Brett Knisely Email & Phone Number

Lapeer, Mi

A destination restaurant & bar for almost 80 years, Lake Inn offers beautiful panoramic views of Lake Nepessing and outdoor dining on our spacious deck just a stones’ throw away from the water’s edge. Great food, a cozy “up north-like” atmosphere, and an unmatched beer selection with 40 taps featuring your favorite Michigan craft brews. This place is off the hook!!

Findlay, Oh

- Responsible for the development and maintenance of dishwasher bills of material at standard cost.- Performed financial analysis for capital spending projects and “make vs. buy” decisions in accordance with the company’s global business investment policy.- Assisted in development of the 2013 operating plan by determining the assortment of production SKUs, updating of standard product costs, and performing total cost of production and mix impact calculations.- Provided standard cost variance explanations for material and labor costs during month-end closing cycles.

Findlay, Ohio

Finance Leadership Development Program: 3rd RotationFindlay Manufacturing Division - Dishwashers- Created a financial reporting system to track material cost savings achieved through product design changes and manufacturing process efficiencies.- Reporting provides an unprecedented level of detail with the ability to drill down to model and project-specific results and allows for easier comparison between actual and forecasted project savings. - Leveraged outputs from reporting system to drive accountability among engineering project leaders and better decision-making by senior plant leadership, resulting in a $1.6M (50.4%) increase in material cost savings vs. prior year in an environment of declining production volume.- Achieved an unprecedented level of forecasting accuracy with respect to monthly impacts of engineering cost savings projects through a forecasting process redesign. - Assisted the dishwasher business team (cross-functional team of finance, marketing, and engineering) with standard product costing and project productivity analysis.

Benton Harbor, Michigan Area

Finance Leadership Development Program: 2nd RotationLicensing & New Business Development- Licensing P&L management including reporting, forecasting, and variance analysis of royalty revenues, expenses, and operating profits across brands, product lines, and licensees. - Partnered with Accounting to revamp the Licensing revenue recognition process in order to comply with U.S. GAAP through the systematic use of accruals and reversing journal entries.- Established a more robust licensee pre-qualification and credit review process in order to mitigate business risk while enhancing brand value through licensing opportunities.- Responsible for SG&A cost center reporting and variance analysis for the Licensing and NBD business units. - Supported Licensing and NBD marketing managers in the development of annual revenue and expense operating plans and loaded finalized plans into SAP.

Benton Harbor, Michigan Area

Finance Leadership Development Program: 1st RotationNorth American Region (NAR) Performance Management- Ownership of weekly forecast process, including consolidation, analysis, and report-out of the North American P&L to the VP of U.S. Operations.- Assisted with preparation of monthly financial reporting packages for senior management during month-end closing cycles.- Transformation initiative: led the embedment of forecasting accuracy as a key objective of the North American finance organization through the development of reporting and processes, ultimately to help drive improved free cash flow.

Benton Harbor, Michigan Area

Benefits Analytics- Developed a presentation for senior HR leaders demonstrating the need for health and wellness initiatives investment at Whirlpool.- Designed a financial model demonstrating the potential return on investment of a health and wellness program for Whirlpool's employee population. - Constructed a financial model to perform a breakeven analysis of alternative health insurance plans. - Developed month-end financial reporting of high cost claims to establish confidence in accurate data used for improved decision making.

Benton Harbor, Michigan Area

Supply Chain Finance- Acquired working knowledge of SAP Enterprise Resource Planning system. - Collaborated with distribution facility management to increase accuracy of fixed asset inventory project. - Identified cost savings opportunities in fixed plant assets to be redeployed in new locations. - Identified $485,000 of fixed plant asset write-off value requiring depreciation adjustments. - Created month-end financial reporting for damaged inventory sales, providing greater clarity regarding the impact of sales on financial statements.

Bachelor Of Arts, Finance, International Business

Activities and Societies: Honors College Member, Phi Chi Theta Coed Professional Business Fraternity, Broad China Business Society

Exchange Student, Mandarin Chinese, Chinese Language & Culture

Study Abroad, Finance & Accounting