Petaluma, California, United States
The exciting thing about financial planning & analysis is extracting a meaningful story from the accounting data to generate actionable insights for management. Developing and maintaining the tools of FP&A (budgets, forecasts, variance analysis models, etc.) is what enables and supports that process. For 30+ years, I have been supporting the FP&A needs of companies in various stages of development, facilitating their advancement to the next phase of their evolution.
Managed, prepared, and presented the company’s budgets and reforecasts. Generated monthly reporting vs. budget and trends and reviewed with Accounting and Management. As needed, revised budgets and forecasts to reflect material changes in the business and future outlook. Continuously worked to improve existing systems including planning models, month-end review processes, and structural accounting dimensions. Developed and maintained a budgeting and forecasting model to support multidimensional activities across multiple entities. Developed and maintained a reporting model to track and analyze variances to budget, interfacing with the accounting system, and producing presentation-ready financial reports. Produced long-range cash projections in the pre-launch period critical to forecasting cash needs. Prepared valuation analyses to support the company’s tax restructuring objectives, as well as to optimize the selection of various debt alternatives. Designed and implemented allocations processes including compensation allocations for R&D program reporting, and support services. Spearheaded the use of JetReports to leverage the information in Microsoft Dynamics NAV. Implemented Prophix budgeting and reporting software.
Developed and maintained sophisticated financial models including budgets, forecasts, and long-term projections. Apart from the usual financial tracking purposes these normally serve, these models were critical in securing $37M of venture capital as well as facilitating the acquisition of the company by Valeant for $285M. Created a standard cost model saving $200K+ in software costs and enabling the company to meet new reporting requirements as well as supporting greater analytical needs and management visibility. Evolved a highly developed set of periodic financial reports at both the overall company level and the individual department level. This report suite covered segment analysis, detail on critical areas, comparison to budgets and forecasts, and trend analysis. Created a database to extend a legacy accounting application so that enhanced reporting and analytical work could be extracted, vastly increasing its usefulness for management decision making. Developed an Excel application for converting the reported results of a German subsidiary from German tax law (HGB) to standard accrual accounting.
Developed and maintained a sophisticated budget model and managed all associated processes to ensure efficient use of corporate resources. Designed and built a complex revenue and gross profit model to meet demanding requirements of sales forecasting, ensuring that forecasts generated were trustworthy and complete. Developed product pro forma model to allow consistent evaluation of new product proposals within corporate guidelines for investment return. Developed process to generate budget variance reports as well as overseeing publication and distribution, allowing for timely readjustment of plans to hit corporate goals under changing circumstances. Implemented TOLAS accounting system and developed numerous custom reports to exploit its capabilities relative to company-specific needs. Developed overhead allocation methodology and process, enabling better management decisions on internal vs. external development, and meaningful comparisons with competitors’ financial statements. Developed cash flow projections system to provide much needed controls on cash including managing within required bank covenants and facilitating renegotiation of our line of credit. Presented business case for a number of acquisition targets up to $12M, enabling us to enter new market segments and leverage strengths of our back office. Selected, procured, and implemented Hyperion Pillar budget software which provided data consistency and presentation flexibility not possible with spreadsheets. Developed comprehensive returns process, which was a critical functional activity in the packaged consumer software business. Created and published quarterly reporting package to management, giving insights into key statistics beyond that provided by standard financial statements. Prepared and published narrative chart of accounts, providing central source for all critical accounting codes, and resulting in definitive document to ensure consistent coding of transactions.