Robert Keough Email & Phone Number

Tasked to supply subject matter expertise in analyzing information, the design and development of new approaches, methodologies, and/or processes, and solving problems. Provides leadership of teams and efforts for the support of Business Systems in use by Accounts Payable and Procurement. Maintains adherence to controls, generally accepted accounting principles, SOX compliance and regulatory requirements to help ensure corporate data security and change control. Coordinates with internal IT resources, Internal Business Process Owners and External technical resources to troubleshoot, diagnose and resolve system errors. Plans and executes tasks through all phases of project implementation. Responsible for 1099 reporting and filing with the IRS annually, including B Notice administration and recipient support. Serves as primary contact for assigned business function/unit for all daily production problems, providing end user support.✔ Participated in upgrade from Peoplesoft 9.1 to 9.2; 8.4 to 9.1, & pre-upgrade testing and migration support.✔ Led cross functional efforts to reduce match exceptions by identifying redundancies, optimizing match rules, and implementing process improvements. Match exceptions reduced by 50%.✔ Led cross functional team of AP and Procurement personnel in an effort to optimize vendor master file post-merger. Deactivated duplicate suppliers, addresses. Obtained missing/invalid W9 data through mass mail communications. W9 data records improved from 39% to 99.76%. Reduced active supplier records by 40%.✔ Successfully led the effort to implement last minute corrective measures of the contractor payment system for a new AP Business Unit along with extensive accounting distribution changes requiring manual corrections to avoid system conflicts, resulting in zero impact upon contractor payments.

Coordinated with senior managers to provide financial management and oversight of telecom technology deployment initiatives. Provided budget support and financial analysis for IT and other enterprise business units. Project Manager for corporate Six Sigma cost reduction and efficiency optimization initiatives. Negotiated corporate voice and data contracts. ✔ Resolved billing and contract compliance disputes totaling $3.2 million over 5 years.✔ Key role in numerous projects reducing corporate telecom spending by $8 million over 5 years.✔ Identified inefficiencies in the corporate cell phone procurement process and reduced corporate spending on cell phones by over $250,000 annually.✔ Evaluated alternative telecom providers and introduced electronic billing in areas serviced by independent rural telephone companies, resulting in 20% cost savings.✔ Developed and implemented a least-cost routing solution preventing a call center budget overrun of $240,000 annually.

Planned and executed audits of IT spending. Provided financial and technical support for telecom procurement and deployment projects. Supervised daily operations and database administration of the WinBill telemanagement system. Responsible for management and coaching of the Telecom Audit Accounting Group (TAAG). ✔ Applied reverse auction process to evaluate competing bids from 7 telecom providers, resulting in $285,000 annual savings. ✔ Identified tax errors related to historical Federal Excise Tax payments resulting in $188,000 refund from the IRS.✔ Software design modifications to WinBill telemanagement application based upon existing Aquila processes and techniques resulted in numerous product releases which Aquila received free of charge. Total savings over $35,000.✔ Project Manager for procurement of WinBill telemanagement system. Improved audit tools and automated data entry facilitated staff reductions of 2 telecom auditors and 1 AP clerk.

Provided billing analysis and financial support for an $18 million telecom budget. Coordinated planning, ordering, and installation of leased line data and voice services. Performed database administrator tasks for telecom inventory management system. Queried data from PeopleSoft and telecom inventory management database for development/presentation of budget forecasts and telecom inventory reports.✔ Performed data analysis to identify billing errors and lower-cost technology alternatives. Negotiated audit refunds totaling $2.2 million.✔ Implemented accounting procedures to precisely allocate telecom expense to internal departments. Improved visibility of telecom O&M by moving expense from central IT budget to finite operating units.✔ Introduced Lifecycle Management Process promoting cross-functional cooperation between corporate Finance and IT departments. Audit efficiency improved by over 80%.

Collaborated with consulting clients to establish project scopes and needs-based goals and objectives. Coordinated efforts of a cross-functional team of technical consultants developing targeted solutions for Austin Nichols clients. ✔ Performed detailed analysis of existing telemanagement process at Aquila, Inc. focusing on best practices for telecom inventory maintenance, cost management and reporting. ✔ Designed and implemented telecom inventory management database (Microsoft Access) for enhanced reporting and cost analysis of Aquila infrastructure. ✔ Developed a centralized telemanagement process with enhanced analytical tools that was adopted by Aquila as a replacement for an unsatisfactory out-sourced solution.

Sales Team ManagerCoached a team of 15 Sales Associates. Coordinated with other departments and external business partners to resolve problems related to executive complaints. Established performance standards in support of District business objectives and coached team toward consistently meeting or exceeding sales and quality objectives.Training Delivery ManagerPlanned and executed sales, service and systems training for new AT&T employees and managers. Developed training programs and materials for new AT&T local, long distance and data products and services.Sales AssociateProvided billing support, customer sales, and service for residential and business long distance accounts. Trained and mentored new sales associates.✔ Promoted to Sales Team Manager.

10th Cavalry; 1st Infantry DivisionMilitary leave from AT&T for active duty service.✔ Desert Storm Veteran✔ Decorated for valor under enemy fire.

Mba, Business

Bsc, Business