Human Resources Project

Beth H. Soltis, MBA, CPA

***B Ridge Road, Osceola WI 54020

715-***-**** (cell)

****.******@*****.***

Profile:

Ability to improve processes and systems allowed me to enjoy progressive experience in

accounting, management, audit and education with private and governmental entities.

Functional Experience & Accomplishments:

Accounting and Management

• Responsible for semi-monthly review of pricing of over 7,000 products.

Recommended pricing reflects synthesis of trends in product costs, macro-economic

factors and a knowledge of our customers and sales history.

• Initiated multiple systems to identify and monitor costing and pricing errors, working

with documentation management, customer service and other personnel to reduce

weekly errors by 90%. All errors are now resolved on a timely basis.

• Designed Excel-based systems to generate and analyze multiple scenarios for

budgeting and financial results reporting for growing manufacturing company.

Understanding of relationships between software modules in Axis and Access

database facilitated extraction and merging of data from multiple sources.

• Developed and conducted training in Excel throughout the company, resulting in wide-

spread improvements in the efficiency of processes and utility of data. Designed or

improved systems to manage work and data for various users upon request.

• Initiated system to document and standardize costing/documentation methodology

throughout relevant departments (Sales, Engineering, Production, Accounting) of

growing manufacturing company. Synthesized input from all levels of staff to design a

system to most effectively and efficiently meet their various input/output needs.

Trained all users.

• Provided accounting/finance/systems expertise in project team charged with creating

a new incentive system for production staff shifting to a “cell-based” manufacturing

model. Designed system to track data to provide accurate, timely and useful

measurements.

• Managed all accounting and finance activities of a regional transit system including

supervision of staff and interface with Federal and State regulatory agencies to ensure

compliance.

• Designed and implemented system of internal control for small accounting staff.

Refined budget process to provide inter-linking annual Operating, Planning, and

Capital Budgets.

• Reported monthly and annual financial results to Board of non-profit agency.

Evaluated financial feasibility/ ramifications of capital projects and changes in

services. Prepared long-range forecasts for use by Board, staff and

funding/consenting agencies. Successfully negotiated three-year contract

constituting the major expenditure of the agency.

Audit & Policies/Procedures

• Performed and supervised all facets of audit engagements for manufacturing, banking,

health care, insurance and non-profit clients including planning, risk assessment, internal

control review and testing, detailed testing of accounts, analytical review, and reporting.

Demonstrated strengths in analyzing and resolving complex technical issues, training and

supervising staff, and working with other service lines (tax, consulting, and system

specialists) to provide exceptional service to all levels of client personnel.

• Managed financial and compliance audits of governmental entities of various sizes and

complexities in accordance with requirements of GAAS, Auditor of State policies, and

Federal, State, and local regulations. Utilized effective oral and written communication skills

Beth H. Soltis, MBA, CPA

to motivate and to provide technical supervision to staff, obtain cooperation from client

personnel, and to document the results of procedures performed.

• Analyzed the flow of transactions of multi-location accounting and related systems for a

$500 million manufacturing corporation to facilitate a more efficient and effective post- merger

ERP systems conversion.

• Managed a project to resolve a $20 million outage in the accounts of a multi-billion dollar

financial institution, which resulted from several acquisitions and a system conversion.

Developed a process to recreate 7 months of transactions, audited those transactions to

identify the causes of the outages, devised correcting entries to control and subsidiary

accounts, reconciled several interrelated accounts, reengineered the reconciliation process to

improve internal controls, and trained client staff on the improved procedures. This project

led to a string of projects with the same institution covering a 2 year period.

Education

• Taught undergraduate classes in Accounting, Tax and general business principles at

community colleges in Ohio and at the University of Wisconsin – River Falls.

Professional Career Progression:

Northwire, Inc. Osceola, WI October 2002 – Present

Cost Accountant/Financial Analyst

Custom wire and cable designer/manufacturer, currently experiencing record growth and

expansion into international markets.

Resources Connection Cleveland, OH May 1999 – June 2002

Project Finance/Accounting Professional

A project-based finance and accounting professional services firm founded by Deloitte & Touche.

Lorain County Transit Lorain, Ohio December 1997 – April 1999

Finance Director

The County agency responsible for provision of scheduled and on-demand public transportation

within Lorain County.

