Carol Stevens Email and Phone Number

Start Up Construction Company

In depth business cash-flow management. Anticipating and managing increases, shortages, project ‘pinch points’ and providing solutions. Escalating concerns, planning ahead and managing risk. Making all company bank payments. Ensuring that the flow of materials to site are not interrupted and subcontracted labour is paid. Working closely with Directors, Senior Commercial Manager, Contracts Manager, Surveyors and Site Managers. Assisting with the preparation of monthly client valuations. Monitoring application vs certified figures and issuing invoices in line with approved payment certificates. Chasing retention release sums and due dates. Employment / Payroll - using robust HMRC due diligence principles. Particularly focusing on ‘Right to work’ compliancy for subcontracted labour. Working closely with external Accountant. Represent the business at hospitality functions. Increasing credit rating limits. Cost cutting and identifying savings opportunities. Staff line management of the Finance Assistant/Office Admin. Remaining HMRC compliant (CIS/PAYE/VAT/Reverse VAT etc). HR duties. Insurances. Debt management. Use of Chalkstring project software. Annual R&D and Data Breach Corporation tax relief claims using external specialised tax consultants. CIMA Fundamentals of Business Accounting. Engagement in business coaching, specifically aimed at the attitudes of high performing teams.Projects/AchievementsSecuring £413k R&D and Data Breach Corporation Tax Credits over 4 accounting periods. Moving the business accounting system from QuickBooks to Xero at the start of the 2021 financial year. Streamlining processing and introducing the use of Hubdoc to automate workflow and eliminate data entry. Supporting the business through the difficult pandemic period in 2020. Redundancy, Furlough etc. Establishing robust processes. Process mapping during Chalkstring rolloutEarning respect, trust and building excellent relationships with directors, clients and colleagues.

Finance Manager – Bank account/Factoring/Cash-flow management. Monthly payroll (using SAGE 50 Payroll). Bought and Sales Ledger management including statements and credit control, using SAGE 50 Accounts. Bank payments and receipts. Monthly bank and credit card reconciliations. Payment and reporting of VAT, PAYE and CIS (Construction Industry Scheme) via the HMRC. Working with company accountants.Office Manager - Logging of reactive and approved quoted works and distributing to engineers as appropriate. Sending quotes and raising invoices. Maintaining all records with regard to company vehicles, fuel cards, staff trade account cards, company insurances and health and safety procedures. Employment of staff and maintaining all staff records/holiday entitlements/expenses etc. Main liaison with external IT Company.Projects/Achievements – Worked with existing office staff to update all internal processes to help business work more efficiently and effectively. Introduced many cost saving initiatives and completed a project streamlining internal e-mail accounts.

Finance Assistant – Count, agree and bank previous days cash/card/cheque takings from all Box Office sales and the Theatre’s Bar and Café. (Using SAGE200) Process sales/purchase ledger invoices, make payments, pay fees and administer the petty cash procedure for all departments within the Theatre. Complete daily/weekly/monthly reconciliations and analysis by both show and department, working with department heads as required. Support the Head of Finance in maintaining efficient and effective systems of financial control.Projects/Achievements – Assisted with the successful implementation of the ‘Finance package upgrade’ Project (from Multisoft to SAGE200) in July 2015. Incorporated a new process for internet purchases and streamlined existing processes where possible. Worked with the Bar Manager on new proposals for increasing income and reducing expenditure.

Business Administration – Bank account management, invoice production and tracking, timesheet processing, HMRC Basic PAYE, bill payments, payroll, payment authorisations, financial accounting and reconciliation (using Xero accounting software), financial/cash flow reporting, business plan development and maintenance, VAT, payroll, switchboard, room booking, meeting administration (organising agenda and minute taking), filing structure/documentation maintenance. Developed and implemented a set of business templates and reporting tools. Maintained staff records, consultancy agreements and training. First point liaison for all queries from Directors, Accountants, Bankers and Consultants.Projects/Achievements – Individually managed, developed and successfully implemented the following projects:-• ISO 9001:2008 & ISO 14001:2004 – Quality and Environmental Management System implementations for the business. Prepared and passed a full audit, achieving both the required accreditations. Ongoing maintenance of all processes and procedures.• Achilles ‘Building Confidence Level 4’ and ‘RISQS Level 2 (formerly Link-up) supplier management community accreditations Prepared and passed a full audit, achieving both the required accreditations. • Website Upgrade and IT maintenance• Livedrive ‘cloud based’ shared storage filing structure solution

Developed spreadsheets, input data, completed analysis and provided a set of management information for the CEO, resulting in the charity receiving additional funding from the Mayor of London.

I was invited to return to Mellon in May 2005 for a dual purpose. Firstly to train two new recruits on the roles of ‘project office analysts’ and also to consult on the review of a project to enhance the existing time tracking tool, for which I was previously the UK’s representative for Mellon.

The Sinatra Programme - outsourcing of Morley’s Operations Department to JPMorgan. Programme processes, communications, senior executive and internal monthly reporting, risk and issues capture and control, financials (actuals and accruals), the control of deliverable sign-off, internal audits and post implementation reviews. Successfully ensured minimal disruption to Project Managers with maximum re-use of information for various reporting requirements. Responsible for updating the programme’s web page.Completed a number of BA functions, organised the party for the departure of the Operations staff and supported the Implementation and IT delivery managers with plans, agendas, minute taking and any tasks requiring additional assistance.

Business Analyst – September 2003 to September 2004I moved from the Project/Change Office into a Client Facing Business Analyst role in September 2003. I successfully managed six small projects for a major fund supermarket. I reviewed and re-organised the Small Work Items processes for both the Transfer Agency and Fund Accounting sides of the business. Senior Project Office Analyst – April 2000 to September 2003I was chosen from my role as Breach Analyst to help set up and run the Mellon Project Office. It was formed in April 2000 to support a growing number of different project environments. I worked with the existing project teams to establish and maintain project governance and controls where none had existed before.It was a challenging time which took resilience and commitment to implement. However, once the office was up and running we provided significant benefits to senior management and the newly formed ‘change management’ department. I designed and incorporated the use of project reporting and management information and also administered the configuration management process.I also conducted process quality assurance reviews and was part of the CMM process improvement and mentoring team. This team met on a regular basis to discuss the process improvement log and worked together to adapt and change the existing process to be workable within our changing environment. Breach Analyst – Investor Controls Department – November 1998 to March 2000