Elena Cortes Email and Phone Number

- Perform highly analytical, multi-dimensional, complex financial reconciliations and present related analysis - Collaborate with the Director of Financial Aid, Associate Dean, and Dean’s Office to create the debt-free funding model for the MD program; monitor actuals and projections to inform future decision-making actions impacting aid for future MD cohorts - Evaluate research proposal approval process with Program Managers to identify funding issues; implement recommendations to achieve healthy funding balances - Propose and develop new process to accurately reflect program unit operations in financial reporting to easily evaluate and measure program success and sustainability - Lead cross functional projects affecting operational effectiveness - Decrease journal processing time by providing intensive training to program unit Administrator to create journal transactions and partner with program director to implement automatic work flows to track process - Serve as subject matter expert and represent Finance Team to external partners; present to program units regarding budgeting and present to student groups regarding expense policies - Train/coach team members and customers to help develop their financial fluency and business relationships - Review daily transactions to maintain the integrity of financial reports - Present financial analysis to Program Directors, evaluate financial health of each program, and make recommendations for future spending to achieve operational efficiency - Balance program unit workload burden by volunteering to take temporary ownership of other responsibilities outside of the scope of this position while program units were under-staffed - Enforce appropriate internal control programs, interpret internal policy and external regulations - Manage multi-million budgets from multiple sources (operating budgets, gifts, grants, endowments)

- Created standard procedures for complete AP process from vendor on-boarding to payment remittance- Built relationships with vendors through clear communication regarding payments and resolving any disputes cordially- Helped reduce monthly close process from two weeks to five days (standardized process for prepaids reclass journal entry, prepaids amortization journal entry, accruals journal entry, employee headcount, fixed assets tracking, depreciation calculation)- Provided PBC files for audit (AP procedures, AP aging, check register, operating leases, invoices, proof of payment, prepaid entries and amortizations, etc.)- Ensured accuracy of payroll records, submitted documents in a timely manner, handled sensitive information with discretion

- Used historic cash flow analysis to coordinate purchasing timeline among different departments- Tracked and analyzed departmental spending- Tracked and analyzed product profitability- Organized and assigned projects for monthly finance meeting with CFO- Provided analysis of quarterly financials and supporting information for product development- Conducted end-of-year budget analysis and made appropriate recommendations to CEO regarding wage increases, bonuses, one-time purchases, departmental budgets, etc.- Ensured department runs efficiently via weekly meetings with staff/manage timeline for staff projects- Headed internship program to foster growth and education for students and develop training and leadership skills of staff- Was available and able to quickly and accurately assess unexpected problems both in-person and remotely- Hired and managed staff for Finance department- Conducted 90-day and annual reviews for all finance staff

- Created new timecard system to automatically calculate and correctly allocate regular, sick, and overtime hours for easy entry and fast processing- Processed payroll bi-weekly, adjusting for unexpected sick, PTO, and overtime from previous period; oversaw payroll after training staff on proper entry; was available to review before submission for errors and correct as necessary- Scheduled for eligibility of health benefits, PTO, sick time, and IRA and ensured that all forms were correctly filled out, processed, and filed- Tracked and updated PTO rates and increases- Reviewed and input one-time bonuses, raises, and pay advances- Adjusted individual withholdings as necessary each pay period- Reviewed and processed employee garnishments- Ran background checks for new hires- Scheduled and conducted second-round interviews for new hires

- Revamped Master Services Agreement to encompass full range of products and services and protect both Cruzio and the Customer- Drafted Terms of Use and other legal agreements- Reviewed and approved legal documents for clients and vendors- Established timeline system to track vendor contracts and develop stronger vendor relations- Conducted recurring vendor contract negotiation to decrease costs and keep services current- Designed detailed timeline system tracking customer contracts in order to coordinate customer contract renegotiation for Enterprise and Coworking accounts- Handled difficult early customer termination issues and created proposals/solutions to benefit Cruzio and the customer if possible- Overhauled collections tracking process to decrease the number of customer accounts falling into collections- Scheduled and completed PCI compliance surveys; worked with other managers and outside consultants to ensure continued compliance- Compiled documents for proof of insurance to secure necessary bonds and loans- Provided information to customers and insurance broker to add additional insureds to liability insurance

- Analyzed cash flow and made forecasts regarding spending and expected revenue- Produced financial performance analysis for individual departments- Created tracking tools to help other departments analyze their own spending habits- Conducted A/P intern interviews- Supervised A/P intern in areas such as data entry, critical analysis of invoices, critical analysis of cash flow, account reconciliation, financial statement use and preparation, etc.- Provided end-of-quarter performance review of intern for UCSC

- Regulated cash flow via weekly payables- Researched and resolved invoice discrepancies- Executed routine bank and credit card reconciliations, data entry, organization of vendor records- Prepared and analyzed quarterly Balance Sheet, P & L, and other reports for Finance Team- Trained incoming A/P intern (data entry, account reconciliation, financial statement use and preparation, etc.)- Trained incoming A/R intern (account cancellations, administering refunds, collections procedures, etc.)

- Administered account cancellations and refunds via check and credit card- Verified, allocated and posted check and manual credit card payments to customer accounts- Updated and maintained accurate information on customer accounts by sending postal bills, suspend notifications, and collections letters- Performed various other office duties and additional side projects (account audits, monthly inventory, customer service, reconfigure modems, etc.)