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Accounting Manager

Location:
Fargo, ND
Posted:
August 19, 2013

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Resume:

Zane E. Christensen, CPA (inactive)

**** ******* ****, ********* *****, CO 80126 Cell (720)

***-****

Email ab9ozt@r.postjobfree.com

SUMMARY

o Strong candidate for Finance and/or Accounting leadership roles

including CFO, Divisional CFO, VP Accounting/Controller and VP Finance

o 20 years combined Finance & Accounting experience

o 7+ years Public Accounting (Audit & Assurance practice including

acquisition/due diligence)

o M&A work performing due diligence on over 20 acquisitions

o Experience in both small start-up and large corporate environments

o Experience managing personnel/teams up to 24

o Most recent 2 years as a VP Finance in a high growth start up

environment and another 4 years as a Divisional CFO/VP Finance for a

$380M revenue business

o CPA in good standing (inactive, in the process of reactivating)

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

EXPERIS MANPOWER GROUP, Denver, CO

November 2012 To Present

Experis accelerates business growth and careers by attracting, assessing

and placing specialized expertise in IT, Finance & Accounting, Engineering

and other industries. They deliver in-demand talent for mission-critical

positions. They apply their expertise to provide a suite of proven

workforce solutions that improve their clients' productivity, efficiency

and cost containment.

Project Consultant - Experis Finance

Western Union Purchase Accounting Project

o Worked to resolve unreconciled $15 million difference in purchase

accounting on the General Ledger compared to overall reported

expectations

o Managed almost 50 different accounting ledgers to finalize purchase

accounting for this acquisition as of the one year anniversary date

o Identified accounting errors and proposed adjustments to correct these

amounts to resolve out of balance amounts

o Coordinated with disparate client locations and used client systems

(HFM, Oracle)

o Reconciled accounts for Western Union's balance sheet certification

process

TENDRIL NETWORKS, Boulder, CO May 2011 To

October 2012

Tendril is an energy platform company delivering end-to-end consumer

engagement products, applications and services based on its platform,

Tendril Connect-an open standards-based, secure and scalable platform

servicing the Energy Internet. Tendril is a venture backed early stage

company.

VP Finance (May 2011 to present)

o Brought in to advance and grow the Finance & Accounting team to

prepare for eventual IPO with an estimated 12~18 month horizon

o Areas of responsibility includes all internal accounting and finance

functions (GL accounting, monthly close, financial reporting, audit

coordination, tax, treasury, billing, FP&A, budgeting/planning,

decision support)

o Managed implementation project to replace Quickbooks with NetSuite.

Included reestablishing practical timeline (project was initiated

prior to my start with Tendril and was behind schedule) and

determining features to be implemented immediately vs delayed to

future dates as needed.

o Coordinated and managed preparation of S-1 document for anticipated

IPO

o Hired top notch team of 10 to build out Accounting & Finance

functions. Reconstructed Accounting & Finance, replacing one

Accounting Manager and both contractors with full time Controller,

Director Finance, an AP Supervisor and 5 other staff level positions

o Drove significant improvements in overall Accounting & Finance

functions including overall control environment, speed to close,

cadence and quality of reporting including external and internal

needs, policy implementation, IPO Readiness, equity and investor

financing, revenue accounting, billing and collections and accounts

payable

o Manage and coordinate Audit Committee meetings

o Support technical accounting decision and determination process -

specifically revenue recognition for SaaS, Professional Services and

Hardware Multi-element contracts; cleaned up several areas of

technical accounting in conjunction with the team put in place

o Thrived in fast pace, flexible start up environment

FIRST DATA CORPORATION, Englewood, CO September 2002 To April 2011

First Data Corporation (FDC) is an electronic commerce and payment services

company with revenue in excess of $7 billion. As VP Finance and Divisional

CFO I supported TeleCheck, mCommerce, Loyalty and TransArmor, businesses

within First Data Corporation with approximately $380 million in revenues.

VP Finance & Divisional CFO, TeleCheck, mCommerce, Loyalty, TransArmor

(April 2007 to April 2011)

o Managed Finance group (5 employees) supporting all Finance functions

including annual plan cycle, monthly forecasting and reporting,

revenue and cost analysis, pricing, ad hoc reporting, revenue

enhancement and expense reduction initiatives and Corporate reporting.

o Managed Billing group (24 employees) managing monthly billing for

TeleCheck to over 85,000 merchants, processing merchant payments and

providing support for merchant billing inquiries. Also includes

managing Warranty Payable process.

o Managed Finance Projects group (3 employees) supporting IT, Finance

and Accounting support for new projects within the TeleCheck business

(through 2009).

o Managed on a dotted line basis the Accounting group (20 employees)

supporting general ledger accounting, monthly close, settlement

account reconciliation, merchant and consumer account reconciliations,

and driving technical accounting issues related to TeleCheck (through

2008).

o Served as a member of the TeleCheck Executive Committee supporting

strategic and tactical decision making for the business, and providing

technical accounting, finance and billing guidance on merchant

pricing, business matters, etc.

