Lissa Grabowski Email & Phone Number

Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States

The CLA Consulting & Accounting Solutions Team (CAST) seamlessly manages key organizational challenges and deadlines. Whether you are an established organization or an emerging business, we can be a resource to help fill a gap, tackle critical projects, and navigate changing reporting regulations. Count on our experienced consultants to help you with large-scale projects, work flow demands, or a vital interim financial role. We’ll free your hands so you can get back to the business of doing business. Our professionals are CFOs, controllers, auditors, and managers, so we can serve in interim roles or manage projects without hand-holding. With 10 – 30 years of accounting, audit, technology, and business leadership experience, our CPAs, project management professionals, certified internal auditors, and other certified professionals work alongside our clients. CLA’s Consulting and Accounting Solutions Team (CAST) serves public, private, and nonprofit entities, providing you with the assistance you need to help strengthen financial outcomes and boost productivity.

Responsibilities included:• Supervised and informed the financial strategy of multi-faceted organization with multiple legal entities• Established and maintained banking relationships• Oversaw and ensured a GAAP compliant and successful audit• Prepared and lead committee, board, and organizational level financial presentations• Established and communicated organization wide financial policies• Hired, trained, and invested in team members• Created and lead annual budget process, including the template listing assumptions that could be fed right into the software, and setting organization-wide cash and income statement goals• Key accomplishments include: o Created the financial structure, reporting rhythm and method within a newly implemented software system, allowing annual audit reports to be run automatically without requiring significant explanation or additional scheduleso Reinstated departmental reports after 1 year absence following software installationo Decreased time to audit completion and approval from 8+ months to 5 monthso Increased reliability of financial forecasts and statements leading to Finance Committee meetings being held every other month as opposed to monthly and cash forecasts being produced monthly as opposed to semimonthlyo Created rolling cash flow tying to financial statements looking forward 12 months, integrating program revenue and expense projections and informing decisions accurately and creating accountability within the programs

Responsibilities included:• Supervised all accounting functions of multi-faceted organization with multiple legal entities and staff of two accountants• Responsible for all month end close activities including bank and balance sheet account reconciliations, accruals, amortizing prepaid expenses, maintaining debt schedule, and allocating expenses• Produced rolling twelve month cash forecast and variance analysis semimonthly• Lead and coordinated annual audit preparation, act as point of contact for questions and requests• Managed $24 million consolidated balance sheet, entered acquisitions and sales of properties, maintained fixed asset schedules & depreciation, deferred revenue & pledge tracking• Provided ad hoc reporting including grant reporting, 36 month forecast, gross profit analysis, metrics, dashboards and other leadership & board level reports• Served as point of contact for insurance claims and inquiries, assist in annual renewal• Oversaw budget and spending for two offices• Processed payroll, conducted new-hire paperwork, communicated benefits, coordinated annual benefit renewal. and tracking of PTO• Key accomplishments include:o Stabilized Accounting Department during significant transition (6 department heads in 5 years)o Served on implementation team of new organization wide cloud-based software system integrated with the general ledgero Created financial analyses leading to program reassessment and changeso Increased communication & trust between programs and the accounting function through regular meetings, explanation of statements, requirements and processo Worked with independent contractors (subcontractors on construction projects) after hours to clean up their financials, teach best practices in QuickBooks and answer questions

• Reconciling bank accounts• Managing balance sheet activity• Creating and distributing financial reports to department heads• Processing standard and adjusting journal entries• Balancing and closing books monthly• Prepare year-end accruals and adjustments• Assist auditor by preparing schedules and adjustments• Managing fixed-asset listing and depreciation• Back up to payroll processing

Board member and treasurer of The Kingdom Band, a non-profit organization that raises money for local and national causes through benefit concerts. Responsibilities include paying and maintaining independent contractor records, recording all expenses and income, and reporting to the board President.

Cape Town, South Africa

• Maintaining general ledger• Creating and processing journal entries• Processing transactions with other international SIM offices• Producing and distributing missionary support and financial statements• Balancing and closing books monthly• Updating financial statements and reporting to Director monthly• Paying all bills and interacting with companies regarding payments• Overseeing Assistant Treasurer

Cape Town, South Africa

• Processing, recording and receipting all donations• Recording and tracking payments• Maintaining and updating donor database• Answering and following up donor and missionary inquiries and needs