Christina Sheppard

*** ****** **

Midland, MI ***40

989-***-****

SUMMARY OF EXPERIENCE

Six years of cost accounting and three years of internal audit experience, with expertise in the areas of:

-Monthly cost analysis of accounts and variances.

-Assist in developing monthly variance estimates.

-Conducting Sarbanes-Oxley & operational internal audits in a variety of functions.

-Coordinating interviews with employees at various employment levels and geographies.

-Advising management of audit issues/problems/solutions.

-Continual compliance with internal control processes.

EDUCATION/MEMBERSHIPS

B.B.A. with Major in Accounting, Sam Houston State University – Huntsville, TX 2002

Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) - Member

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY

Styron LLC – Midland, MI 2010 - Present

Functional Cost Accountant/Analyst (June 2010 – Present)

• Serves as the North American (NAA) Functional Cost Accountant, the NAA Exchange, Swaps, and Tolls (EST) accountant, and the NAA Supply Chain Cost Accountant.

• EST includes monthly reconciliations, preparing manual statements and settlement entries, along with monthly analysis, creating and distributing global reporting, and creating and sending external statements to confirm balances with our partners. Interact with supply chain to identify any discrepancies with the partner balances.

• Create and maintain cost centers for various purposes. Includes reviewing monthly costs to confirm expenses hit the correct accounts in the proper period. Make accruals for services or goods received but not paid within the correct quarter. Assist Finance Analysts in understanding the cost trends for the functional cost centers aligned to the businesses.

• Update, review and analyze standard costs of products on a continuing basis to ensure properly valued inventory on the balance sheet based upon raw material prices.

• Work with functional departments to ensure cost flows to the proper business units. Create and push recharges to cost centers according to the proper method based upon business rules. Gather data during the annual budgeting process to ensure costs are correctly charged out to the various business units based upon business rules as well as building the plan for prime spending.

• Create invoices to third parties for contractual agreements using a miscellaneous invoicing tool.

• Other duties as they arise.

The Dow Chemical Company – Midland, MI May 2002 – June2010

Business Cost Accountant/Analyst (Apr 2008 – June 2010t)

• Served as the North America cost accountant for five manufacturing plants within three businesses including Dow Wolff Cellulosics, Dow Home & Personal Care, and Advanced Electronic Materials. Also handled the accounting for many warehouse and contract manufacturing sites throughout the United States.

• Understood the production of products in the various businesses including food grade materials, pharmaceutical grade products, construction grade materials, personal care products, and electronic materials.

• Interacted with production leaders, production analysts, run plant engineers, finance analysts, supply chain, and others as needed in order to complete analysis and forecasting.

• Ensured compliance with company policies and procedures that align with the internal controls in daily activities.

• Monthly activities included cost comparison analysis in order to understand manufacturing trends, cost flows, variances, possible errors, and variance estimates.

• Worked directly with the finance analyst to understand variances and develop estimates.

• Communicated with supply chain in order to understand demand versus production to assist in estimating volume variances.

• Updated standard costs of products on a continuing basis to ensure properly valued inventory on the balance sheet.

• Participated in physical inventory counts at production facilities and warehouses. Completed reconciliations of results of the counts.

• Participated in the yearly budgeting process by updating capacities, utilities, and recharge costs based upon discussions with production leaders and business managers.

• Reviewed costs monthly to confirm items hit the correct accounts per accounting rules.

• Created quarterly reconciliations of inventory accounts per the company guidelines.

• Continually searched for ways to improve work processes for efficiency and/or effectiveness by working with the production leaders, finance analysts, and supply chain.

Internal Auditor (Feb 2005 – Apr 2008)

• Identified risks and developed/conducted audit testing to provide assurance that controls were in place to mitigate the risks.

• Participated in fraud brainstorming sessions and training for the purpose of conducting internal audits.

• Performed and documented interviews and thorough review of work processes in order to gain an understanding of the controls in place for the work process.

• Conducted and documented analytical analysis in order to identify trends and areas needing further review.

• Collected and analyzed data in order to create and conduct audit testing using various methods including statistical analysis, stratification, sampling, pivot tables, grouping/sorting, and trend analysis.

• Continued training to better understand risks and better conduct audits including identifying fraud red flags.

• Identified, documented, and communicated business issues to management.

• Audited a variety of functions including process manufacturing, payroll, procurement, customer service, reinsurance, portfolio investments, pricing, cost of sales, freight, and small country audits which would cover multiple functions. Manufacturing audits focused on verifying standard costs of inventory as well as inventory counts; review of cost accountants’ work processes including variance analysis, manual journal entries, account reconciliations, and standard product costing.

Cost Accountant in Exchange, Swaps & Tolls (May 2002 – Feb 2005)

• Served as the North America EST accountant for Polyethylene Business Group interacting with contract administrators, finance analysts, and others as needed in order to create, update, and maintain EST deals in SAP.

• Prepared monthly reconciliations of EST accounts internally as well as for external partner confirmation.

• Created accounting segments for product cost in SAP.

• Analyzed, reviewed and updated standard costs of products on a quarterly basis by understanding the pricing of raw materials and semi & fini goods.

• Participated in training classes to obtain a better understanding of the corporation, cultural and diversity training, situational self leadership, and ethics.

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