SAMMY M. NDERITU

P. O. BOX ***** – *****, NAIROBI

Tel: +254-***-***-***

Email: adpwr1@r.postjobfree.com

PROFILE SUMMARY

I am a self-motivated and goal-oriented professional with excellent organizational, communication and interpersonal skills. My past positions have seen me utilize expertise in accounting tasks to assist in making various decisions relating to reconciliation tasks, project management, operational risk management and financial decision-making. I have experience in administration as well, having been involved in tasks related to communication management, project management, stationery and resource mobilization tasks.

PERSONAL DETAILS

Date of birth: July 1982

Languages spoken: English (Fluent), Swahili (Fluent).

EDUCATION

CPA Section 4 – Self-study; 2002 to 2006

Bachelor of Arts (Economics) - Moi University; 2002 to 2006

Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education - Nyeri High School; 1997 to 2000 (straight A scores in English and Accountancy)

KEY SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES

Excellent financial and communication skills: Excellent skills in accounting and advanced communication skills, both written and oral – KCSE score of A plain in both English and Accounting are indicators of respective strengths which were then fine-tuned in an Accounting environment requiring constant communication with colleagues, customers and key stakeholders through face-to-face, phone, email as well as postal communications.

Administration skills: Communication management skills – phone, letters and email. Project management experience gained and utilised when spearheading BOLD certification programme for the department. Well versed in tasks such as scheduling meetings, recording and circulating meeting minutes, providing regular project status updates to management, maintaining paper and electronic filing systems, etc.

Client relations: Ability to gain trust of clients gained while selling. Knowledge of how to cultivate an atmosphere that enhances openness, trust and honesty. Experience in handling clients, responding to client queries and complaints, and handling customer sensitivities as well as sensitive clients.

Multi-cultural teamwork experience: Experience working in multi-cultural teams with varied European, Asian, West and Southern African cultural backgrounds and skills as well as Kenyan counterparts.

Initiative: Volunteered and was accepted for several activities both at work and at local church (details in below Work History under Volunteer Activities). Also sought out opportunities for attachment in several departments in the Standard Chartered Bank Head Office which piqued my interest (details in below Work History under Short Term Assignments). Offered and was accepted to spearhead various departmental initiatives in Reconciliations and Investigations Department, such as Operational Risk Management and BOLD (Building Operational Leadership Discipline) certification exercise.

Computer Systems: Working knowledge of MS Excel, Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, Access, IDS SQL Server and relevant Internet-based systems, i.e., EBBS, Datastore, OnDemand, Samba, SCI, eCDD, Tradeport, Creditmate, Magellan, Opics, etc.

WORK HISTORY

Accountant - RAE Ltd and Drylands Ltd, Baringo; January 2019 - to date.

Freelance writing and proof reading - July 2017 - December 2018.

Associate Officer-Client On-boarding and Maintenance, Senior Reconciliations Officer, Graduate Clerk, Standard Chartered Bank; 2007-2018

1.Accountant, Rehabilitation of Arid Environments (RAE) Ltd, Baringo (a company that buys grass seed from local communities and resells the grass seed, after processing, to large multinational organizations to aid in rehabilitating arid and semi-arid lands) – January 2019 - to date

Duties and Responsibilities

Monitoring and verifying petty cash expenses against available receipts to ensure validity and integrity in the utilization of company funds.

Maintaining the cashbook and ensuring adequate basic book-keeping practices are followed in line with international accounting standards (IAS).

Monitoring daily cash and bank balances to ensure sufficient liquidity to support business operations, and to limit wastage of resources.

Implementing of accounting policies, guidelines, procedures, standards and internal controls while evaluating their effectiveness in the smooth flow of finances in the company.

Coordinating the grass seed purchase process (company’s major input) to ensure smooth flow of funds and that finances spent reconcile to the grass seed bought.

Verification of invoices/delivery notes and coordinating timely payments to suppliers while ensuring there are sufficient resources to cover the payments.

Participating in preparation of management financial reports including periodical expenditure returns and input availability reports, bank reconciliation statements and cash flow and availability reports.

Monitoring compliance with accounting policies, standards and procedures, and government regulations to minimize exposure to risks associated with non-compliance.

Provide technical support to the various departments (e.g., field assistants, office staff, storekeepers, etc.) in accounting systems and in computer operations as needed.

Preparing of quarterly and annual financial statements in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) shared with management and external stakeholders (e.g. donors) so as to inform decision-making.

Preparing periodical budgets for submission to donors.

Monitoring and collating expenses in relation to donor-funded activities and submitting the relevant income and expenditure reports to management.

Supervising, coaching and mentoring staff to ensure high motivation and performance, and staff development in line with the needs of the company.

2.Accountant, Drylands Ltd - Roberts’ Camp, Baringo (hotel and restaurant offering accommodation, food & drinks, and camping ground facilities to local and international tourists) – January 2019 - to date

Duties and Responsibilities

Monitoring and verifying petty cash expenses against available receipts to ensure validity and integrity in the utilization of company funds.

Maintain the cashbook in QuickBooks and ensure adequate basic book-keeping practices are followed in line with international accounting standards (IAS).

