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Accounting Management

Location:
Sewickley, PA, 15143
Posted:
June 08, 2013

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Resume:

Blair Arthur William, M.Acc, CPA, CFE, CGMA

**** ****** *****

Conway, PA 15027

724-***-**** (Home)

803-***-**** (Mobile)

PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY

I am a CPA, CFE and CGMA with Big 4 and Fortune 1000 experience. I have

over 15 years of progressive experience in the field of accounting and

finance. My expertise includes multi-currency financial reporting and

consolidation, Opening Balance Sheet management, SOX controls

implementation, ERP system implementation, project management, budgeting,

forecasting, variance analysis reporting, SEC reporting, treasury

management, auditing of publicly-traded manufacturing companies, recruiting

and effectively managing professionals to improve business processes and

meet deadlines.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

UPMC - A $10 billion integrated global health enterprise headquartered in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and one of the leading nonprofit health systems

in the United States. UPMC is the largest employer in the Commonwealth of

Pennsylvania with 56,000 employees. The International and Commercial

Services Division ("ICSD") manages UPMC's portfolio of commercial

healthcare joint venture investments and its international operations in

Italy, Ireland, The United Kingdom, China, Canada, Cyprus, Singapore, India

and formerly Qatar.

Division Controller, ICSD May 2009 - Present

. Oversee all accounting operations with the responsibility of multi-

currency financial reporting and consolidation, operations finance

support, maintaining an adequate internal control environment, treasury

management, capital asset management, tax and audit compliance, budgeting

and forecasting for all reporting entities within the International and

Commercial Services division of UPMC.

. In-charge of 7 professional staff.

. Implemented and formalized the month-end closing process for the ICSD

group.

. Implemented new financial templates to analyze variances between actual

and budget figures for international entities.

. Provides accounting guidance to the Division CFO on various complex

accounting issues such as Revenue Recognition, Business Combinations,

Joint Venture Accounting and Collaborative Arrangements.

. Led the implementation of U.S. GAAP accounting for the UPMC Ireland's

Beacon Hospital acquisition.

. Facilitated UPMC Ireland's successful Sarbanes-Oxley compliance

implementation.

. Liaised with UPMC Treasury on a project to minimize the global foreign

exchange exposure for the division.

Slippery Rock University - Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania ("SRU")

is a public university located in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania. Slippery

Rock University is a member of the 14-campus Pennsylvania State System of

Higher Education and has approximately 9,000 students. The university is

52 miles north of the City of Pittsburgh and has one of the largest

campuses in western Pennsylvania.

Adjunct Accounting Faculty August 2011 - Present

. Responsibilities included leading weekly lecture sessions, preparing

examinations, holding weekly office hours for meeting with students,

grading mid-term and end of semester examinations and proctoring all

examinations for the Managerial Accounting course.

Excell Minerals, Division of Harsco Corporation - Stainless Scrap metal

recovery, cement and fertilizer manufacturer with annual global sales of

$130M and 300 employees acquired by Harsco on February 1st, 2007.

Operational facilities located in U.S.A., Canada, Brazil, South Africa,

Germany and France. Global Headquarters located in Pittsburgh,

Pennsylvania.

Division Controller, March 2007 - May 2009

. Oversaw all accounting operations with the responsibility of multi-

currency financial reporting and consolidation, maintaining an adequate

internal control environment, treasury management, capital asset

management, tax compliance, budgeting and forecasting for all Excell

reporting entities.

. Supervised a staff of 15 financial professionals (five direct reports)

worldwide in the United States, Canada, Brazil, South Africa, Germany and

France.

. Implemented and formalized the month-end closing process to reduce the

number of days for financial consolidation from 15 days to 3 days.

. Led the implementation of the JDE ERP system within 3 months for the

U.S. operations.

. Managed the implementation of the Oracle Hyperion Financial Management

(HFM) financial reporting system for Harsco Corporate financial

reporting.

. Managed the adjustments made to the Excell Minerals Opening Balance Sheet

during the first year of the division's acquisition by Harsco

Corporation.

. Improved key internal controls and operational processes, including the

introduction of new policies and procedures for the revenue, purchasing,

fixed assets, inventory, financial reporting and treasury functions of

the division.

. Co-ordinated the dissolution of the legacy parent entity, Excell

Materials, Inc. with the assistance of the Harsco Tax and Treasury

departments.

. Liaised with Harsco Treasury to minimize the global foreign exchange

exposure for the division.

. Formalized the credit and collections function by introducing customer

credit limits for all credit customers supported by appropriate credit

review documentation.

. Reduced DSO for our largest customer by 40 days and Global DSO by 20 days

through negotiation of more favourable customer payment terms.

Harsco Track Technologies, Division of Harsco Corporation - Railway track

equipment manufacturer and service provider with annual global sales of

$250M and 1,000 employees. Operational facilities located in U.S.A.,

United Kingdom and Australia. Global Headquarters located in Columbia,

South Carolina.

Division Finance Manager, October 2004 - March 2007

. My responsibilities included implementation of SOX controls, audit

liaison, credit & collections management, payroll management, project

management and assistance with financial reporting for the division.

Managed two direct reports while liaising with Country Finance Directors

to effectively execute Corporate and Division directives.

. Implemented and significantly improved the internal control processes at

our North American, United Kingdom and Australian operations by

remediating key control weaknesses in business processes.

