Charismatic Finance Executive

DONALD A. DOWNEY, CPA, CIA, MBA

***** *. **** ******  Peoria, AZ 85345  (h) 623-***-**** (c) 602-***-****  ********@*****.***

EXECUTIVE PROFILE

Strategic-Growth Leader  Start-up/Turn-Around Expert  Process Engineering Master

Dynamic senior leader with history of effectively leading a broad range of corporate initiatives, both domestically and internationally in multiple industries. Hands-on, dedicated business partner with proven ability to manage crises and do “whatever it takes” to support the company. Expertise in evolving strategic initiatives into tactical mile-stones. Demonstrated ability to drive profitable relationships internal and external. Polished professional with superlative communication and negotiating talents. Dedicated to contributing to organizational goals.

Career Highlights

 Corporate reorganization from insolvency to 40% profit on sales in 18 months (UK)

 Corporate reorganization which lead to 18 – 21 % annual growth over 5 years (USA)

 Rebuilt corporate credit rating from 2A4 to 3A1 in 28 months

 Negotiated a landmark multi-million dollar contract

 Opened London based consulting company; achieved profitability in 18 months

 Opened Sydney, Australia consulting subsidiary; achieved profitability in 9 months

 Built VAR network resulting in a 50% increase in license revenue & 20% increase in consulting revenue

 Formed strategic alliances that increased primary annual revenues by 10% annually

 Strategic product positioning in market niche resulting in 70% market penetration

 Developed a monopolistic market offering with highly competitive VARS

 Streamlined while increasing accuracy and timeliness of financial reporting; annual savings $50K

 Reengineered SLDC thereby increasing consulting revenue by $200K + per year

 Positioned USA/UK company to mitigate tax liability for 5+ years

 Raised Capital for divesture and acquisitions

Areas of Expertise

 strategic leadership skills  acute business acumen  ROI driven change master  multidisciplinary business sense  attuned market sense  technology savvy  strong negotiating skills  effective communicator  product/customer alignment  treasury management  lean business management  morale/ community builder _____________________________________________________________________________________

PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY

GERSON LEHRMAN GROUP New York, NY

Consulting Management Platform. The company offers in-depth consulting in the areas of finance, banking, management to a global client base.

Sr. CFO Advisor 2008 – Present

 Corporate reorganization for large Arizona Medical DME & Pharmacy hospice supplier

 Debt restructure for Arizona medical equipment and oxygen supplier

 Advised major mid-west international law firm on WIP/AR management practices

 Built business model for professional services firm seeking to expand product offering

 Advised large Arizona concrete supply company on business process re-engineering

 Advised national aggregate supplier on better inventory and costing models

MINISOFT WORLDWIDE, INC. Phoenix, AZ

Provide “bolt-on” finance software to the professional services community. The company’s product offering is sold directly to end users or through Value Added Resellers (VARS). CFO/COO 2001 - 2008

 Managed domestic and international corporate restructuring and positioning for divestures and acquisitions

 Formed strategic alliances with domestic and international VARS

 Reorganized SDLC moving features/functions to the market faster

 Managed all finance and treasury for global organization

 Responsible for all global financial reporting to the board of directors

 Provide strategic vision to the organization toward globalization and increased market presence

MINISOFT UK, LTD . London, UK

It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Minisoft USA. Managing Director / CFO 1997 - 2000

 Opened, staffed and managed MiniSoft (UK)

 Managed all finance and treasury for European subsidiary

 Worked closely with clients to ensure their requirements were met

 Developed strategic alliances with resellers

 Built ‘beach-head’ from which market was taken away from competition

 Undertook product sales through Western Europe

MINISOFT USA, INC Phoenix, AZ Manager of Applications Consulting 1995 - 1996

 Identified and scoped product requirements to build technology that has become the global standard

 Developed client base domestically and globally, directly and through VARS

 Developed sales and training methodologies which moved the company into being a global player

 Managed staff based on corporate mandate of globalization

BLAKE, CASSELS & GRAYDON, LLP Toronto, Canada

Blake Cassels & Graydon is the third largest full service law firm in Canada. Senior Financial Analyst-Financial Systems EDP/ MIS 1990 - 1995

