CFO of Rotana Media Services, has made it his mission to redraw that line with media assets across KSA, the UAE and new digital ventures, he is leading RMS’ transformation from traditional asset owner to data-driven monetisation powerhouse. Under his leadership, RMS has adopted what it calls a “resilient finance architecture”, one that runs fast for execution and deep for control.
Kharbash has spent years watching how traditional financial controls can fall short. “In the current content-driven economy, media companies possess numerous intangible assets, including content libraries, advertising rights and brand intellectual property,” he said. “However, this intangibility, along with rapid revenue model changes, creates significant opportunities for financial manipulation.” Despite CFOs in media organisations becoming more proficient with data, Kharbash explained, many early warning signs often go unnoticed until it’s too late, jeopardising financial credibility, investor trust and regulatory compliance.
Accounting illusions: Capitalisation and premature revenue
One of the most common techniques he has encountered is the aggressive capitalisation of content costs. In media finance, the difference between ambition and illusion is amortisation. Kharbash recalled a regional platform that invested over $40 million in original content and amortised only 10% per year despite low engagement figures. The result was a healthy-looking profit sheet, but one built on deferred cost, not actual performance. This sort of financial presentation, he said, can go unchallenged for years until a liquidity crunch or audit exposes the underlying fragility.
Equally concerning is the premature recognition of revenue. This often occurs in bundled contracts involving media production, licensing and advertising services. Kharbash described a scenario in which a major broadcaster booked the full value of a multi-year government advertising deal upfront, even though campaign deliverables extended over three years. There was no fraudulent intent, just pressure to meet quarterly revenue targets and the technical leeway to do so. However, such practices distort the true health of the business and invite scrutiny from investors and regulators alike.
Operational blind spots
The illusion deepens beyond accounting mechanics. As the digital pivot accelerates, media companies are increasingly reliant on advertising metrics that can be gamed. Kharbash shared an example of a regional digital platform that boasted a 300% surge in programmatic ad revenue. A later audit revealed that bots drove more than half the traffic and click farms. While the revenue was technically real, its sustainability and integrity were not. In many cases, the rot sets in at the operational level. Related-party transactions between sister companies, common in media conglomerates, can be used to inflate earnings without actual market activity. A subsidiary may “sell” content rights to another internal entity at inflated prices, generating profits that remain confined within the group. Unless a CFO actively investigates these transactions, they remain hidden behind consolidated reports.
Fixing the foundations: RMS’ approach
To address these issues, Kharbash believes CFOs must go beyond compliance and take a forensic, real-time approach to revenue integrity. At RMS, he has overseen the deployment of systems that tie revenue recognition directly to delivery verification. This means utilising campaign management platforms that track when and where content is played and linking financial recognition to client-approved proof-of-performance documents. Internally, the finance team monitors a revenue “waterfall”, tracking each contract through delivery, invoicing and cash collection.
This multi-stage approach exposes discrepancies early and removes the guesswork from revenue forecasting. In 2024, one such review identified $8 million in deferred revenue that was not associated with any active contracts. Left uncorrected, it would have inflated earnings by roughly 6%. Kharbash credits internal forensic benchmarks, such as unbilled-to-billed revenue ratios and revenue-per-asset analytics, for exposing the gap before external auditors could. “Alongside systems, CFOs ought to establish monthly forensic benchmarks to identify inconsistencies before audits occur,” he stressed.
However, not all risks stem from internal practices. In today’s decentralised media environment, where influencer campaigns, outsourced production and programmatic ads intersect, traditional finance teams struggle to stay close to the action. Kharbash described a case where a third-party agency managing social media billed RMS for 14 influencer posts. Upon investigation, only nine had gone live. Without pre-campaign controls or delivery validation, the overbilling, worth $200,000, could have passed undetected.
“Conventional controls collapse in decentralised media ecosystems where activities span numerous platforms, vendors and locations, often leaving scant paper trails,” he explained. “For instance, an influencer campaign could be approved, executed and reported through a third-party agency without ever involving the internal finance team prior to post-campaign invoicing. This time lag opens the door to inflated scopes, duplicate charges—and in some cases, outright fraud.”
This experience prompted RMS to redesign its oversight model. Instead of post-campaign reconciliations, cost approvals now occur before any money is committed. Campaigns are tracked in real-time through shared dashboards, and vendors, including influencers, must be pre-approved, KYC-verified and linked to internal billing codes.“Strong CFO leadership in decentralised media demands real-time checkpoints rather than month-end reconciliations,” Kharbash stated.
AI as a forensic tool
Technology has played a growing role in this transition. RMS has begun integrating machine learning models into its financial workflows, not to replace judgment, but to surface anomalies that human reviewers might miss. In one case, an AI audit layer flagged a recurring $100,000 vendor invoice that matched historical spending patterns but was disproportionate to campaign volumes. It turned out the vendor was charging full price for under-delivered services. The anomaly was subtle enough to pass traditional filters but statistically significant within the AI model.
“AI doesn’t replace judgment—it augments foresight. It flags the outlier, but it’s the CFO who asks the right question,” Kharbash noted. “That is where human insight comes into play. CFOs must interpret AI outputs in context, validate findings and embed AI-generated intelligence into decision-making processes, not merely treat them as alerts.”
He is cautious, however, about overreliance on technology. Data integrity remains a key limitation. AI systems are only as good as the data they ingest. This means CFOs must invest in clean, well-labelled financial data, structured reporting formats and integrated operational systems.
Still, perhaps the most challenging balancing act for a media CFO is striking a balance between short-term cost discipline and long-term innovation funding. The temptation to cut strategic investments, such as ERP upgrades, analytics platforms and content monetisation tools, is strong when boards demand immediate margin improvements. But as Kharbash has found, the cost of deferring such projects often exceeds their price. To manage this, he has instituted what he calls a “dual-speed finance model.” Operational expenses, like campaign execution and LED procurement, are held to strict cost KPIs. Strategic initiatives, like digital platform development or AI rollout, are governed by a separate investment committee with milestone-based release gates. Each initiative is evaluated through a weighted framework that considers strategic alignment, financial return on investment and operational risk mitigation.
According to Kharbash, reframing innovation as a risk control tool rather than an expense has proven effective. Automating reconciliation reduces revenue leakage. Standardising vendor onboarding lowers fraud exposure. Enhancing screen analytics improves pricing leverage. “When framed this way, innovation transitions from being seen as a luxury to being viewed as insurance,” he said.
Strategic finance
Turnaround efforts, in his view, should not be measured solely through EBITDA recovery.By the time margins improve, the real work has already been done. More useful indicators come earlier: reduced days sales outstanding, faster sales cycle conversions and repeat business from existing clients. In RMS’ case, a drop in DSO from 147 to 92 days was the first sign that client satisfaction and billing transparency were improving, even before revenues rose.
Another signal was the rise in delivery adherence rates, the percentage of campaigns executed on time and within scope. It indicated stronger internal coordination, better client servicing and regained operational credibility. Meanwhile, a shift in revenue mix, from one-off project deals toward multi-year ad concessions with guaranteed floors, strengthened the company’s earnings quality and predictability. The modern CFO doesn’t close books.
He closes gaps. Ultimately, Kharbash sees the CFO role evolving into one of strategic architecture. The ability to enforce compliance is no longer enough. What’s needed is the capacity to build resilient financial systems, shape operational behaviour and embed integrity into the core of the business. As long as oversight remains reactive, quarterly earnings will continue rewarding illusion over insight.
In modern media, finance doesn’t follow the story—it writes the plot.
