Organisation: Department of Immigration and Border Protection
Job Title: Finance Specialist
Word Limit: 6000 characters max
Location: Canberra
As a professionally Certified Practicing Accountant (CPA) with a Bachelor Degree in Accounting
gained from the University of Canberra, I have enjoyed working within a variety of industries that
have demanded compliance, the application of Australian, US and International accounting
standards and the delivery of excellence within clearly defined financial frameworks.
In my role as a Contract financial analyst within the corporate team for Raytheon Australia, I was
responsible for extensive management accounting and budget preparation in a complex multilevel
International accounting framework. As an ongoing requirement I scheduled and planned my work
activities to coincide with the delivery of summary financial reports and budgetary
recommendations for the monthly forecasting, annual budget, 2-year plan or 5-year plan.
When engaged in the annual budget preparation, I collated financial information from a wide
variety of Australian business units prior to conducting comparison analysis, data integrity testing,
financial modelling and budget reviews. When I first joined the team I immediately recognised
that the existing data collation and analysis templates needed reviewing and redesigning, which
ultimately resulted in more efficient and accurate financial data processing. Planning months in
advance was critical to achieving timely outcomes, as was the ability to communicate clearly and
professionally with business managers throughout the organisation. Following the analysis of
complex management accounts data, I prepared an outline annual budget for review by the
business. At this stage I communicated my report, which contained extensive summary
explanations and detailed outlines supporting my proposal, via email. I then contacted each
business manager to discuss the outline budget in detail. At this stage I would encounter
unforeseen circumstances, particularly within CAPEX, brought about by the ever-changing nature
of the business. This would immediately impact the business and necessitated an urgent
amendment of the budget. Over a period of several months with many face to face or phone
meetings I was able to present a final draft to the US head office that the business approved of.
My ability to communicate effectively and build partnerships with a broad range of stakeholder at
various levels within the business, coupled with my exceptional management accounting, analysis,
budget preparation and report writing skills enabled me to deliver highly commended outcomes
time and again.
In my current role as a consultant financial manager with Canberra Cars, a new start up business,
these skills have enabled me to cope with a series of challenging corporate governance and
financial framework requirements. More specifically I have project managed the implementation
and development of a new Enterprise Resource Planning software package called Titan and taken
a lead role in the induction, training, support, development and direction of new staff. It is
because Titan ERP software incorporates all business operations including finance, inventory,
sales, contracts, retail and servicing, that I became central to all new policy development,
operations, systems and process creation and staff training. The most complicated framework I
designed and implemented was the accounting package, where fringe benefit tax (FBT), GST and
asset management caused the most problems. After conducting my own test runs, I used my
exceptional skills in Microsoft Word and particularly Excel to create flowcharts, Excel
spreadsheets, graphs and tables to compare the data and identify where problems had occurred.
My ability to manipulate databases data using SQL queries to extract information directly into
Excel proved particularly useful. Using my subject matter expertise in Titan, coupled with my
accounting knowledge and analysis skills, I was able to iron out many problems prior to
implementation. I was also the team lead for the creation of all operational documentation,
including a comprehensive raft of policies.
Upon implementation I provided the training, support and ongoing technical guidance to the
entire company. As a result of my ability to research, analyse, document and implement the Titan
ERP into this new business and work effectively as part of a team, the majority of potential
problems were eliminated before the company began trading.
When I first joined Affinity Electrical Technologies I recognised the lack of effective communication
between five separate accounting entities within the organisation. As a result, financial
information management and timeliness of reporting suffered. My success was measured on my
ability to deliver timely and accurate financial reporting, however the data supply lines were
inconsistent. I began to address this issue by developing improved relationships with multiple
managers across various departments in each of the five entities. I offered support, guidance,
explanations, training and financial development to many managers, which rapidly developed
positive collaboration and quickly developed internal capacity. Often the financial subject matter
challenged the line manager’s understanding, therefore I used diplomacy, tact, empathy and
careful interpretation to ensure comprehensive understanding.
Soon the accuracy, timeliness and delivery of financial information into the accounting
department improved. My personal relationships broadened across the organisation and my
reputation for being a supportive and positive team player created long lasting partnerships.
I always prioritise customer service and always strive for best practice. When I joined Affinity
Electrical Technologies as finance manager I immediately recognised that the company aged debt
was unacceptably high and was causing internal cash flow problems. I took responsibility for
reducing the debt and began to contact our key accounts. Many of the customers were small to
medium sized trade companies and although they were excellent customers, their business
management was poor. There were also problems within the EFTPOS payment system that
resulted in customer payments not being honoured. I was faced with many tricky situations where
I was chasing payments, whilst also trying to demonstrate that the payment the customer thought
they had paid had not bee honoured. To execute this properly required diplomacy, tact,
professionalism, influencing skills and an ability to explain complex financial scenarios to non-
accountants. Within a short period of time I successfully reduced the aged debit, educated a
number of key accounts, developed trusting relationships with the majority of clients and
significantly improved the company cash flow.
Throughout my career I have consistently demonstrated my ability to lead or work as part of a
team, communicate effectively, add value to the organisation, and work with professionalism,
probity and integrity in many culturally diverse organisations. I know I have much more to offer.
