Raymond B. Heston IV

**** ****** ***** **. ****** Spring, NC 27592 Phone: 919-***-****

abj7ej@r.postjobfree.com

Accounting Manager / Senior accountant

Analytical and accomplished accounting professional with extensive experience in all areas of

the accounting function. Proven ability to develop and integrate processes and procedures in alignment

with GAAP and Company strategic plan that positively impact efficiency, accuracy, and bottom-line

productivity. Superior analytical skills, practiced at drilling down to transaction/workflow details in

support of process and profit improvement. Collaborate effectively with business managers to resolve

variances, refine forecasts, and identify opportunities for improvement. Demonstrated expertise in

general ledger/ balance sheet variance analysis, budgeting, financial reporting, and process

improvement. Strong combination of software knowledge with proven leadership and interpersonal

skills. Exemplary verbal and written communicator who demonstrates professionalism and strengthens

the company image.

KEY PROFICIENCES:

Budgeting & Planning Trend Analysis

Variance Analysis Account Research and Analysis

Financial Reporting Balance Sheet Reconciliation and Analysis

Financial Analysis G/L and Subsidiary Ledger Reconciliation

Internal/ External Audits Project Management

Month End/ Year End Planning Staff Management

Process Development and Implementation Advanced Software Skills: Oracle, Excel, Word,

PowerPoint, Monarch, Access, MS Office

Experience

General Parts International/CARQUEST, Raleigh, NC 2009 – 2010

Accounting Manager – Capital Assets

Provided fixed asset accounting and administration for 32 Distribution Warehouses, 1,800+ Store

Locations, and 132 Corporate Cost Centers across North America. Reviewed construction in progress

(CIP) projects and capitalized as appropriate, with an average of 50 active projects per month.

Reviewed capital asset general ledger accounts to ensure costs were properly charged/ allocated to

capital projects and asset classes. Prepare and analyze monthly capital spending, forecast, and

financial reporting for Regional Directors, Divisional Vice-Presidents, and CFO. Responsible for

overall teamwork, morale, efficiency, and accuracy of Capital Asset team.

Notable Contributions:

Directed and coached departmental team in the disposition tracking and maintenance associated

with the closure of 120 company retail stores.

Controlled project tracking and capitalization for construction of two multi-million dollar

warehouses.

Directed and coached departmental team in handling of retail store renovation enterprise

project. Project involved 1,800 locations receiving $50,000 of new capital assets, disposition of

all current assets they were replacing, and revaluation of refurbished existing assets.

Assisted and coached departmental team in reducing aged corporate balance sheet issues by $8

million.

Coordinated preparation of annual audit materials for external audit team.

Developed, implemented, and maintained new reporting technologies that streamlined reporting

preparation, had efficiency impact on team, and enabled month-end close timeline to decrease

from 5 days to 3 days.

General Parts International/CARQUEST, Raleigh, NC 2006 – 2009

Accounting Manager – Corporate Cost Centers

Responsible for overall financial integrity and analysis for all internal segments, 145 cost centers, of

the company. Provided monthly detailed general ledger budget-to-actual analysis to directors and Vice-

Presidents of all internal segments of the company. Coordinated and analyzed annual budget process

and creation, and provided detailed variance to prior year analysis to Board of Directors for final

budget approval. Managed day-to-day activities of staff, reviewed account reconciliations, approved

journal entries, reviewed and approved cost allocations, reviewed and approved expense amortizations,

and reviewed payables activity. Held monthly update meetings with business segment Directors to

review actual-to-budget performance, and status updates on balance sheet projects if applicable.

Notable Contributions:

Developed and implemented new Excel pivot-table based account reconciliations that greatly

reduced preparation time, increased reconciliation accuracy, and reduced staff stress level due

to work volume.

Trained staff and other departments on use of Monarch program, enabling direct import of

select data from Oracle Reports to Excel greatly increasing efficiencies by eliminating the need

for hand keying data.

Developed and implemented new Profit and Loss Statement electronic workbook that included

active hyperlinks to account reconciliations, explanatory notes, and charted results to budget

and prior years. New reporting workbook eliminated the need for multiple account

reconciliation files, and reduced the number of questions from department Directors allowing

them to use their time more efficiently.

