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