 Responsible for all computer systems relating to finance

 Performed EDP audits on new software and documented all internal procedures

 Designed and compiled all management reports

 Developed procedures for integration of international operations

 Team leader for special accounting related projects

D. A. DOWNEY ACCOUNTING & TAX SERVICES Barrie, Canada President/CEO 1987 - 1990

 Performed various accounting and tax related functions for both corporate and private clients

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EDUCATION & AFFILIATIONS

PhD Management Information Systems Technology  University of Northern Washington, USA MBA Strategic Planning/ Strategic Information Systems  Heriot-Watt University, UK BS Economics & Statistics  University of Toronto, Canada Certified Financial Services Auditor  National Association of Financial Service Auditors, USA Certified Internal Auditor  The Institute of Internal Auditors, USA Certified General Accountant (CPA Equivalent)  Certified General Accountants Association, Canada

Biographical Synopsis

The past two decades of my career resounds of two major themes; always ‘hands on, in-the-game’ and innovation in problem solving. My career began following my undergraduate degree in economics/statistics and while studying to become a licensed accountant. I quickly realized that my passion was fueled by business indicators. I embraced that financial and non-financial metrics, when interpreted and acted on in a timely manner, will lead to building one’s competitive advantage.

It was my skill in metrics development and progressive interpretation that landed me the senior financial role at Blake Cassels & Graydon, LLP. At Blakes, I was solely responsible for all financial reporting. With increasing completive market pressures, I designed an entire data mining and metrics analysis tool. This reduced the cost of reporting by 75%. However the benefit was tremendous as the reporting was supported with my interpretive insight.

It was during a trip to Arizona that I met the president of MiniSoft. It was from our initial meeting that resulted in a joint agreement between Blakes and MiniSoft to build the MiniSoft ARCS product. MiniSoft, fed my entrepreneurial spirit and I was always “in-the-game”. In addition to managing the product and consulting side of the business, I was given the opportunity to hone my strategic business acumen; as a key player in management. It was my strategic insight that allowed the company to leverage its private equity and market resources to become a powerful player in the market space. Through identification of unique opportunities and tremendous vision, in a few short years the company grew from a start up with a few clients, to having the most revered client list in the legal software community.

Never being ‘on-the-side-lines’, resulted in me being chosen to open the European subsidiary; MiniSoft UK, Limited. Landing in London in January 1997, I set out to build a company, learn a culture and personally grow from this opportunity. Starting from the ground, I secured capital, built a powerful team, and the market relationships to make the company profitable. Concurrently with this venture, I supplemented my skill with the pursuit of an MBA from Heriot-Watt University. With my strong work ethic and dedication, the subsidiary was profitable within the first twelve months. After the first year of operations we began achieving 25-30% annual growth rates.

Having a strong ‘can-do’ attitude, I was the likely candidate to return to MiniSoft Worldwide in 2001. Upon my return in February 2001 and assuming the role of CFO/COO, I moved the company to a third tier organization and made it the most revered legal add-on software company in the south west. Our strong market presence afforded the company the luxury to buy-back all of its outside investors and become completely debt free. This new freedom gave us the opportunity to aggressively pursue a stronger global presence; which ultimately came to its fruition in 2006.

In keeping with the growth model of 25-39% annual growth track, moved me to open a subsidiary in Sydney, Australia. These subsidiaries strategically placed, allowed MiniSoft products to take full advantage of the English speaking world. Once we established a strong presence in the English speaking world, I focused the company on the non-English speak countries of Western Europe.

With my keen sense of corporate positioning in the marketplace, interpreting economic indicators, and sensitivity to cultural nuances, positioned MiniSoft several months ahead of its national and global competitors. Internalizing market indicators and working closely with the sales teams, internally and through resellers, I was able to predict how we can keep on a strong growth path in spite of barriers, literal and perceived. It was through this approach that MiniSoft was able to eradicate significant competitors in the USA and in Europe.

My ability to interpret financial and economic signals, from different perspectives lead to me becoming a frequent lecturer at finance, management and technology conferences. This yielded the opportunity to being published in professional finance journals in Canada, USA and France. Currently, I continue to lecture and publish on financial analysis, management strategy and technology as it relates to organizational competitive advantage.

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