James Akpo, Mba, Cfe, Cpfa Email & Phone Number

United States

Springfield, Massachusetts Area

Leads strategic implementations including annual budgeting and planning process. Leads the process of periodic forecasting and analysis to provide upper Management with key recommendations of business drivers that impact operational results.Serves as a key member of the succession planning team. I am a key contact for Enterprise Risk issues and mitigating factors.Works closely with Senior Vice Presidents, Business Leaders, and Accounting staff at all sites in maintaining the integrity of the financial results and proper reporting.Manages and leads dozens of Project Managers to ensure that the underlying data for project accounting is accurate and in compliance with statutory regulatory requirements.Lead the Finance team in completing a variety of monthly and annual accounting assignments, analytical studies, and reporting.Prepares monthly and annual financial reports in compliance with GAAP and IFRS. I am a key member of major ERP implementation projects. I possess Power-User expertise in MS Excel, SAP ERP, SAP Business Intelligence, and SAP Financial Consolidation.

Torrington, Connecticut

I am the key finance partner for all the functional communities of the Americas Region. Prepares, coordinates, and accepts accountability for the financial reporting for the North America Region and supports the same globally.Prepares and presents monthly Financial Operating publication, a deep dive analysis of Cost and Revenue drivers, to the President and Managing Director of the North Americas Region.Functions as the global Finance Business Process Manager. Leads in the regional and global implementation of business process improvements utilizing existing and new technologies.Builds credibility for Finance by providing quality data to drive the growth and profitability of the Company. Provides financial analysis and reporting both internally with Company Management and externally with Tax and Audit partners.Partners with the leadership team, functional managers, and staff to identify ways to control and reduce costs, and create efficiencies. Drives continuous improvement in all facets of the position with an emphasis on enhancing the value of the Finance function within the Region and Dymax globally.

Torrington, Ct

• Prepared a business case for a multi-million-dollar manufacturing expansion plan. Presented proposals and received Senior Leadership Team, and Board of Director's approval.• Became the subject matter expert on financial functions within the JDE EnterpriseOne System, and support on system issues globally.• Led the implementation of Hyperion Financial Consolidation and Close System that drastically reduced the month-end and year-end close cycle at Dymax.• Power User and Administrator expertise in Hyperion FCCS application.• Performed current state analysis of existing business systems, applications, and functions, and provided recommendations and enhancement proposals.•Serves as the key contact person for Global Sales and CRM Pipeline reporting, providing support and reports to over 43 territory sales managers globally.

Torrington, Ct

Prepare, analyze and review financial data, transactions, and reports on an ongoing basis, providing the Strategic Leadership Team with highlights and insight into key business drivers for strategic decision making.Led the 2017 Annual Global Budgeting Process such that turn-backs and reworks were reduced considerably.Streamlined and re-engineered current reports and processes while managing control between platforms to assure data integrity across Dymax globally.Perform on-going financial modeling and analysis to identify key cost and revenue drivers and propose ways to minimize costs but maximize revenue.Initiated prudent business performance management processes to facilitate sound business decisions in support of strategic and long term corporate objectives.Designed and automated insightful dashboards using industry leading KPIs to provide management with key information for strategic decision making.

Hartford, Connecticut Area

PCC Structurals - Groton, CTStaff Accountant• Solely performed 108 General Ledger Account reconciliations within 3 days that shortened the monthly closing cycle from seven to five days.• Play an active role in the monthly closing process by preparing, uploading and posting Journal entries.• Reduced general and administrative expenses by 10% by reviewing vendor billings and processing accounts payable in a timely manner.• Performed various accounts receivable functions including running weekly shipping logs and submitting invoices to over 500 customers on a weekly basis.• Accurately process weekly payroll transactions including Vacation, Sick Time and Holiday requests. Perform weekly payroll reconciliations to ensure that duly earned hours are paid for at the appropriate pay rates.• Actively participated in the preparation of the 2015 Tax Return package.• Pulled material usage data from VIS.NET and evaluated the actual usage against the standards and the resulting variance report.United Technologies Aerospace Systems – Windsor Locks, CTFinancial Planning & Analyst• Processed varied financial information using SAP.• Actively involved in validation and scrubbing of financial data from JDE to SAP during the SAP implementation project at UTC.• Solely prepared SAP training and presentation materials for the finance and accounting teams of Military Spare and Ground Support Equipment divisions.• Assisted in setting up the quarterly and annual forecast estimates.• Actively involved in the month end close financial activities.

Springfield, Massachusetts Area

• Reduced turnaround time on Cost Accounting report preparation by two hours, enabling management faster access to critical data.• Actively participated in Month-End closing processes including the preparation of journal entries and general ledger account reconciliations using OHM ERP.• Prepared weekly dashboard reports indicating actual performance against budgeted and inter-plant and submitted the resulting variance reports for timely managerial decision-making.• Frequently prepared time-sensitive ad hoc reports as requested by corporate leadership team.

Accra - Ghana

Initiated and created Contract employment expense database that detected and prevented over $50,000 in duplicate payments.Conducted strategic risk-based procurement audit and provided recommendations that increase statutory compliance rates from 50% to 91%.Pioneered pre-audit of payments that resulted in an increase in AP processing time to the desired 95% and reduced interest charges by 50%.

Accra, Ghana

• Analyzed trends, costs, revenues, financial commitments, and obligations incurred to predict future revenues and expenses for managerial decision making.• Consistently performed account payable and receivable functions including receiving and depositing cash, and paying vendors.• Prepared account reconciliations and other month-end closes activities including journals and general ledger entries for onward financial statement preparation.• Performed various financial analyses and developed key management reports, identifying cost implications of management decisions and outlined alternative courses of action for optimal result.• Prepared, examined, and analyzed accounting records and financial statements to assess accuracy, completeness, and consistency with reporting and procedural standards.• Developed and analyzed budgets, and prepared monthly reports that compared budgeted costs to actual costs, which serves as a vital tool for performance evaluation.

Master Of Business Administration (M.B.A.), Finance, 3.03/4.00

Activities and Societies: International Students AssociationManaging Change in Organization Managing the Human Resource Financial.

Higher National Diploma (Hnd), Accountancy

Activities and Societies: Table Tennis Team CaptainAccountancy and Financial Management