Coordinating with the Hotel Manager in monitoring of daily cash and bank balances to ensure sufficient liquidity to support business operations, and to limit wastage of resources.

Implementing of accounting policies, guidelines, procedures, standards and internal controls while evaluating their effectiveness in the smooth flow of finances in the company.

Participating in preparation of management financial reports including periodical expenditure returns and input availability reports, bank reconciliation statements and cash flow and availability reports.

Monitoring compliance with accounting policies, standards and procedures, and government regulations to minimize exposure to risks associated with non-compliance.

Provide technical support to the various departments (e.g. bar and restaurant, store-keeper, manager) in accounting systems and in computer operations as needed.

Preparing of quarterly and annual financial statements in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP); reports shared with management and external stakeholders (e.g., trustees, auditors, Company Registrar, etc.) so as to inform decision-making.

Supervising, coaching and mentoring staff to ensure high motivation and performance, and staff development in line with the needs of the company.

3.Freelance writing and proof reading - July 2017 - December 2018.

4.Associate Officer, Client On-boarding and Maintenance - April 2015-July 2017

Duties and Responsibilities

Working in tandem with Relationship Managers and Direct Sales staff to onboard new SME customers for the 13 African countries whose client on-boarding and maintenance operations were hubbed in Kenya (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Botswana, Zambia, South Africa, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Gambia, Cameroon, Ivory Coast and Zimbabwe).

Maintaining current SME client data for the 13 countries in an orderly and easily accessible manner in the bank’s global corporate client data repository, SCI (Single Customer Identifier).

Systems used – SCI, eCDD, EBBS, Creditmate, Magellan, Tradeport and Opics.

5.Senior Reconciliations Officer, Reconciliations and Investigations Department – September 2012-April 2015

Duties and Responsibilities

Answering all queries related to the daily financial reports sent out to branches and internal departments.

Mastering the relationships/interdependencies between the various front-office and back-office departments in the bank, and the flow of transactions/funds between them, to be able to explain any anomaly/discrepancy picked up in the daily reports, and to recommend solutions.

Understanding the international payments process in full, to be able to pinpoint accurately the reasons for any imbalance in the General Ledger accounts, and to follow up with the concerned parties either at the branches or the relevant head office department, for resolution.

Understanding the Banker’s Cheque issue process in full, to be able to pinpoint accurately the reasons for any imbalance in the General Ledger accounts, and to follow up with the concerned parties either at the branches or the relevant head office department, for resolution.

Understanding the VISA payments process in full, to be able to pinpoint accurately the reasons for any imbalance in the General Ledger accounts, and to follow up with the concerned parties either at the branches or the relevant head office department, for resolution.

Investigating long term unresolved discrepancies/differences through acquired knowledge, data extraction and analysis from the various systems and phone conversations with respective Heads of departments and Branch Operations Managers.

Aggressively following up, through email, phone calls and where necessary face-to-face consultations, on any unresolved discrepancies/queries with departments/branches for prompt closure and hence balancing of our books.

Delegated responsibility of receiving calls/hard copy correspondence and answering queries related to any aspect of the department, on behalf of the Manager, Reconciliations department, in his/her absence.

Delegated responsibility of ordering office equipment and supplies, e.g., printer toner, office files & stationery in the electronic finance system (PSGL), on behalf of the Manager, Reconciliations department.

Monitoring operational risk management through:

a)Identifying potential risks and logging the same in the risk repository correctly.

b)On an ongoing basis, conducting periodic checks, audits and reviews to ensure all internal controls are working satisfactorily and that there are no risk exposures to the business

c)For actual risk occurrences and incidences, conducting root cause analysis (5 whys etc.), interviewing staff through which the risk exposure occurred, isolating the various internal controls that were breached/evaded and

d)suggesting ways in which future exposures can be avoided.

Training the department on operational risk and operational excellence using relevant training tools such as classroom training, hand-outs, and PowerPoint presentations.

Spearheading BOLD (Building Operational Leadership Discipline) activities and training for the department, involving, among others, highlighting of Lean process, Voice of Customer surveys, collating statistics such as TAT in relation to volumes and surge capacity planning.

Performing ad hoc project administration and management tasks such as managing incoming correspondences – phone calls, letters, emails, scheduling meetings and recording and circulating minutes of meetings, updating daily project tracker, giving daily status updates to management.

Systems used – MS Excel, MS Outlook, IDS SQL server, EBBS, Datastore, Samba, Phoenix, PSGL, MS Word and MS PowerPoint.

6.Graduate Clerk, Reconciliations and Investigations Department – August 2007-September 2012

Duties and Responsibilities

Receiving daily soft copy reports from the Chennai(India) Global Reconciliations Hub, undertaking data extraction and data analysis using the relevant systems, e.g., EBBS, IDS SQL server, MS Excel, etc.

Extracting account balances from the system and ensuring they tally with daily financial reports received.

Preparing daily, monthly and quarterly financial reports within the recommended deadlines.

Reconciling daily financial reports of, for example, Banker’s Cheques issued, telegraphic transfer funds, RTGS’s, VISA transactions, etc., and highlighting any discrepancies and unaccounted-for items to the Manager, Reconciliations department for follow up.

