Budget/Forecast&Payroll/Tax

Can you share how you drive and execute budgeting and forecasting?

1. "My approach has always been pretty collaborative. At Echelon and Ventum I worked closely with the CFO and the FP&A manager on the annual budget cycle. My role was to make sure the numbers coming out of the accounting side were clean and accurate so that the forecasting work was built on a solid foundation.

2. In practice that meant pulling together the historical actuals, identifying trends, flagging anything that looked unusual, and making sure the right expense accruals and allocations were reflected in the forward-looking numbers.

3. I also handled the variance analysis on an ongoing basis so we could track how actual results were tracking against the budget and explain the gaps to senior leadership.

4. I was always the accounting side of that process, and I think that's actually a strength because the numbers reflected what was really happening in the business

Can you provide an example of a financial forecast that you prepared that led directly to a strategic business decision? 

1. During the merger  between Echelon and Ventum. There was a lot of uncertainty around what the combined entity's cash position would look like over the following quarters given the restructuring costs, the system implementation costs, and some entities being wound down at the same time.

2. I put together a consolidated cash flow forecast across all six entities that mapped out the timing of those outflows against expected inflows. What it showed was that two specific months were going to be tight from a liquidity standpoint if we didn't manage the timing of certain payments carefully.

3. That forecast went to the CFO and it directly influenced the decision to stagger some of the implementation costs and accelerate collections on the AR side. It was the kind of thing where having the numbers laid out clearly made a real difference to how leadership planned the transition.

Can you walk me through the most complex financial forecast or budget you have ever built and why was it complex

1. "The most complex one that comes to mind is the merger integration between Echelon and Ventum. A few things were happening at the same time that made it particularly challenging.

2. We had six entities to deal with, each at a different stage. Some were being integrated, two were being wound down, and the rest were continuing to operate normally. So the forecast had to reflect very different trajectories for each entity and still roll up into a consolidated picture that made sense.

3. On top of that, the cost structure was changing in real time. Restructuring costs, Dynamics GP implementation costs, and efficiency planning were all happening simultaneously.

4. The assumptions underlying the forecast were being updated constantly as decisions got made.

5. Cash flow timing was also critical. Leadership and the lenders didn't just need the annual numbers. They needed to see the month by month cash position because there were periods where multiple large outflows were happening at once and liquidity had to be managed carefully.

6. What made it work was staying disciplined about the assumptions. Every number was tied to a specific decision or contractual obligation, not a general estimate. When things changed, I could update the relevant assumption and see the downstream impact quickly without rebuilding the whole model.

7. The forecast ended up being something leadership referred to regularly throughout the integration. It influenced decisions around payment timing, the pace of the system rollout, and how we managed collections on the AR side. That's probably my clearest example of financial work that had a direct operational impact on the business.

Do you have experience in payroll coordination?

1. Payroll processing itself wasn't a direct responsibility in my roles — we had a dedicated HR and payroll function that handled that. Where I came in was on the accounting side of it. I was responsible for making sure payroll expenses were accurately recorded, the journal entries were posted correctly, and the reconciliations tied out each period.

2. So while I wasn't running payroll end to end, I had close involvement with it from an accounting and controls perspective and I'm comfortable working alongside a payroll function or overseeing the accounting side of it."

Do you have experience with Canadian and US tax compliance?

1. I have direct hands-on experience with HST and payroll remittances. I filed HST/GST returns for some of the subsidiaries 

2. I also worked with an external accounting firm for certain filings, so I understand how to coordinate that relationship effectively — making sure the right data gets to the right people on time.