Corporate Controller

Fernando F. Smolka

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

Tinley Park, IL 60477

Cellular: (251) 643- 3774 Email: ***.******@*****.***

WORK EXPERIENCE

Finkl Steel Chicago, IL Corporate Controller December 2015 – Present

Led a team of 9 people responsible for the accounting, finance and treasury departments reporting to the CFO

Responsible for Business Unit consolidation of all reporting for three legal entities

Oversaw the month-end process ensuring that timeliness and accuracy were kept by reconciling accounts and developing monthly financial statements

Analyzed financial reports for accuracy and opportunities for cost savings and cash management

Supervised the internal and external GAAP and IFRS audits for the organization

Implemented procedure and process improvements throughout the organization including but not limited to payroll, accounts payable, banking, budgeting and forecasting and inventory controls

Supported with the implementation of SAP FI/CO acting as a subject matter expert for accounting and finance

Organized and maintained business insurance and benefits working closely with the human resources department and outside vendors

Created a detailed budget and forecasting bottom up model that delivered less than five percent margin of error

Developed product costing model used for inventory valuation, pricing strategy and product profitability

Helped the increase in relationship between operations and finance departments while increasing the visibility and accountability of results throughout the organization

Ran performance meetings with detailed analysis of operation’s KPIs for all the different departments and leadership team

Calculated capital projects payback analysis working closely with sales and operations

Prepared the monthly business unit presentation presented to the Switzerland corporate leadership team

Provided analysis to the sales vice president to understand sales force added value and pricing implications

Georgia Pacific Cedar Springs, GA Manager of Analysis March 2014 – December 2015

Analyzed costs and potential capital work to fulfill long term goals and benchmark against other mills, providing recommendations and creating an action path forward

Forecasted mill results using operations inputs providing senior management with explanations of plan gaps

Performed month end accounting closing procedures for raw materials inventories including account reconciliation and variance explanations. Month end procedures included receipts, invoices, balance sheet reconciliation, consumption, and inventory verification

Supported the plant modeling (F3 Analytics) initiative as the main contact between the consultants and mill personnel while understanding the capabilities of the new model and how it can be used to add value to the full organization

Developed production and maintenance dashboards for each area of the plant utilizing data cubes that provides daily updates of machine production, uptime, and other key metrics and maintenance spending including trends and top spending areas analyses

Led meetings to support capital projects development, providing the financial analysis and project timeline

Provided support to internal and external auditors as needed

Benteler Steel/Tube Shreveport, LA Senior Controller January 2013 – March 2014

Developed reporting for the budget controls during construction phase

Analyzed all costs incurred by the project to be able to provide a more holistic view of the project status including machinery, civil, infrastructure, personnel, tax, and consulting costs

Helped implement SAP by being the finance department (controlling and accounting) subject matter expert

Implemented procedures for accounts payables, fixed assets accounting and recommendation for awards to be used during the project

Created internal order and asset system to maximize property tax benefits

Acted as team leader and point of contact for a group of four accountants and controllers

ThyssenKrupp USA Mobile, AL Investment Controller March 2008 – January 2013

Budgeted and forecasted over $1.6 billion in investments using a detailed Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and a contract budget base system (CBB)

Developed and provided to the board (CEO/CFO and directors) status reports of project spending and breakdown structure of investments

Provided Earned Value Analysis (EV) for project spending

Worked closely with engineers to analyze and determined estimations at completion (EAC), budget overruns, forecasted cash out curves and necessary investment timing changes

Managed three employees who were responsible for fixed assets, tax accounting and accounts payable for investment

Kimberly Clark Mobile, AL Financial Analyst July 2004 – March 2008

Created the Analysis of Change file for the KC’s professional sector. File was the tool used to analyze pricing, volumes, sales and mix

Developed a Year-Over-Year month end closing report and Control Total report that became the standard cost of manufacturing Y-O-Y performance measurement for three different KC divisions

Worked with manufacturing teams in analyzing data integrity in SAP including best practice

Completed performance and cost forecast monthly, quarterly and yearly

Analyzed cost of manufacturing and cost of sales to create ideas on how to achieve cost savings targets

EDUCATION

Auburn University Auburn, AL

Master’s in Business Administration December 2012

University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA

Bachelor of Business Administration with a Major in Finance May 2004

Magna Cum-Laude. Departmental Honors.

SKILLS

Languages: Portuguese (Fluent), English (Fluent), Spanish (Conversational)

Computer Skills: Excel (expert), MS Word (advanced), SAP (advanced), Cognos (Advance), PowerPoint (advanced), Minitab (advanced) and Primavera (certified)

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