Office of the Auditor of State Cleveland, Ohio September 1996 – September 1997

Assistant Auditor

The State agency responsible for auditing municipalities, school districts, and other governmental

agencies.

University of Wisconsin River Falls, Wis September 2003 – December 2003

Lorain County Community College Elyria, Ohio September 1993 - December 1996

Lakeland Community College Mentor, Ohio September 1984 - January 1987

Adjunct Faculty

Public institutions providing post-secondary education and training to a diverse adult population.

Ernst & Whinney Cleveland, Ohio September 1981 - May 1983

Coopers & Lybrand Cleveland, Ohio July 1978 - September 1981

International professional services firms, both with significant public accounting practices.

Education & Professional Certification:

Cleveland State University Cleveland, Ohio 1993

Master of Business Administration, concentration in Accounting

Cleveland State University Cleveland, Ohio 1978

Bachelor of Business Administration (Cum Laude), major in Accounting

CPA Certification State of Ohio

1978

License currently “inactive”

Beth H. Soltis, MBA, CPA

Beth H. Soltis, MBA, CPA

Project Addendum

Charter One Bank January, 2001 – June, 2002

Banking subsidiary of a $24 billion financial services company.

Project responsibilities and accomplishments are as follows:

Performed audit of medical benefits information on a participant level for over 7,000 participants

from numerous acquired entities. Designed a system of interlinked spreadsheets, with data by

participant, by month, which are used to track coverage activity, to support payouts for fees, to

audit claims payments, to control and account for remittances by retired and COBRA participants

towards their coverage costs, to generate monthly adjusting entries, to provide data on FAS 106

participants for submission to actuary, and to provide a basis for budgeting. Used this information

to generate coverage corrections that resulted in recoup of over $80,000 in fees overpayments

from one carrier, alone.

Participated in transition to new carrier, effective January, 2002. Streamlined general ledger

benefits account structure and worked with carrier to customize their standard reporting to better

suit Charter One’s needs and capabilities. Resolved numerous accounting and control issues not

addressed by client or carrier in their negotiations. Worked with Charter One staff outside of the

Human Resources Department to revise their processes to support the new systems design and

operation.

Trained and supervised new benefits accounting staff, including a new manager, in operation of

the monthly accounting process. Worked with them to establish responsibility and timing of

procedures to be used on an ongoing basis, so as to perform their functions most efficiently and

with optimum internal control. Identified methods, for example, by which exceptions identified by

benefits accounting staff through their monthly spreadsheet updating can be used to monitor the

performance of Human Resources staff responsible for coverage changes. Worked with other

Human Resources staff to ensure that they understood what the system does and does not do,

thereby enhancing overall efficiency and control of benefits activities.

Charter One Bank June – December, 2000

Project responsibilities and accomplishments are as follows:

Managed a project to resolve discrepancies in several operating and clearing accounts of a multi

billion dollar financial institution that resulted from an ineffective interface with the procedures of

an acquired entity.

Designed a daily reconciliation procedure in a database format that combined interrelated

accounts to permit identification of net differences, which were then sorted and aggregated to

facilitate research, resolution and reporting.

Managed a team who used this system to reperform daily reconciliation of these accounts for a

four month period. Proposed entries to align the accounts with the net differences identified and

assisted in research and resolution of open items.

Trained client staff in the reconciliation process and worked with them to establish procedures to

be used on an ongoing basis to effect and to monitor timely resolution of differences with

responsible departments.

Beth H. Soltis, MBA, CPA

Charter One Bank July 1999 May 2000

Project responsibilities and accomplishments are as follows:

Designed a reconciliation process to identify the cause of a $20 million outage spread among

several clearing accounts. Outage resulted from a systems conversion. Managed a team of

accountants in performance of the reconciliation process and development of proposed

adjustments to correct errors in both subsidiary and control accounts.

Designed more effective and efficient reconciliation procedures and provided client with a pro

forma reconciliation to enable them to better control activity in these accounts on a daily basis.

Imperial Home Décor Group May 1999 – June 1999

A $500 million publicly traded manufacturer of wallpaper.

Project responsibilities and accomplishments are as follows:

Documented and compared the flow of transactions for inventory, accounts receivable, sales and

cost of goods sold systems at the Corporate office and several warehouses and plants utilizing

different software programs. The documentation and comparison of each location’s procedures

facilitated a more efficient and effective post merger ERP systems conversion.

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