San Francisco Bay Area
Bilingual financial professional with broad experience in all aspects of accounting, auditing and financial operations. Direct experience with Accounts Receivable, Credit & Collections, and Treasury.
Sr. Manager, Accounting overseeing WW credit, collections, invoicing and cash application activities under direction of the Sr. Revenue Director of Order to Cash. Work closely with cross-functional teams including sales, sales operation, services, logistics and Finance team members to proactively identify and resolve issues in the OTC process.
Responsible for directly managing the Credit and Collections activities of North Americas and indirectly overseeing the rest of the regions. Lead team of 4 Credit and Collection Analysts with a dotted line to AR Shared Service Center and regional Credit and Collection Teams. Manage all aspects of credit risk to the company. Perform detailed analysis of the financial position(using balance sheet and P&L) of each customer on a periodic basis, directed by credit risk code. Establish and maintain credit lines for new and existing customers; speak with banks and review trade references to determine credit worthiness; establish and review terms of Sales; manage the approval and release process of orders in line with the risk strategy; resolve customer billing dispute, settlements, and adjustments. Ensure targets relating to CEB, Aged Debit and Bad Debt are met or exceeded; manage and action all collection activity; develop, implement and action process for specific management of aged debt; report to management on cash collection and aged debt forecasting, including action plans for resolution; ensure customer accounts are “clean” by regular reconciliations. Other activities include responsibility for all month-end close reporting and audit support; arrange and manage 3rd party collection activity for delinquent accounts; arrange and manage legal activity involved with pre/post-bankruptcy procedures; lead face-to-face meetings with customers; administer and process alternative methods of credit such as Letters of Credit, Sight Drafts, and Guarantees; design and improve workflows, systems, practices, and procedures; monitor third party financing relationships for channel financing (i.e. with vendors like GE Capital, etc.); continue process improvement for post Oracle R12 AR implementation
Credit and Collections Manager reporting to the Director, Worldwide Corporate Credit and AR. Support Federal region sales channel. Responsibilities include, but not limited to: Evaluation of new and existing Federal customers, financial statement analysis and credit evaluation, documenting credit limit recommendations by executive summary in OCM, direct communication and interface with sales and customers on credit decisions; collection of Federal region accounts, weekly cash collections forecasting, DSO trending and AR/Credit financial reporting for SEC and Audit requirements; reconciliation of customer accounts; assist manager to determine appropriate AR reserve levels, assist manager to ensure AR is SOX compliant. Other projects as required.
Global medical device organization with $40 million in revenue. Manufactures and provides advanced laser and light sources to the aesthetic medical market. Accounts Receivable / Credit & Collections Manager Charged with managing department and business relationships with EX-IM Bank, LC document processing company and negotiating special credit terms with designated foreign distributors. Participate in financial audit support activities, treasury functions tied to managing bank and fixed asset accounts, and preparing / distributing weekly cash and A/R reports to upper management. Slashed DSO from 45 day to 28 days by implementing formal, domestic credit policy and maximizing ERP system credit module for credit hold purposes. Improved communication with Service department built on comprehensive customer screening efforts preceding service call requests. Analyzed and restructured international credit policy in support of forecasted 20% increase in annual sales. Identified excessive international financing costs associated with Letters of Credit (LOC) transactions. Devised cost-savings strategy and business case presented to, and accepted by company President and Controller for reassigning LOC processing firms. Drove significant improvement in LOC process and transitioned from manual processing to electronic format. Decreased payments from LOCs by as much as 14 days, including enhanced visibility of LOC processing fees in alignment with company expectations. Requested by VP of Regulatory Affairs / QA, and successfully translated company's operating manuals from English to Spanish language accommodating Spanish speaking countries while achieve regulatory approval for selling products in Mexico.
Scope of responsibilities included responding to thousands of email and telephone inquiries from Payment Services customers in start-up and established enterprises. Processed monthly receivables and customer refunds and credits, and managed required credentials to support Sarbanes Oxley control documents. Held lead positions in accounts receivables, represented department at weekly meetings, and participated as Systems Analyst on project team for ERP implementation of Oracle 11i and enhancements.; Credited with successfully collecting 90% of total balance due on highest outstanding direct customer accounts. Led project plans and worked collaboratively with customers to negotiate settlements. Reduced bad debt expense by $20 million. Pivotal in executing project to convert Payment Services to Oracle. Identified and recommended business requirements and contributed to conversion testing. Expedited development of unique tool to process refunds. Primary contact with Spanish, French and Portuguese speaking customers to translate and interpret international billing inquiries. Eliminated 85% of manual invoice processes by resolving operational and data changes.