. Acted as the liaison with Harsco Corporate internal auditors and

PricewaterhouseCoopers external auditors, investigated and reported

instances of company fraud, performed various site audits at the

Columbia, Michigan, Minnesota and United Kingdom locations, and increased

the general awareness of internal controls throughout the division.

. Managed the collection of a global $35M Accounts Receivable balance and

assisted in implementing favourable customer payment terms and the use of

letters of credit to improve Division DSO.

. Reviewed and approved new and existing customer credit limits, analyzed

the financial stability of customers via financial statement analysis,

reviewed independent agency ratings reports, filed UCC-1 forms to secure

certain products sold to high risk customers.

. Reviewed employee payroll rate changes, payroll hour reconciliations and

payroll accounting.

. Prepared various Harsco Corporate reports such as the Accounts Receivable

Risk Analysis report, FIN 45 report, FAS 5 Reserve report, Excess &

Obsolete Inventory Reserve report, Facilities for Discontinuance Reserve

report for the month-end and quarter-end close process.

Harsco Corporation - Fortune 1000 publicly-traded company with global sales

of $4 billion and 21,000 employees. Harsco is a diversified industrial

services company with operational facilities in 50 countries worldwide.

Corporate Headquarters located in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania.

Senior Auditor, September 2001 to October 2004

. Responsibilities included conducting financial, systems and operational

audits, conducting fraud investigations, documenting and testing key

internal controls as required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (2002),

recruiting, training and supervising Staff Auditors.

. Performed compliance audits for the divestiture of two subsidiaries.

. Promoted to Senior Auditor in November 2003.

. Provided Section 404 assistance to various divisions in the United States

and the United Kingdom by documenting their internal controls and

identifying key control weaknesses in compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley

Act (2002).

. Assisted in a project to establish a new Internal Control Framework for

the company based on the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

. Conducted various internal control audits in international locations such

as Spain, United Kingdom, Puerto Rico and Mexico, and in U.S. states such

as Texas, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, South

Carolina, Florida and Arkansas.

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, Miami Florida - PwC is the world's largest

public accounting firm providing various business and attestation services

to public and non-public companies. PwC's Miami office was the largest

public accounting firm in the South Florida region.

Senior Associate, January 1998-September 2001

. Responsibilities included: supervision and recruiting of staff, auditing,

reviewing and preparing of annual and quarterly financial statements for

publicly listed companies (10-Ks and 10-Qs), preparation of bond issuance

filings, auditing private companies and company pension plans.

. Promoted to Senior Auditor effective January 1, 2000.

. Appointed Field Team Leader on publicly-listed manufacturing clients such

as Vector Group Limited; Forcenergy, Inc. and Rexall Sundown, Inc.

The University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida

Graduate Teaching Assistant, May 1997-December 1997

. Responsibilities included leading weekly tutorial sessions, preparing

tutorial examinations, holding weekly office hours for meeting with

students, grading mid-term and end of semester examinations for the

professors and proctoring all examinations. Led tutorial sessions for

the following courses: Financial Accounting and Introduction to Financial

Accounting.

Ernst & Young, Port of Spain, Republic of Trinidad & Tobago

Tax Semi-Senior, July 1995-July 1996

. Responsibilities included preparing income, corporate and partnership tax

returns on behalf of clients, performing tax reviews on financial audit

files, preparing tax correspondence on behalf of clients to the Board of

Inland Revenue, researching various tax matters for clients and audit

staff.

University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Republic of Trinidad & Tobago

Graduate Tutor (Part-time), July 1995-July 1996

. Responsibilities included leading weekly tutorial sessions for

Introduction to Financial Accounting and Intermediate Financial

Accounting (I and II).

EDUCATION

University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, U.S.A.

Master of Accounting - Audit Specialization (December 1997)

GPA of 3.8/4.0

University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Republic of Trinidad & Tobago

Bachelor of Science in Accounting (July 1995)

First Class Honors.

CERTIFICATIONS

Chartered Global Management Accountant, AICPA

. Obtained certification as a Chartered Global Management Accountant in

February 2012.

UPMC Leadership Development Intensive (LDI) Program, University of

Pittsburgh

. Successfully completed UPMC's LDI Executive Education Certificate program

at the Katz School of Business in December 2011.

Certified Fraud Examiner, Association of Certified Fraud Examiners

. Obtained certification as a Certified Fraud Examiner in August 2006.

. Passed all four Uniform ACFE exams on the first attempt.

Certified Public Accountant, Florida Board of Accountancy

. Licensed as a Florida Certified Public Accountant since August 1998.

. Passed the November 1997 sitting of the AICPA exams on the first attempt.

COMPUTER SKILLS

Proficient in PeopleSoft, Oracle Hyperion Financial Management, JDEdwards,

Baan, Internet

Explorer, Microsoft Excel, Word and Power Point.

AWARDS

The Frederick E. Fisher Fellowship

Awarded for academic excellence in the Master of Accounting Program at The

Fisher School of Accounting, University of Florida (1997).

The BWIA Student of the Year Award

Awarded for the academic year of 1993-94 awarded to one U.W.I. second-year

student who has

excelled in both academics and extracurricular activities.

INTERESTS

Council Member, SRU School of Business Advisory Council

Member, Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.

Member, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Life Member, St. Mary's College Past Students' Union

Life Member, University of Florida Alumni Association

May 2013



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