Edwin Petersen
Verified Expert in Finance
Finance Expert
Heerlen, Netherlands
Toptal member since October 13, 2017
Edwin has 20+ years of international finance experience across industries, including over a decade of experience as a CFO. He has managed teams and used his financial and operational skills to restructure a subsidiary of Amadeus ITG, resulting in savings of €2.5 million per annum. A recognized top performer, Edwin leverages his FP&A, modeling, and price analysis expertise to support the optimization and growth of client businesses as a freelancer.
Career Highlights
Education Highlights
Certification Highlights
Case Studies
Software Capitalization and Impairment Model
eCommerce Startup Business Plan
KPI Dashboard
Industry Expertise
- Accounting Services
- eCommerce
- Financial Modeling
- Startups
- Taxation
Other Expertise
- CFO
- eCommerce
- Financial Modeling
- Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A)
- International Commerce
- Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Work Experience
Owner and CEO
Natural Sweet
- Established an SEO strategy that resulted in high keyword conversion and strong organic traffic while implementing a KPI dashboard that leveraged Google Data Studio and Google Analytics to monitor advertising spend ROI.
- Created an accurate-and-detailed business plan and ensured that execution adhered to the proposed strategy.
- Negotiated contracts with vendors driving a reduction in costs and an increase in gross margin.
- Built the website and a system that enabled the complete automation of shipping and invoicing functions.
- Implemented a highly automated accounting system that provides legal and statutory reports.
Head of Finance
Traveltainment GmbH
- Implemented SAP FI&CO which enabled the business to reduce headcount via improved automation and introduced increased efficiency to business processes.
- Implemented a comprehensive KPI dashboard that improved management decision-making and enhanced operational execution.
- Built a financial model and supporting analysis that enabled the business to maximize customer-level profitability including a 3% gross margin increase for a significant customer.
- Created product-level income statements to ensure that resources were allocated to the products with the highest profitability, resulting in an enterprise-wide improvement in gross profit.
- Implemented multiple transfer pricing agreements that resulted in the one-time tax saving of 3.4€ million and ongoing yearly tax savings of 1€+ million.
CFO
Fort Dodge Animal Health
- Implemented an accurate FP&A process that was critical in ensuring the approval of investment plans by the executive staff.
- Implemented multiple software systems including customer relationship management and business intelligence platforms that led to improved customer engagement and an increase in revenue.
- Optimized distribution costs by proactively managing the geographic footprint of various warehouses, enabling the Austrian business to increase gross margin from 10% to 35%.
- Obtained a tender from the Dutch government that enabled the generation of 3€ million of incremental revenues.
- Implemented a comprehensive KPI dashboard that improved the quality and speed of managerial decision-making.
Finance Manager, EMEA
Fort Dodge Animal Health
- Collected 10€+ million of accounts previously categorized as bad debt from difficult debtors in foreign regions such as the Middle East and North Africa.
- Implemented a vendor managed inventory strategy helping to lower the frequency and method of transportation, resulting in a 20% reduction in distribution costs.
- Led negotiations with distributors that helped to increase the selling prices by up to 10%.
- Managed due diligence on new and existing distributors to ensure that distributors were not engaging in business with sanctioned countries or organizations.
- Implemented SOX-compliant internal controls that helped to mitigate the high-risk of corruption and fraud prevalent in the business.
Education
Master's Degree in Finance, Accounting, and Investments
University of Groningen - Groningen, The Netherlands
Bachelor's Degree in Business Economics
Hogeschool Utrecht - Utrecht, The Netherlands
Certifications
IFRS Masterclass
PricewaterhouseCoopers
Skills
Finance
Price Analysis, Revenue & Expense Projections, Budgeting, Budget Controls, Forecasting, CFO, Three-statement Modeling, Financial Modeling, Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A), Accounting, Taxation, Finance Strategy, Financial Marketing, Internal Audits, Financial Management, Credit Control, Financial Asset Impairment Models, Cash Flow
Output Software
Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, Google Sheets
Industry Expertise
Travel & Leisure, Pharmaceuticals, Logistics, Technology
Geographic Expertise
Europe
Data & Analysis Software
Microsoft Access, Hyperion
Other
International Commerce, Ad-hoc Analysis, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Internal Control, P&L Management, Startups, Business Planning, Balance Sheet Optimization, eCommerce, Cash Flow Analysis, Strategic Planning & Execution, IT, Transfer Pricing, SAP Business Intelligence (BI), SAP FICO, Microsoft Power BI, Google Analytics, Google Data Studio, Dashboards, Operations Reviews, Tax Audits, SAP
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