Senior Director of FP&A (August 2003 to March 2007)

o Executed annual Plan cycle including Controller's meetings, Plan

reviews, and reporting to FDC.

o Oversaw monthly and quarterly forecasting cycle.

o Supported monthly, quarterly and annual close for FDGS and its

subsidiaries.

o Provided variance analysis for Company performance against Plan and

forecast. Report to Segment CFO and CEO as well as FDC CFO.

o Worked with outside consultants to identify, document and implement

Sarbanes Oxley for the First Data Government Solutions (FDGS) business

unit within First Data.

o Managed annual audit of FDGS, as well as coordinate statutory audits

of Encorus business units.

o Transitioned Accounting and Finance functions from Napa, CA back to

Denver, CO.

o Assisted CFO in determining, communicating and executing appropriate

accounting for transactions including cross charges between FDGS and

its subsidiaries, liquidation of Surepay, Inc., Encorus funding,

purchase accounting on the acquisitions of Encorus and BillingZone,

Inc., impairment testing, software revenue recognition issues under

SOP 97-2, SOP 00-2, SOP 98-1 and SFAS 96, Partnership accounting and

miscellaneous other accounting issues.

o Established initial accounting and finance operations and procedures

for a new business line resulting from a new contract with the State

of California representing $120 million in revenues over a five year

contract term.

o Managed finance function directly for the govONE, Taxware, SDU and

Corporate business lines.

o Responsible for financial and accounting reporting to investors.

o Provided ad hoc support for miscellaneous performance analyses.

Director of Accounting (September 2002 to August 2003)

o Oversaw monthly, quarterly and annual close for FDGS and its U.S.,

European and Asian subsidiaries.

o Oversaw reporting of monthly, quarterly and annual results, on a

consolidated basis, to First Data Corporation, a US-based public

company.

o Transitioned accounting responsibilities from Denver, CO to Napa, CA,

including access to existing accounting IT systems (Oracle 11i,

Hyperion).

o Managed annual audit of FDGS, as well as coordinate statutory audits

of Encorus business units.

o Assisted VP Finance and CFO in determining, communicating and

executing appropriate accounting for transactions including cross

charges between FDGS and certain of its subsidiaries, liquidation of

Surepay, Inc., Encorus funding, purchase accounting on the

acquisitions of Encorus and BillingZone, Inc., impairment testing,

software revenue recognition issues under SOP 97-2, SOP 00-2, SOP 98-1

and SFAS 96,and miscellaneous other accounting issues.

o Supported and assisted internal audit in planning, documenting and

executing First Data Corporation's corporate plan for ensuring

compliance with guidelines of Sarbanes-Oxley at FDGS.

o Managed and maintain general ledger for certain FDGS entities

o Coordinated quarterly balance sheet review with First Data

Corporation.

o Reviewed internal accounting processes to identify areas of

improvement and ensure appropriate accounting practices at all

business units.

LABVELOCITY, INC., San Francisco, CA February 2000 To September 2002

LabVelocity, Inc. was a start-up company developing database, software and

information management solutions for the Life Science/Biotech marketplace.

Vice President Finance

o Oversaw accounting, finance, tax, legal, human resources and

facilities.

o Participated in development, articulation and communication of

strategy and business plan to investors, prospective investors,

clients and strategic partners.

o Maintained accounting records in accordance with GAAP, including

software accounting and revenue recognition in accordance with SFAS

96, SOP 97-2, SOP 98-1 and SOP 00-2.

o Managed financial aspects of three rounds of financing, working with

the investment community from Seed to Series C financing, including

determination and understanding of financing terms, legal document

development and final accounting practices.

o Developed, maintained and enforced budgets and revised projections.

o Oversaw due diligence work on two asset acquisition targets.

o Communicated financial and other matters to the board of directors.

o Established and maintained banking, merchant banking and financing

relationships.

o Oversaw use and maintenance of facilities, including a $500,000

improvement effort, purchase and use of furniture and sublease of a

portion of the facilities.

o Served as primary contact with corporate legal counsel regarding

financing, personnel, corporate and some intellectual property issues.

o Implemented performance and compensation evaluation process.

o Supported and maintained all human resource activities, including

hiring and termination of employees, employee benefits and other

employee issues.

ARTHUR ANDERSEN LLP, San Francisco July 1992 To February 2000

Experienced Manager, Assurance Practice

o Managed and participated in three initial public offerings and one

secondary public offering, entailing significant development and

review of S-1/S-3 documents. Subsequently worked with these public

companies in developing and filing their 10-K, 10-Q and other SEC

reports.

o Managed and participated in numerous (~25) acquisition due diligence

projects. Included several different industries and varied procedures

(some were only financial diligence and others included more broad

operational diligence)

o Managed and supervised audit engagement teams of up to six people on

clients in a range of industries including manufacturing, commercial

services, trade show, publication and multimedia, wholesale

distribution, beverage, broker-dealer, asset management, leasing,

government and healthcare industries. Coordinated the engagement

effort with all levels of client personnel and management.

o Evaluated, trained and mentored staff accountants.

o Budgeted and scheduled audit engagements.

o Tailored procedures for specific accounting and operational projects

according to the client's needs.

o Identified opportunities for business efficiencies on each audit and

due diligence engagement.

o Participated in numerous inter-firm activities, including recruiting,

interviewing, and internal task forces for improving internal firm

policy and culture.

EDUCATION:

Masters of Accountancy, Marriott School of Management, Brigham Young

University, Provo, Utah, June 1992

o Emphasis - Managerial Accounting

Bachelors of Science, Marriott School of Management,

Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, June 1992

o Minors - Japanese, Philosophy

PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATION:

o California State Board of Accountancy, Certified Public Accountant

(inactive)

o Member AICPA

o Member California Society of CPA's

SKILLS:

o Proficient in Oracle 11i, Hyperion, Quickbooks, Microsoft Office

Applications

o Fluent in spoken Japanese

o Japanese writing capabilities

COMMUNITY SERVICE:

o Currently serving in various capacities for local church

o Voluntary Representative, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints,

Nagoya, Japan, June 1986 - June 1988

o School of the Future Arthur Andersen sponsored tutoring program,

Alameda, 1995

o Eagle Scout



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