Kenneth K. Lau, CTP

415-***-**** • Great Neck, NY & Tampa, FL • adglq9@r.postjobfree.com • https://www.linkedin.com/in/kenneth-k-lau/

Treasury leader specialize in designing and executing global strategies to improve treasury operations through best practices, policies and programs; facilitate business growth, expansion and profitability. Analytical problem solver able to synthesize complex financial data and global market trends to define strategies that optimize cash flow while minimizing exposure.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCES

COMMUNITY BRANDS ST. PETERSBURG, FL

GROUP TREASURER 2020 – CURRENT

Focused on establishing treasury processes, policies, and procedures. Community Brands is the leading provider of cloud-based software to associations, nonprofits, faith-based groups, and K-12 schools. Payment processing is a key area of the business helping to manage funds on behalf of clients

SELECTED ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Built cash flow forecasting model to provide short to medium term view on future cash collection and disbursement globally; perform variance analysis to better understand key drivers impacting cash.

Revamped entire debt model to track actual interest expense over $1.6B of debt.

Go-live on ZBA cash sweeps in US for best practice in cash management activities including fraud prevention

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

oLead weekly meeting with CEO, CFO and VP Finance on cash planning discussion with 13-week forecast model.

oAnalyze change in working capital including AR, AP as well as invoice billing & cash collection.

oCoordinate with account payable team to automate vendor payment processing between ERP and bank portal.

oRationalize bank account structure to increase visibility, enhance control and maximize cash concentration.

oTrack actual while forecast interest expense and cash payment for accounting and audit purposes.

KNOWBE4 CLEARWATER, FL

GROUP TREASURER 2019 – 2019

KnowBe4 is the world’s first and largest New-school security awareness training and simulated phishing platform that helps organizations manage the ongoing problem of social engineering.

NEWELL BRANDS HOBOKEN, NJ

ASSISTANT TREASURER 2016 – 2018

Subsequent to Newell Brands acquiring Jarden Corporation, promoted to lead regional treasury teams managing global cash and liquidity for business operations throughout the Americas, EMEA, APAC and LATAM. Newell Brands is a worldwide manufacturer, marketer and distributor of consumer and commercial products generating >$14 billion in annual sales.

SELECTED ACCOMPLISHMENTS

End-to-end currency exposure management workflow by integrating three separate treasury systems (FiREapps, FXall and Kyriba). Greatly enhanced the ability to collect exposure data timely and accurately, analyzed large quantity of data from numerous business units and able to hedge systematically with banking partners at best available pricing. Time effort reduced to three hours per week.

Partnered with tax team to help structure tax efficient strategies to repatriate $600M in cash by collaborating, planning and executing with business finance teams; repatriated cash applied towards debt pay down to minimize interest expense and reduce leverage ratio. Interest savings represented approx. $8M net of repatriation cost.

Led multiple separation projects related to business divestitures. Over the span of 18 months, successfully assisted M&A team to disintegrate $5.0B worth of businesses from a treasury perspective.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

oWeekly meeting with CFO, Treasurer and Shared Service group on cash flow forecasting related to sources and uses of cash; leverage cash model to strategically impact changes in working capital.

oLead person for overseeing cash management activities related to multicurrency cash pools, cross border funding to subsidiaries, repatriation strategy, investment options, debt paydown opportunities, share buyback program as well as merger and acquisition.

oNegotiated and established optimal financing options for local operating business units with banks, especially critical in emerging markets.

oFull administration of parent and bank guarantee involving line of credit for credit facilities, letters of credit as well as local credit card programs.

oFostered close relationship with banking partners to align strategies and goals of the company including projects related to cash management initiatives, debt refinancing and merger & acquisition.

oLead person spearheading treasury audit under SOX404 and external financial audit.

oSupported a monthly in-house netting program to settle intercompany trade receivable and payable invoices.

JARDEN CORPORATION NORWALK, CT

DIRECTOR OF TREASURY 2010 – 2016

TREASURY MANAGER 2006 – 2010

Relocated to join Jarden headquarter to build new processes, programs and policies within the treasury group. Jarden is a conglomerate of consumer brands, particularly in the outdoors and home appliances market.

SELECTED ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Orchestrated the design and implementation of Kyriba Treasury Workstation to automate treasury processes; enhance greater control and visibility on treasury transactions for best practice; rolled out workstation to business units to process day to day cash management activities.

Piloted a new eight-week cash forecasting submission process for liquidity planning globally to gain better view on short term visibility; forecast accuracy improved up to 90% with two weeks out.

Reduced net FX impact to P&L from $49M in 2014 down to $2M in 2016 through design of new balance sheet FX hedging program.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

oManaged currency hedging programs with notional value >$3.0B; passed quarterly audit on documentation for cash flow hedge qualify for hedge accounting.

oBank portal administrator for all users; payment approver for all treasury related payments.

oAssisted in debt financing and calculation on leverage ratio on quarterly covenant compliance.

oManaged $70M portfolio of letters of credit (LC), negotiating and reducing overall bank fees.

oOptimized fixed/float interest rate ratio; monetized $6M gain from unwinding a fair value swap.

oTreasury integration on newly acquired businesses on cash management, bank accounts and LC

oModeled and tracked debt portfolio, including interest expense budget, fixed/float swaps and debt pay down opportunities. Reduced annual interest by ~2% thru opportunistic interest rate swaps.

TILIA, INC SAN FRANCISCO, CA

FINANCIAL REPORTING MANAGER 2003 – 2006

A manufacturer and distributor of food packaging and preservation system

PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS SAN FRANCISCO, CA

SENIOR TAX ASSOCIATE 1998 – 2002

Multinational professional services firm

Education and Professional Qualifications

BS, Finance in Accounting, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA

License: Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Certified Treasury Professional (CTP)

Association: The Financial Executives Networking Group

Technology: HFM, Hyperion, SAP, NetSuite, Intacct, FiREapps, FXall, Kyriba, Reval, EuroNetting, Bloomberg, MS Office

FACILITATING BUSINESS GROWTH AND PROFITABILITY THROUGH LEADERSHIP IN TREASURY OPERATIONS

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