CFO Commerical Finances

Drew Sterling
604 Harmony Lane
Pleasantville, CA 94588
(925) 555-1234

SUMMARY

Commercially-focused senior finance executive poised to deliver responsible growth and genuine results. Rich mix of technical accounting, operations and leadership talents complement advanced finance studies. A change-agent; acknowledged for balanced judgment, stability and capacity to steer consensus among core business disciplines with diverse agendas and visions.

• Management & Financial Reporting • Business Opportunity Assessments
• Cross-Functional Team Leadership • Feasibility Analysis
• Strategic Planning & Recommendations • Productivity/Efficiency Improvements
• Cross-Cultural Work Environments • Process Reengineering
• Risk Management • Cost-Avoidance & Reduction
• Legislative Compliance • Policy Development

EXECUTIVE PERFORMANCE - OVERVIEW

Definitive leader bringing divergent interests into consensus. Despite a period of significant business upheaval stemming from a new planning process and computer integration project, as GM Sales & Operations Planning, analyzed each department's ad-hoc functions and produced standardized business model after negotiating an agreed structure.

Catalyst for driving superior staff multi-tasking and efficiency initiatives. Management approach has promoted flexibility, accountability and accuracy in a deadline-dependent environment. As Group Management Accountant, reduced reporting days by 50% without changing underlying financial systems.

Quantifiable successes in devising innovative systems and processes. Conceived and added new strategic KPIs to traditional finance mix after identifying system lacked key performance indicators linked to strategy. Recommendations were accepted by management and remain a critical analytical tool for management decision-making.

EXPERIENCE

OCTAGON INTERNATIONAL, San Francisco, CA
2001 - Present
Management Consultant
International business consultancy strategically positioning multinationals and major industry leaders for long-term revenue growth.

Assigned to project team consulting to a client tasked with identifying value drivers in the business and industry best practice, and with developing a value creation model to maximize ROI and economic profit. Analyzed financial results, reviewed economic profit calculations, and evaluated the potential of different value creation models to understand the revenue-generating potential of the existing business. Presentation by Octagon incorporated all key recommendations to the client's Board of Directors.

HELIX WINES, San Francisco, CA
2000 - 2001
General Manager, Sales & Operations Planning
World's Leading Premium Wine Company with worldwide presence, boasting revenues of $1.1+ billion and 2,400 employees.

Track record of consistently high performances rewarded through steady progression to positions of increased accountability and authority.

Budget: $500,000. Member, Executive Team; Reported to Managing Director; Global Role. Staff: 15.

Ad-hoc systems and processes developed over a 6-month period without management direction, saw sales and operations departments fragment and form individual structures, despite an agreement to adopt a standardized model earlier. Pending company merger and restructure, together with new system implementation delayed by flaws in planning, and dramatic SAP issues needing serious review, presented difficult and diverse challenges to the newly designed role of GM, Sales & Operations Planning.

Action & Results:
• Identified core similarities between systems, and negotiated successfully for a new standardized approach across regions that would eliminate duplicated tasks, and restore cost efficiencies. Prepared and gained acceptance for new model by management team, returning a period of business turmoil to a more cooperative mindset.
• Created a global marketing model overcoming previous failed attempts. Model provided the definitive comparison that identified gaps where plans were misaligned with total market view, and offered greater marketing department involvement in the planning process.
• Influential Wine Group Executive member, pinpointing benefits of introducing a demand planning system company-wide. With demand plans set unrealistically high, unnecessary fruit purchases were costly, and communication lines were floundering. New sales and operations planning system became one of the top 5 strategic company priorities.
• Executed deadline-dependent team project to resolve critical SAP system fault in stock control and customer service, apparent only after implementation, and negatively impacting service delivery levels with customers facing lengthy delays in ordering. Team rapidly identified and corrected issues, reduced product allocations by 95%, and vastly improved systems and procedures.

HELIX WINES, San Francisco, CA
1999 - 2000
Group Financial Controller
Challenged initially by newly promoted and recruited staff, a lack of quality and accuracy in statutory account preparation, a financial accountant struggling with unresolved long-term problems, and undocumented procedures. Recruited, trained and developed staff, emphasized the importance of deadline-dependant environments, and settled long term processing issues. Standardized procedures and recorded step-by-step tasks for future years, reversing a chaotic consolidation process to one of accuracy and quality.

Managed team delivering month-end reporting including financial results, forecast consolidations, CEO/CFO reports and executive presentations.

Actions & Results:
• Prepared and delivered Wine Group budget of $900 million. Planned budget cycle across the organisation, formulated and analyzed results and conducted presentation to senior executives.
• Identified savings of $300,000 in Finance area through system and staff changes and expenditure fine-tuning. Coordinated centralization project transferring A/P function from regions to corporate.
• Prepared Wine Group Strategic Plan. Formulated timetable, reviewed financials, produced recommendations, and presented to Helix executives.
• Represented Finance and Planning areas on $22 million SAP project rollout. Documented existing systems and procedures, reviewed proposed solution, and monitored rollout across the business. Quickly became primary contact point for questions from technical personnel, departmental heads and management.

HELIX WINES, San Francisco, CA
1997 - 1999
Group Management Accountant
Managed monthly reporting, budgeting, strategic plan financials and EVA analysis. Selected to join management team to review performance of product category globally. Co-produced and presented assessment of initiatives designed to save $1.6 million annually and slash inventory levels by $10 million.

Identified deficiencies in KPIs with no indicators tied to strategy. Initiatives presented to management were successfully embraced and still remain in force.

Inspired finance team to adopt an attitude of efficiency to drive improvements to month-end reporting process. Newly enthused team responded dramatically reducing reporting days from 12 to 6 without changes in fundamental financial systems.

FJK GROUP, San Jose, CA
1994 - 1997
Financial Accountant
Prepared complex consolidation for publicly listed Group with over 100 operating companies, part ownership issues and foreign exchange. Developed draft statutory accounts for Board review, and generated group accounts for filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

EDUCATION

Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI
Masters, Applied Finance

University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Bachelor of Science, Economics

PRWRA Gayle Howard - Top Margin - gayle@topmarginonline.com