Amanda Baxter Email & Phone Number

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Contract role for the Australian division of this Global Media and Communications group. A Project based role working with finance HQ, supporting the 60+ individual entities in the Australian network. The main responsibilities include high level review and recommendations for process improvements, leading to transformation of finance procedures. The project requires hands-on involvement together with higher level strategic work and regularly dealing with Regional and Global finance.

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Maternity Leave contract. R/GA Media, division of USA based Interpublic Group. As a member of the Management team partnering with the Managing Director to provide sound financial support to enable the team to make critical decisions. This has been paramount during the COVID 19 pandemic focusing on forward planning, budget revisions to drive business performance efficiencies. • Overseeing commercial decision making, including pitch analysis, margin and pricing analysis• Advising and implementing best practice methods to increase revenue and reduce costs• Managing Australia financial reporting, including budget and forecasting for presentation to both APAC Regional and USA HQ levels

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Contract role to assist in the transition of Kantar AUNZ Group of businesses from WPP AUNZ following the global sale of the majority ownership of Kantar business to a Private Equity group, Bain. Working directly with eight individual businesses, that form the Kantar AUNZ group, and liaising with WPP AUNZ to ensure successful transition of all eight businesses from WPP AUNZ. Achievements- Completed a full analysis of sales and spend volumes of the eight (8) individual businesses forming the Kantar Group in Australia and NZ.- Identified and reviewed all material contractual obligations between the Kantar business units and their respective clients and suppliers, ensuring all such requirements were met resulting in a successful transition of business ownership- Supported Kantar Global procurement and WPP AUNZ legal and procurement teams during this transition period

Sydney

- Business partner to Regional client service teams in structuring and pricing large Multi-country pitches involving three or more countries, with sales value exceeding $700k. Requiring the development of custom, strategic and high complexity estimates. Most recent was success winning a sales pitch including 10 countries with revenue exceeding $4 million.- Actively engaged and negotiated final pricing and contract terms with Client procurement - Supported the Global systems team in the development of a new global online pricing tool for implementation across the Region.

Sydney, Australia

Supporting 23 countries across APAC, Africa and Middle East. Reporting directly to the Regional CFO based in Singapore. Achievements- Business partner to Regional client service teams in structuring and pricing large Multi-country pitches. Working alongside Client service to negotiate and finalise agreement terms with client. - Administration Regional contracts - Ongoing consultation with WPP/Kantar and legal experts on Contract terms and best practices- Provided guidance and support for sub-regional Finance teams on contractual matters- Oversaw the Property portfolio and provided guidance to local teams on lease T&C’s and financial analysis of the property options to provide commercial assessment of options - Ensured Compliance with UK Anti-Bribery and Corruption legislation

Sydney, Australia

Promoted to a newly created role as a dedicated Finance lead to handle the significant planned expansion, via mergers and acquisitions across the region. During this 7 year period, the APAC region expanded into India, Africa and Middle East, increasing to 23 countries, becoming known as AMAP. AchievementsMergers & Acquisitions integration: - Oversaw the integration of the finance back office functions for newly acquired companies and executed new initiatives for further developing the back office infrastructure in the AMAP region as a whole- Conducted financial planning and analysis investigation at the country level as required during and post company setup- Assisted co-ordination of setup, statutory and other legal matters for new companies - Managed the testing, training and rollout of service packs for system upgrades- Reviewed staffing structures as required, including Identifying and recruiting new finance teams and training on finance procedures and practices as required- Control Environment: conducted Sarbanes Oxley (SOX) compliance reviews of new companies and implemented appropriate procedures and controls as required- Assisted in identifying and assessment of suitable properties for new office locations, existing office lease renewals and full legal review of lease documents - On-site visits to various countries as and when required

Sydney, Australia

Covering expanding Asia Pacific Region and reporting to the Singapore based Regional CFO. Global reporting to HQ based in Chicago, USA.Achievements- Managed financial development of the APAC region- Rolled out and managed user training and implementation across the Region, of the new MB global accounting system, “Deltek Maconomy” (supporting English language only) and country training for WPP Global reporting system. This system was implemented in Aust, NZ, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, China, HK and Philippines. - Assisted global development team on APAC requirements for the new global accounting system protocol- Managed and recruited the local country Finance lead across the Region- Finalised Budgets, Qtrly forecast and monthly financial reporting at a country level for approval and submitted to Global HQ based in USA - Oversaw the Audit, Statutory Reporting and Taxation functions. Including liaising with external Auditors and Tax Advisors at a country level

Cpa

Bachelor Of Business, Accounting Major