Reporting daily on the changes in the daily balances for all the general ledger accounts under own portfolio.

Performing all other computerized accounting functions involved with reconciling local and foreign General Ledger A/c’s for the six African countries whose reconciliation activities were hubbed in Kenya (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Botswana, Zambia and South Africa).

Performing ad hoc project administration and management tasks such as managing incoming correspondences – phone calls, letters, emails, scheduling meetings and recording and circulating minutes of meetings.

Systems used – MS Excel, MS Outlook, IDS SQL server, EBBS, Datastore, and Samba.

Short Term Assignments – Standard Chartered Bank

Client Service Group

Duties/Knowledge gained

Answering customer queries, up-selling and cross-selling products to current customers, initiating conversion to more convenient business applications, products and services.

Understanding some of the bottle-necks/challenges faced by customer service manager’s e.g. customer sensitivities, persistent/repeated queries from the same customer, delay/lack of urgency by the departments that support client service in submitting responses to queries and system problems.

Acquired insight into CSM’s additional sales role which involves sourcing for, meeting and striking rapport with potential clients

Obtained essential training on the inestimable value of the customer to any business and hence the importance of maintaining a customer-centric view or empathizing with the customer at all times.

Systems used – EBBS, Straight-to-Bank, Opics, LOS and Imex.

Finance Shared Service Centre and Finance (Payments) Spoke section

Duties/Knowledge gained

Creating new vendors in the Finance system (PSGL) and amending existing vendor details that the vendor wants to be amended, e.g., registered name, registered address, etc.

Collating supplier invoices’ data in the relevant internet-based system (PSGL) to ensure prompt supplier payment.

To understand how the bank’s finance system is linked with all other transaction processing systems and how this helps in efficient day-to-day running of the bank’s operations.

Calculating total sums due to various suppliers while incorporating discounts, VAT and withholding tax deductions.

Understanding the various stages of the ordering process, and the different documents involved, i.e., Purchase Order, Delivery Note, Invoice and Receipt.

Understanding the various components of management reporting and the what-and-how of the quarterly, half-yearly and annual Financial Reports that are published for inspection by the general public in the local newspapers.

Understanding complex financial concepts, e.g. supply/demand price correlation, opportunity cost, cash-accrual concept, supplier/service-provider dynamics etc., and how they affect the bank in its day-to-day operations.

Systems used – PSGL, EBBS and IDS SQL server.

Financial Markets Operations (Treasury)

Duties/Knowledge gained

Supporting FX (Foreign Exchange) dealers in their buying and selling of foreign currency and their deals involving other financial instruments such as bonds and derivatives to make maximum profit for the bank.

Assisting FX dealers with any details they need to facilitate accurate booking of their deals in the system.

Monitoring FX deals such as Corporate Forwards, Corporate Spot, Interest rate derivatives, Trading Forwards, Trading Spot in the relevant system as they happen.

Following up with dealers in case of unsubstantiated deals, unfunded Accounts and any other anomalies as advised by the Manager, Global Markets Operations.

Understanding treasury operations, and especially the role played by effective cash flow management in the treasury function, i.e., how the bank ensures it is able to meet all its obligations while at the same time, maximizing investment yields and minimizing exposure to fluctuations of interest rates with reference to depositors’ funds held.

Systems used – EBBS, Opics, Durex and IDS SQL server.

Volunteer Activities

Member of the Standard Chartered Family Fun Day 2009 organizing committee, where, among others, was involved in planning team activities for the event, sourcing prizes, food and drinks for the event, arranging transport for staff to the event and mobilizing staff to get involved in the team events and be part and parcel of making the event a success.

Local church – Mamlaka Hill Chapel (Nairobi Chapel University of Nairobi church) 2007-2011 - actor in Word-to-Life drama team, Sunday school teacher, and Praise and Worship team member. Post-2011 – served as a member of Nairobi Chapel-Utawala Praise and Worship team.

Internship/attachment with Ministry of Finance (as a third year student, BA, Economics) – September 2004.

As a member of Editorial team of MUCU (Moi University Christian Union) was involved in collecting, editing, and typesetting of articles for the Campus Glory magazine published by MUCU, as well as selling the finished product - the magazine - to fellow students. Recognized as the best-selling marketer of the same for two consecutive years – 2003 & 2004.

INTERESTS AND HOBBIES

Reading inspirational books, networking and meeting new people, and learning from other people’s experiences.

REFEREES

Joseph Kipboigot Kipkulei

Operations Manager, Rehabilitation of Arid Environments Ltd,

Kampi ya Samaki, Baringo

Tel: +254-***-***-***

Evelyne Mobagi

(Former manager, Reconciliations and Investigations Department)

Client Coverage Manager, Commercial Banking

Standard Chartered Bank

Tel: +254-***-***-***

Email: adpwr1@r.postjobfree.com, adpwr1@r.postjobfree.com

Jane N. Wambua

Manager, Technology and Operations

Standard Chartered Bank

Tel: +254-***-***-***

Email: adpwr1@r.postjobfree.com

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