Developed and implemented new Regional Sales Department Comparison Report, which

enabled Regional Sales Directors to compare monthly results of all their districts side-by-side

thru use of drop-down menus. Regional Sales Directors could now view on one page the

monthly results of their entire regional to prior years, top and bottom 5 performing locations to

prior years or each other, or specific locations to prior years or other specific locations all with

the click of a button.

Coordinated preparation of annual audit materials for external audit team.

Coordinated preparation of annual Stockholder’s Meeting financial presentation.

Assisted and coached departmental team in a cleanup initiative of the company’s balance sheet,

resulting in a yearend balance sheet without items aged over 9mths (excluding approved

amortizations, prepaid items, and marketing programs).

Assisted with Oracle 11i integration thru user testing.

General Parts International/CARQUEST, Raleigh, NC 2004 – 2006

Accounting Manager – Distribution Centers

Responsible for overall financial integrity and analysis for 34 Distribution Centers located across the

United States. Provided monthly detailed general ledger budget-to-actual analysis to location

Operation Managers, Regional Vice-Presidents, and President of Operations. Coordinated and analyzed

annual budget process and creation, and provided detailed variance to prior year analysis to Board of

Directors for final budget approval. Managed day-to-day activities of staff, reviewed account

reconciliations, approved journal entries, reviewed and approved cost allocations, reviewed and

approved expense amortizations, and reviewed payables activity. Held monthly update meetings with

Operation Managers and Regional Vice-Presidents to review actual-to-budget performance, and status

updates on balance sheet projects if applicable.

Notable Contributions:

Developed and implemented new “Gold Standards” management report that ranked the 34

Distribution Centers on 12 different metrics. Report would automatically assign rankings thru

use of macros and data importations from Oracle. Report was used to determine annual

Distribution Center of the Year, and annual bonus eligibilities.

Streamlined and modified daily sales forecast report. Decreased daily preparation time by 2

hours thru use of data importing, and modified forecast model to account for sales anomalies

and weighted days of the week. Final result was decreased delivery time of final product to

field managers, and a sales forecast that was accurate within $100,000.00 on a multimillion

dollar facility by the 5th business day of each month.

Coordinated preparation of annual audit materials for external audit team.

Coordinated preparation of annual Stockholder’s Meeting financial presentation.

Assisted and coached departmental team in a cleanup initiative of the company’s balance sheet,

resulting in a yearend balance sheet without items aged over 9mths (excluding approved

amortizations, prepaid items, and marketing programs).

Coordinated and tracked the general ledger activity associated with the acquisition of 7

Distribution Centers, closure of 2 Distribution Centers, and the merging of 4 Distribution

centers.

Performed onsite coordination and analysis of 15 Distribution Center annual physical

inventories, 3 Distribution Center acquisition inventories, and 1 Distribution Center disposition

inventory.

General Parts International/CARQUEST, Raleigh, NC

Senior Accountant – Corporate 2002 – 2004

Senior Accountant – Distribution Centers 2001 – 2002

Staff Accountant – Distribution Centers 1999 – 2001

Main areas of responsibilities:

Daily review of payables and accounts receivable transactions

Account reconciliations

Balance sheet prepaid and amortization maintenance

Actual-to-budget variance analysis, and explanatory notations

General ledger journal creation and posting

Project tracking

Capital asset maintenance

Physical inventory review

Annual audit material preparation

Organon Teknika Corporation, Raleigh, NC

Staff Accountant – Corporate 1996 – 1999

Main areas of responsibilities:

Daily review of payables and accounts receivable transactions

Account reconciliations

Balance sheet prepaid and amortization maintenance

Actual-to-budget variance analysis

General ledger journal creation and posting

Project tracking

Capital asset maintenance

Education & Training

EAST CAROLINA UNIVERSITY, Greenville, NC 5/1998

Bachelor of Science, Major in Accounting & Business Administration

System Training: Excel (Intermediate, Advanced, Macro), Oracle (General Ledger, Fixed Asset,

Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, and Project modules), Access (Intermediate), Monarch

Professional Training: Leadership training (Behavioral Types, Employment Law, Situational

Management, Coaching and Training, Time Management, Customer Service Excellence

Other Associations: Neill’s Creek Baptist Church – Benevolence Committee – Chairman

Neill’s Creek Baptist Church – Budget Committee – Vice-Chairman

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