Accounting Customer Service
Resume:
E RNEST HOWARD, MBA
**** *. ******* ***., *****, OK 74132
************.**@*****.***
CONTROLLER
Fifteen years’ of controller experience with private and publicly held corporations. Developed and lead finance
d epartments with over $125M in yearly revenues and $60M in expenses. Lead multi facility manufacturing facilities.
S trengths include general ledger, product costing, financial statements, financial analysis, budgeting, cash management,
o perational/finance strategy and internal and external reporting. Expert level in SAP, Hyperion, Great Plains, PeopleSoft
a nd MS Office.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Accounting Systems and SOX Manager 2014 - Present
Verizon, Tulsa, OK
Head of accounting and finance ERP systems for the Bill to Cash (B2C) Organization for Verizon.
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Responsible for the reporting and processing of 130k monthly invoices and $500M in monthly revenue for the Indirect
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A gent and Miscellaneous billing team.
Responsible for short and long term direction of accounting systems department.
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Supervised a team of three systems and one SOX personnel. Part of B2C strategic management team.
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Implemented new processes to document and give transparency to the workings of the Great Plains/Microsoft
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D ynamics ERP system.
Developed new product rebate reporting system for use in the wholesale revenue channel.
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Developed new month end procedures which cut the B2C division’s close time from three days to one.
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Implemented new AR reporting interface between Great Plains and Quantus.
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Implemented new SOX testing controls as part of the Verizon transformation project.
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Wrote and implemented new desk top procedures which outlined the accounting system processes.
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Systems representative for Lean Six Sigma projects to streamline billing processes, customer rebates, and improve
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a ccounts receivable reporting.
Provided accounting systems support for various product launches (Apple, Samsung).
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Provided detailed financial analysis for various projects as directed by Finance Directors.
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Change agent lead for the supply team’s migration to from a legacy system to SAP.
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Implemented new disaster recovery programs to ensure continuous processing for accounting systems.
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SAP and Fixed Assets Consultant, Oil and Gas 2013- 2014
Resources Global Professionals, Tulsa, OK
Provided SAP and fixed asset accounting to a Fortune 5 oil and gas company.
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Responsible for the SAP data mining and forensic accounting research to determine the validity of fixed asset
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c apitalization amounts and classify them into the proper accounting period.
Prepared and completed roll forward adjustments to depreciation and asset NBV as directed by management.
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Finance, Accounting Strategy Consultant 2011 - 2013
Earnest Advisory, LLC, Denver, CO
Provided strategic, financial and overall planning consulting to a variety of businesses in the Colorado region, ranging
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f rom $100k to $5M in yearly revenue.
Formulated and assisted in the writing of start-up business plans, performed complex, strategic financial analysis
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( WAC, NPV, IRR) and provided feedback as to the completeness of projects such as expansion, inventory control and
m arketplace analytics.
Controller, North American Sugar Beet Operations 2005 - 2011
Syngenta Seeds, B asel, Switzerland, NYSE Stock Symbol SYT
Controller for a division of a $14B agricultural manufacturing conglomerate based in Basel, Switzerland.
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Supervised staff of five plus one consultant.
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Managed all financial aspects for the sugar beet agricultural division with US sales of over $125M annually.
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Responsible for the finance territory consisting of 40 separate cost centers and individual department managers.
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Responsible for finance leadership of four manufacturing plants in Colorado, Oregon, Idaho, and North Dakota.
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Served as part of executive management team, direct report to NAFTA and global CEO.
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Presented weekly/monthly/quarterly/yearly reports to internal and external stakeholders, ranging from department
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h eads to international executives.
Created financial modeling, strategic planning and intuitive, ad hoc finance solutions.
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Trained in SAP and Hyperion. Expert level in PP, FI, MM, CO, and CC SAP ERP modules.
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Expert level in GL, GAAP, FASB, IFRS, Cost, AP, AR, Capital, and Treasury accounting functions.
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Performed costing analysis for all stages of production – raw materials, work in progress, finished goods, cost of
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g oods manufactured. Provided cost run information, BOM’s and Routings. Input all costing information and mapping
i nto SAP on a yearly basis. Monitored standards for variances.
Implemented and presented a formal monthly financial report process to analyze business unit’s performance metrics.
