Professional experience

Finance Director

Group of companies in contracting and general trading

Led the finance function of a diversified group of companies for more than fifteen years: building the accounting cycle and control systems from the ground up, keeping tight control of cash, measuring the profitability of each project separately, and issuing the financial statements on which management and banks based their decisions.

Part-time until March 2017, then full-time from April 2017.

• Contracting
• Horizontal and tunnel drilling
• Equipment rental
• Oil pipeline coating
• Dewatering
• General trading

Key responsibilities

• Building the accounting cycle and control systemsDesigned the route of every transaction from source document to report, and who prepares, reviews and approves, with conflicting duties kept apart. A system in which nothing is recorded without a document and authority never sits with one person.
• Tight control of cash and treasuryDirectly supervised cashiers and daily receipts and payments, matched the cash held to the book balance through periodic counts, and analysed and settled any difference with a document. Cash is the asset most exposed to loss, and controlling it protects operating liquidity.
• Project costing and profitabilityKept a separate cost and revenue account for each project, so each result stands on its own. Management could see which projects made money and which drained resources, and based pricing, tenders and expansion decisions on that.
• Auditing payroll and employee entitlementsReviewed payroll, wages, leave balances and end-of-service entitlements with the HR department before payment, and resolved any discrepancy. That gives the true cost of labour and prevents unrecorded liabilities.
• Managing letters of guarantee and bank relationsTracked every letter of guarantee with the banks by value, maturity, renewal and release, tied to its contractual obligation. That avoids penalties, stalled work and cash tied up unnecessarily.
• Designing working methods and management reportsSet the procedures and forms for finance work and designed reports suited to their readers, so the job is done the same way whoever does it.
• Financial coordination across departmentsGathered and unified data from departments, so reports came out with complete figures that agreed across departments, without duplication or delay.
• Preparing balance sheets and cash flow statementsIssuing the statements that show financial position at a given date and cash movement over the period, so that management, banks and partners can assess the position and take financing and investment decisions.

Internal Auditor and Financial Systems Set-up

Several companies in different sectors

More than twenty years auditing accounts and setting up financial systems for companies in very different sectors, from transport and foodstuffs to factories and financial institutions. The work starts with organising document flow from scratch and ends with reviewed final accounts that can be relied on.

• Transport
• Foodstuffs
• Factories
• Veterinary hospitals
• Financial institutions
• Design and fashion
• Cosmetics
• Printing

Key responsibilities

• Setting up financial systems from scratchBuilt the chart of accounts, forms and books, and mapped the route of each document between departments with a control for every transaction, in businesses of varied size and activity.
• Preparing monthly trial balancesA monthly trial balance that catches recording errors when they happen and gives management a regular view of balances instead of waiting for year-end.
• Preparing final accountsClosed the accounts, arrived at the result for the period, and prepared a file fit for approval and for external audit.
• Auditing data before it is postedExamined the support for documents and entries and confirmed they were coded correctly, then entered them in the accounting software after the review, not before, so only reviewed figures enter the system.

Computer Trainer and Financial Supervisor

Ministry of Education

Fourteen years in the public sector combining training with financial and administrative supervision of high-volume, high-precision operations, chief among them the General Secondary Certificate examination control work, alongside delivering lectures and organising workshops.

• Financial and administrative supervision
• Training
• Lectures and workshops

Key responsibilities

• Financial and administrative supervision of the General Secondary Certificate examination control unit (Arts section)Managed the financial and administrative side of an operation with no room for error or delay: defining responsibilities and limits of authority, ensuring official paperwork was complete, and keeping to deadlines.
• Designing and delivering lecturesMade accounting and management concepts simple for non-specialists and tied them to practical examples, in lectures on effective communication, how to be a successful manager, secrets of Excel, Excel for accountants, and financial accounting for non-accountants.
• Conferences, seminars and workshopsTook part in a number of conferences and seminars, and organised workshops that raise team capability.

Chief Accountant

General trading and contracting company

Took charge of the whole accounts department: organising the accounting cycle and its controls, keeping cash movements tight, tracking letters of guarantee with banks, and issuing the financial statements.

• General trading
• Contracting

Key responsibilities

• Organising the accounting cycle and its controlsRegulated how transactions were recorded, reviewed and approved, so that every entry rested on a valid, approved document.
• Control of cash and treasurySupervised the cashier and counted the cash periodically to confirm it matched the books.
• Reviewing and auditing the accountsReviewed entries and balances, coordinating with the departments concerned to obtain and complete the data required.
• Tracking letters of guaranteeFollowed letters of guarantee with banks from issue to renewal or release, tied to their contracts.
• Preparing balance sheets and cash flow statementsIssuing the statements that show financial position at a given date and cash movement over the period, so that management, banks and partners can assess the position and take financing and investment decisions.

Chief Accountant

General trading and contracting company, foodstuffs

Headed the accounts department of a company trading in foodstuffs, where sales are daily and fast, suppliers are dealt with through letters of credit, and management needs an analysis every day showing what sold and what it earned.

• Foodstuffs
• Letters of credit
• Sales analysis

Key responsibilities

• Organising the accounting cycle and its controlsSet the route of financial transactions and the rules for recording and approving them in a fast-moving business.
• Verifying the accuracy and validity of accounting documentsChecked each document before it was recorded: that it was complete, that the amount was correct, and that it was approved by someone authorised. A valid document is the condition for a valid entry.
• Managing letters of creditFollowed each letter of credit with the bank and supplier from opening to completion of documents and payment, so supply stayed on schedule and its cost under control.
• Financial analysis of daily salesAnalysed each day’s sales by item with the profit on each, so management could direct resources to the highest-return items.
• Preparing balance sheets and cash flow statementsIssuing the statements that show financial position at a given date and cash movement over the period, so that management, banks and partners can assess the position and take financing and investment decisions.

Accountant

Electrical appliances and car trading company

The start of the career, at a branch of a company selling electrical appliances and cars: daily follow-up of customer accounts and collections, and preparing the branch’s accounts and trial balances for head office.

• Customer accounts
• Collections
• Branch accounts

Key responsibilities

• Following up customer accounts and overdue balancesDaily follow-up of customer balances and overdue payments, with a periodic statement of arrears sent to the legal affairs department for action, which speeds up collection and reduces doubtful debts.
• Preparing the branch final accounts and periodic trial balancesPrepared the branch’s accounts and periodic trial balances and sent them to the final accounts department at head office for consolidation with the other branches.