Edwin Petersen

Heerlen, Netherlands

Member since October 5, 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.

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Career Highlights

Head of Finance
Traveltainment GmbH
CFO
Fort Dodge Animal Health
Finance Manager, EMEA
Fort Dodge Animal Health

Education

Master's degree
University of Groningen
Bachelor's degree
Hogeschool Utrecht

Select Certifications

IFRS Masterclass
PricewaterhouseCoopers

Case studies

Software Capitalization and Impairment Model
- Financial Modeling
- Financial Asset Impairment Models
- Accounting
eCommerce Startup Business Plan
- Business Planning
- Startups
- eCommerce
- Financial Modeling
- Cash Flow
KPI Dashboard
- Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
- Dashboards
- Operations Reviews
- Business Planning

Industry Expertise

eCommerce
Pharmaceuticals
Travel & Leisure

Other Expertise

CFO
Financial Modeling
Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A)
International Commerce
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Employment

Owner and CEO
2016 - PRESENT
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.
Focus areas: Finance Strategy, Financial Marketing, Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A)
Head of Finance
2010 - 2015
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.
Focus areas: CFO, Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), Taxes, Forecasting, Budgeting
CFO
2005 - 2010
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.
Focus areas: Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), CFO, Taxes, Internal Audits
Finance Manager, EMEA
1999 - 2005
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.
Focus areas: Financial Management, Credit Control, Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), Accounting, Strategic Finance Management, Business Plan Development, Budgeting

Other Experience

Adapting for Success – A Guide to Change Management (Publication)
https://www.toptal.com/finance/interim-cfos/change-management
With today’s rapid pace of technological progress, organizational change is perhaps more necessary than it ever has been. But change is hard. Countless studies show that more often than not, corporations fail to implement change successfully, losing money, time, and employee morale in the process. Based on his 20+ years of international finance experience across a range of industries, and over a decade of experience as a CFO, Toptal Finance Expert Edwin Petersen outlines his thoughts on why change management often fails and how to get it right.

Education

Master's degree in Finance, Accounting, and Investments
1994 - 1996
University of Groningen - Groningen, The Netherlands
Bachelor's degree in Business Economics
1990 - 1994
Hogeschool Utrecht - Utrecht, The Netherlands

Certifications

IFRS Masterclass
JUNE 2010 - PRESENT
PricewaterhouseCoopers