Elders NZ is a full service provider to the rural sector, including Livestock brokering, Wool trading and brokering, retailer of farm supplies, wholesaler and exporter of seed, insurance brokering, rural real estate agency and rural finance company. Elders NZ was a 50/50 JV and reporting had to comply with ASX reporting requirements and had to file fully audited annual financial statements with the NZ Companies Office.Responsibilities•Full responsibility as part of the senior management team to develop and implement the organisation’s New Zealand strategy•Establish and grow a network of outlets across New Zealand, including implementing a point of sale system, general ledger system, policies and procedures along with financial reporting across 15 farm supplies retail outlets, 25 real estate and 3 insurance broking agencies•Lead favourable business transformations, restructures and change management initiatives•Provide effective leadership and people management to a high-performing team of 11 staff•Fulfil financial and performance management, including risk management and consolidated financial statements in a timely manner and with due attention to detail•Manage the operational financial function, business planning, statutory financial reporting, Board reporting, budgeting and forecasting, plus capital investment analysis •Arrange bank facilities and negotiate supplier agreements •Perform due diligence and acquisition strategies and processes•Oversaw the growth of the Elders New Zealand business from 150 to 450 employees with sales increasing from $30M to more than $100M in just 3 years•Manage and negotiate the acquisition of various successful multimillion-dollar businesses and integrate into the Elders model•Supervise multiple system and general ledger conversions and implementations enabling cost savings and improving overall organisational efficiencies•Direct vigorous negotiations with key suppliers leading to cost savings of $100K per annum

Responsibilities: •Managed the day-to-day running of the New Zealand finance business unit, including treasury and tax-related matters•Reported directly to the Group CFO in Australia, empowered to undertake all New Zealand reporting and ascertain that all statutory and tax requirements were met and adhered to•Led a team of 11 motivated and competent employees by agreeing to accountabilities and standards of performance and regularly providing feedback•As a member of the Senior Leaders Group and the New Zealand management team, was involved in defining and implementing the Group strategy, values and goals•Built and maintained an effective working relationship with all the other business units to ensure accounting and finance activities were aligned with other organisational priorities and initiatives•Directed continuous improvement of procedures and systems to enhance organisational efficiency and effectiveness•Annually maintained a clean audit report from the external Auditors and earned an overall rating from the CFO of “Excellent Performer”Achievements:•Consolidated 11 companies, including 5 offshore businesses, in order to produce a combined monthly balance sheet, profit and loss and cash flow statement for reporting to Head Office•Initiated reduced reporting timeframes from 6 days to 3 days after month-end as a result of a continuous drive for efficiency gains•Reduced Finance team head count from 15 to 11 staff due to productivity improvement•Supervised, with minimal disruption to company reporting timeframes, the planning and conversion to a new general ledger system, a 3-month project•Planned and adopted the conversion to the new NZ IFRS that took effect from 1 July 2005