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P resentations made to mid to upper level management.
Selected Contributions:
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Developed finance department for a rapidly growing division of Syngenta, with revenue growth from $20M in 2005
t o over $125M by 2010.
Achieved budgetary accuracy of 01% on $60M yearly expense target goal from 2008 to 2010.
Created new manufacturing costing process which reduced product cost variances by over $3M per year from 2006
t o 2010.
Was a part of the team to create and implement significant operational change initiatives per management
( Syngenta - Projects "Backbone" and Project "Foundation").
Developed, wrote and tested key internal controls resulting in maintaining SOX assurance and achieved compliance
e ach year from 2005 to 2011. Collaborated with auditing teams on SOX projects. Trained local teams with Phase 1
a nd Phase 2 testing procedures.
Developed and delivered training for Syngenta’s “Finance for Non-Finance Managers” program. Performed on and
o ff site training in half to full day seminars ranging from 10 to 50 participants.
Head of local finance team for international rollout to implement new SAP initiatives in the CO, FI, MM, GL, and
C C modules. Developed business cases, gap analysis, and new budgetary requirements.
Created an on-going excess production plant capacity project which increased revenue $3M within 3 years from
2 008 to 2010.
Implemented a formal monthly financial report process for the business unit's monthly and quarterly financial
p erformance. Resulted in establishing 100% efficiency in global, local management and controller communication.
Controller 1999 - 2005
WellStar Oil, Longmont, CO
Head of Finance for a privately held joint venture Oil and Gas Company and Exercise Equipment company.
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Supervisor of 10 people, including accounting, customer service and warehouse staff.
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Responsible for all finance and accounting duties - GL entries, period close, AR, AP, accruals, depreciation, AR
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c ollections, foreign exchange forwards.
Analyzed and recommended gas and oil well purchases in Colorado and Wyoming. Monitored fixed assets and
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d epletion rates.
Main contact for bank and CPA firm.
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Implemented new reporting system for $100M line of credit with Bank of Oklahoma’s Denver branch
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Revised oil and gas futures contract purchases which increased revenues by 30% from 2001 to 2003.
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Inventory management and cost control.
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Responsible for all government reporting - payroll/sales use taxes, audit requests.
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Selected Contributions:
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Developed finance department for a rapidly growing private exercise equipment company. Revenues escalated
f rom $1M in 1999 to $10M in 2005. Managed over $50M in annual oil and gas revenues.
Streamlined land contract system for upstream natural gas production wells in Wyoming and Colorado.
Negotiated sweep account financing terms for Wellstar on their Bank of Oklahoma line of credit.
Developed forward-looking inventory ordering system that reduced stock out times by 60%.
Developed management reporting tools and implemented new budgets/forecasting models.
Implemented new operational software package.
Conceived and implemented warehouse transition from Longmont Colorado to Indianapolis, Indiana.
Saved over $1M per year in 2001 to 2002 through 12 to 16 months advanced purchase of foreign exchange
f orwards.
Opened new vendor relations in Taiwan, Canada and Italy.
P art Time Accounting Instructor, Bachelor’s Level 1999 - 2001
Art Institute of Colorado, D enver, CO
Bachelor's level accounting instructor for students pursuing a Bachelor’s in Restaurant Management.
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Guided students as to the basic principles of accounting and finance for managers.
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Prepared and lectured for 25 to 30 person classes.
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EDUCATION
M.S., Accounting – S outhern New Hampshire University 2 015
M.B.A. – C olorado State University 1 999
(12 hours of finance and accounting classes completed)
B.S. – O ld Dominion University 1 992
( 24 hours of finance and accounting classes completed)
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PROFESSIONAL AWARDS
International Leadership Award, S yngenta Seeds, Inc., L ongmont, CO
• SOX implementation team 2006
• SOX testing and completion (yearly award) 2006 - 2010
• SAP integration and VIRSA T Code analysis 2010
Project Excellence and Leadership Award, S yngenta Seeds, Inc., L ongmont, CO
• M&A integration of business unit 2005
• Project Foundation 2 010
• Round Up Ready Launch 2008
Living the Verizon Credo Award, Verizon, Tulsa, OK 2 015
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