Nigel Richards Email & Phone Number

Perth, Wa, Au

Perth, Australia

Key Responsibilities:To provide finance support to the Network & Infrastructure division.•Coordination, preparation, and monitoring of operating and capital budgets for the Division.•Preparation, analysis and presentation of detailed management reports and KPI’s.•Provide financial input to business reviews undertaken by the Division.•Preparation and coding of payments to creditors, invoicing of external works and maintenance of payments on corporate credit cards.•Month end reporting including commentary•Regular meetings with the General Manager and Branch Managers to discuss expenditure compared to budget.Achievements: •Managed 3 divisions although only assigned 1 at my level,•Developed a new reporting framework that improved the quality of information available to managers for decision making and saved approximately 5 hours each month end.•Cut 1 week out of the month end reporting process through implementing efficiencies and improvements to existing processes,•Co-ordination and management of 2 staff.•Glowing verbal review from the Chief Financial Officer of the entire PTA for improvements implemented.

Perth, Australia

Key Responsibilities:To provide support to the Budgeting and Reporting team.•Creating and maintaining reports using Cognos 7 (Powerplay & Impromptu) & 8.2 Report Writer tool..•Built a YTD profit and loss report using Cognos 8.2 report writer tool that included a dashboard P&L with drill through to selected reports. This was used by the business for analysis and commentary.•Month end, forecasting & budgeting processes including adhoc reporting and analysis.•Project cashflow reporting from an accrual and cashflow basis.Achievements:•Lead a project to migrate the Business Analysis branch from Cognos 7 to Cognos 8.2. This involved documenting the branches requirements to assist IT in tailoring training sessions in the right business context to meet the needs of the branch. •Documented the month end and forecasting processes.•Process improvement: Modeled in Excel improvements to forecasting processes. This created efficiencies saving approx 10 hours every quarter. To achieve this I utilised excel functions including vlookup, sumif etc and forms (Combo boxes). Created a model in Excel analysing controllable costs by month, quarter and year to date that saved approx 1hour every month.

Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom

Key Responsibilities:To provide a management accounting service within the Management Accounts – Lending and Development Team to assist Management achieve the Company’s targets.•Understand and assist with the preparation and processing of Management Accounts Lending operations to agreed deadlines. •Assist in the analysis of complex financial information and provide explanations of business trends on key performance targets.•Process, develop and maintain business critical financial models using a variety of software (including Excel & VBA) to meet monitoring and reporting requirements. •Ensure procedures and documentation maintained in line with companywide procedures.Achievements:•Created efficiencies and re improvements to processes using excel modeling and VBA programming.•Oversee the training and development of junior staff to maintain/improve relevant skill levels within area of responsibility.•Review of key finance related processes and recommend/ implement improvements.

Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom

Key Responsibilities:To assist operational management in improving divisional performance through the provision of accurate information. The role necessitates a proactive approach to identifying opportunities for improvement.Trading & Performance Analysis:•Products/Promotions: To analyze the contribution to the business of new product launches, promotions and other sales activity. Category Performance: Shop Contribution Statements: Shop Key Results: Shop Performance: To monitor shop performance and report to management on adverse trends. Reporting: To develop reporting on an ongoing basis to ensure that we continually evolve and focus on the current issues.Investment appraisal: •Shops: Produce shop investment appraisals for new shops, refits & re-sites, in accordance with group policy. Bakery: Produce appraisals for bakery capital projects, in conjunction with the Factory Manager. Monitoring: To monitor the progress of capital projects during their life-span to completion.Business Costs / Benchmarking / Other:•Materials: To analyse material costs & variances to standard and report to management. Labour: To monitor labour costs and variances to standard / target / budget and investigating variances. Overhead: To analyse business costs, trends and benchmark to other divisions as appropriate. Costings: Regularly review product costings, liaising with producing departments on changes / missing information. Transfer Pricing: To produce transfer prices for selling product inter-divisionally. Assist Users: To assist others in the understanding of information provided and assist with data queries.Achievements:•Develop reporting on an ongoing basis to ensure that it continually evolves and focuses on the current issues. Developed a Sales report that provided the sales team with current trading and performance results of products, shops and trends that improved decision making.

Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom

Key Responsibilities:Assist Business Support Accountants (BSA's) in guiding their budget holders with both financial and operational responsibilities.•Produce, agree and maintain with budget holders annual phased budgets to ensure robust financial control of resources.•Support budget holders in the use of business software applications.•Provide support and/or cover for accountants in Finance department to ensure continuity in the provision of financial services.•Month end reporting, analysis and commentaryAchievements:•Identify on an ongoing basis and record issues requiring review of financial controls and procedures.•Contributed to new written procedures for the Finance department’s manual.•Development of new financial models to enhance existing processes and assist in decision making. Examples include: Treasury interest from placements made, Itemised billing reports for mobile phone bills and Budget model reworking.

Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom

Key Responsibilities:Month End:•Volumes: Being owner for volume downloads and issue of volume report by plant and by material type. Reports: Produce reports after each month end to meet the needs of all customers. Variances: Complete understanding of variances, formulate action plan to ensure errors corrected or issues resolved. Mix adjusted: Provide accurate $/unit at standard and adjusted standard for monthly tracking purposes.Quarterly Forecast – Wella Professional:•Volumes: Work with planners to ensure volumes are accurately signed off, Contractor Pricing: Prepare workbook for commercial to update contractor pricing forecast. Variances: Using knowledge of on-going variances and issues identified through discussion. Provide monthly variances forecast. Prepare $/unit data: Based on information provided, produce accurate $/unit data to meet all customers needs. Annual Budget – Wella Professional:•Volumes: Work with Managers –Set up Finance and Category to ensure volumes are accurately represented in Budget. Work with Managers to ensure budget accurately prepared. Prepare $/unit data: Based on information provided, produce accurate $/unit data to meet all customers needs. Costing: •Maintained costings in SAP including Draft, Bulk and Semi finished products and Finished products. Handling queries: Ensure any queries are actioned timely and accurately as they arise. Spring 2007 Gift set costing in SAP.Achievements:• Provide financial perspective to business including handling of systems issues within SAP.•Lead a system transition project – Wella Professional: Project designed to move Wella Professional SAP version P50 to P&G version F6P. Handled finance duties and responsibilities in a business lead project. Setting up Hierarchies, Cost and Profit centers in SAP. Testing in SAP to ensure system setup is correct before go-live date. Attending meetings in London and Darmstadt, Germany

Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom

Key Responsibilities:• Month end reporting, analysis and commentary• Monthly/ quarterly forecasting for the IT division. Recognition and analysis of actual V’s budget variances and reporting of results to management. • Database Management: Maintenance of accounts on Integra. Achievements:•Developed new ways to improve the forecasting process using Excel and Integra. Set up a model to improve the validation and checking process saving 14 hrs monthly. •Developed a model to list outstanding purchase orders and GRNI’s for the previous three years. The results were used to track PO/invoices in the current year and clean up the general ledger.•Developed a new monthly prepayments reconciliation model on Excel including schedule of spreading journals.

London, United Kingdom

Key Responsibilities:•Managed the group’s budgeting and forecasting processes. •Analysis of variances and trends in relation to budget, target and actual financial numbers. Reporting of results to management.Achievements: •Designed from first principal the group’s annual budget model. The Excel based model was populated with historical detail and then distributed to the financial director and business managers with instructions on the budget process and how to use the model. The feedback received was utilised to design reports and make changes to the model if required.•New budget process. This included written instructions, setting targets, statutory reporting, reallocation of Business Support Costs (overheads) and recharges below the line, development of standardised reports summarizing feedback and data management of JDE accounting application.•Designed from first principal the group’s annual Capital budget and Establishment (payroll) models. The Capital budget was used to record non-housing capital spend and the establishment model was used to account for personnel changes. Both models were excel based and designed to be user friendly.•Developed an excel based model to appraise the performance of one of the group’s major re-development schemes. The scheme was the £50 million re-development of an existing brown site demolishing 200 existing units and building 500 new units of various types including private sale and shared ownership. The model was designed for financial and non- financial personnel, it had clearly defined inputs and outputs and took into account key risk areas that may affect cash flows and the future viability of the scheme. Given the schemes size its impact on the group’s overall performance was significant.

London, United Kingdom

Key Responsibilities:•Month end reporting, analysis and commentary•Analysis of variances and trends and reporting to management.•Database Management : JD Edwards.•Weekly cash reporting & KPI analysis to management.Achievements:•Developed an ongoing bank reconciliation model that was used monthly by the accounts team and at year-end to account for any unposted items of a material nature. •Managed the Division’s budgeting and forecasting processes•Developed a model utilising Excel and Access to account for incorrectly posted VAT.

London, United Kingdom

Key Responsibilities:Maintaining the accounts of the Home Ownership division that included:•Cash flow management.•Covenant management.•Loan accounting and reconciliation.•Loans database management and reconciliation.•Loans payments.•Money market placings.

London, United Kingdom

Key Responsibilities:Reconcile the Division’s top 20 contractors for outstanding invoices and negotiate settlement with suppliers. Achievements:•Negotiation of settlement with contractors: This was achieved by verbal and written means. In one example for a large contractor I saved the group £46,000.•Total invoices settled >5000, £1,000,000. Achieved savings of £100k in negotiations.•Developed a model on Excel utilising Contractor statements and extracts from various systems to reconcile outstanding invoices into seven categories based on their status from outstanding to paid. •Worked closely with the maintenance/payments team to ensure invoices were validated correctly for payment.

London, United Kingdom

Key Responsibilities:Ensure the accurate transfer of data from SUN accounting to Investran for one fund under administration (8 in total). •Entering journals of every type description.•Reconciling Trial balances, Charts, Quarterly investor summaries and Investments.•Entering and reconciling fund bank statements•Entering and amending static data on Investran.•Entering investment activity including purchases, realisations, conversions and de-merges on a daily basis.•Developing management reports from Investran Wizard: report writing tool.•Profit and loss and balance sheet reconciliation and analysis.

Bachelor Of, Business - Accounting & Finance

Education record