Ajaz Mohammed

Schererville, IN ***** 219-***-**** ad34l6@r.postjobfree.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/Ajaz Mohammed/ DIRECTOR OF FINANCE

Influential Finance and Accounting leader with a proven history of building and mentoring high performing teams and developing strong business relationships with senior executives. Broad industry experience spanning Data processing, hospital, manufacturing, and local government. Proven track record of consistently bridging the gap between finance and operations as a trusted advisor. Demonstrated expertise in strategic financial planning, financial modeling, forecasting and process improvement.

EXPERIENCE

Lake County, Indiana Government – Crown Point, IN. February 2010 to Present Local government entity with revenues exceeding $300 million. Director of Financial Services

Appointed by the Auditor to lead the Finance Department team in providing financial leadership and management to the county. Establish the county’s direction for each budget year and routinely monitor its financial health. Provide financial support and strategic insight to all functions in an effort to maximize efficiency of the operations. Lead county’s modernization program leveraging new technology, streamlining processes to maximize service and efficiencies.

Developed and implemented annual budget process reducing the need for public meetings by 85%, promoting an environment of transparency which resulted in a balanced budget covering 115 unique funds totaling more than

$300m.

Established strong working relationships with the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance and Indiana State Board of Accounts.

Proposed and implemented contingency plans to mitigate revenue loss and cash flow stress due to COVID.

Created a diverse team to assess, analyze, and optimize Oracle which replaced our legacy financial system in 2022.

Reviewed audit findings related to operational procedures recommending corrective actions where necessary. Managed Budgeting process including development of departmental budgets, monitoring actuals against forecasted results and reporting variances

Designed test plans for new implementations or modifications to existing systems before going live .

Implemented new processes to improve accuracy of financial statements while reducing manual effort associated with month-end close activities.

Distribute and collect yearly budgets from all departments and assist department managers with completing yearly budget request and justifications, to conform with the guidelines imposed by State Board of Accounts-SBOA and Department of Local Government Finance-DLGF.

Created detailed reports outlining key business performance metrics for senior management review.

Spearheaded efforts to implement new ERP systems (ORACLE FUSION CLOUD) (LAWSON FINANCIALS SUITE) resulting in increased operational efficiencies.

Collaborated with external auditors to ensure compliance with accounting standards and regulations.

Attended Auditor of State called conferences twice a year to be briefed on current legislative changes.

Prepares and periodically updates analysis of financial information.

Review revenue reports to examine and analyze trends, and variances to projections. Alcan Packaging-Chicago, Illinois 11/2008 – 02-2010 HRMS Analyst

A Multi-location Packaging company with about over 20000 employees worldwide.

Report and work with the Director of Payroll operations managing HRIS Applications.

Presented information and reports to CEO, VP, Directors and Managers.

Conducted audits to validate data accuracy within the HRIS system.

Managed multiple projects simultaneously while meeting tight deadlines.

Analyzed business requirements and translated them into technical specifications for implementation into the HRIS system.

Optimized queries running against large datasets to reduce query time-out errors when generating reports from the HRIS database.

Worked closely with other IT teams to ensure seamless integration between different software applications used by various departments throughout the organization. The Methodist Hospitals - Gary, Indiana 11/2007 – 11-2008 HRIS Analyst (Lawson/ Meditech applications)

A multi-location not for profit hospital in Gary, Indiana with about 2500 employees.

Report and work with the Vice President of HR in managing HRIS Applications.

Presented information and reports to CEO, VP, Directors and Managers.

Lead the HR conversion team in various HRIS conversion projects.

Developed and designed new Ad Hoc Reports for the CEO, VP, Directors and Managers.

Managed three locations users training and application development.

In a 12-month cycle created an online application system to integrate with HR system to ease the flow of data between the systems and also automated the yearly benefits enrollment project.

Successfully imported new hire data into the system using data import utility.

Created and facilitated a system audit log to help HRIS data entry clerks in tracking the employee data changes.

Report generation and design using Lawson report writers, Crystal Reports, Access, Excel and automatically sending it to the manager’s printers.

Cenifax Management Services Inc. - Crown Point, Indiana 2/1999 - 11/2007 HRIS (Lawson) Project Manager

Consulting and contracting services to Lake County Government in Lake County, Indiana with about 2300 employees.

Report all the project updates to the Director of Information Technology.

Lead the team of 5 HR team members in various projects through meetings and consultations.

Managed the HR user group members by training and coaching them on the Lawson system.

In a 12-month cycle developed a strategy to integrate all the governments multi locations information to be stored in a secure place and also Lead and accomplished the Direct Deposit (ACH) project.

Created a automated process of sending critical reports directly to managers email addresses.

Managed HR, Payroll, GL, AC, AP, AR, CB and other Lawson Applications.

Grant user rights and security to application data entry screens and help them with their everyday user interface issues.

Lawson application support for all Payroll, Financials, AP, Purchasing, AR, Bank Reconciliation, Human Resources etc.

Responsible for running queries through MS Access database for Lawson applications and other systems and interface non-Lawson systems data through Lawson.

Since this is such a large environment consisting of several hundred users, customer service, accuracy and efficiency is paramount in my job.

Developed a new Interface between non-Lawson systems to Lawson through programs and batch scripts and completed most of my short- and long-term tasks and projects.

Microhard Technologies - Oak Brook, Illinois 4/1998 - 1/1999 Network Trainee

Worked in a technical school setting.

Created a secured network of multi-location offices to streamline the data flow between locations.

Accomplished new network projects in consultation with the team members.

Supported a student population of around 150 by helping them in their software and hardware issues.

Reported directly to the Supervisor of Information Systems, and also got the necessary training with maintaining our network environment. Our areas of accountability included network security (internal and external), desktop workstations, e-mail services, file and print services, network backups, and overall connectivity. I was responsible for day-to-day end-user troubleshooting, system and software deployment coordination, equipment purchasing, asset management, data security, disaster recovery, and future planning. Empress Casino, Hammond, Indiana 1/1996 - 3/1998

Staff Accountant

Worked in a Casino setting with a population of 1500 employees.

Managed the cash flow and chip circulation balancing everyday.

Created journal entries of all the daily transactions in the system.

Meet with other department managers to gather requirements for new reports.

Balancing and reconciliation of bank accounts.

Preparation of business taxes and wiring them to the department of revenue. EDUCATION:

New College - Madras University - India 1989

Bachelor’s degree in accounting

Course work includes Accounting, Auditing, Economics, Business Principles, Financial Accounting, Cost Accounting, Management accounting, Commercial Law, Mercantile Law etc.) Purdue University - Hammond, Indiana

Master’s in information technology Candidate (48/60 credits completed) Course work includes Project Management, Data Communication and Networking, Supply Chain Management, Information Technology Business Strategies, etc.

PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATIONS

Garnishment Forum, American Payroll Association. (08/2003) The Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE) - Oak Brook, Illinois (04/1998) Lawson Applications Training: for all modules of the Lawson system Meditech HR/Payroll Applications Training - Meditech Corporate Headquarters, Boston, MA Skills

Software: Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP, Lawson Applications, Thomson Reuters MVP Real estate software, Meditech Applications, Microsoft Office, Lotus, Crystal Reports, Project management Software, Report Smith, Windows 2000, XP, Vista.

Hardware: HP Printers, Lexmark Printers, Network, Routers.

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