
Liana is available for hire
Hire LianaLiana Bertsch
Verified Expert in Finance
Finance Expert
Location
Brooklyn, United States
Toptal Member Since
October 3, 2022
Liana is a CFO for growth companies across a diverse range of industries, including eCommerce, SaaS, marketing agencies, entertainment, and professional services. She has over 15 years of experience providing financial services to clients varying in size from startups to medium-sized. Liana offers a combination of expertise in finance, accounting, management, business leadership, and operations to companies with ambitions to grow their revenues and profitability.
Interim Finance DirectorFractional CFOInterim CFOStartup ConsultingVirtual CFOInterim Financial ControllerFinancial ReportingFinancial ModelingFinancial Planning & Analysis (FP&A)Comparable Company AnalysisRevenue & Expense ProjectionsMergers & Acquisitions (M&A)ValuationXero AccountingFundraising Consultant
Career Highlights
Financial Advisor
LANA Tequila
Associate Director | Fractional CFO and Controller
Black Ink Business Services
CFO
Vision Integrity Engineering
Education Highlights
Master's Degree (MBA)
University of Calgary
Master’s Degree (Engineer)
Yerevan State Institute of Economy
Certification Highlights
CPA
CPA Canada
CFA
CFA institute
Case Studies
Expertise
Work Experience
Financial Advisor
2023 - PRESENT
LANA Tequila
- Developed a complete set of financial statements, including financial modeling and valuation.
- Sourced potential investors and acted as a key intermediary.
- Designed and implemented companywide financial reporting and control systems.
Focus areas: Financial Modeling, Revenue & Expense Projections, Five-year Projections, Cash Flow Analysis, Business Models, Business Planning
Associate Director | Fractional CFO and Controller
2020 - PRESENT
Black Ink Business Services
- Led and inspired a cross-functional team of seven providing fractional CFO and controller services to clients of varying sizes across diverse industries, including eCommerce, SaaS, marketing agencies, entertainment, and professional services.
- Gained financial and accounting experience by developing effective growth and management strategies with business owners and C-suite executives. Prepared complete sets of financial statements and scenario analyses and identified improvement areas.
- Oversaw multiple due diligences related to the successful raising of $5 million in Series A funding, gaining experience in fundraising.
- Acquired M&A experience by successfully assisting a client purchased for $500M, handling pushdown accounting (ASC 805-50-25-4 and 805-50-25-6), debt issuance costs, and financing fees accounting treatment (ASU 2015-03).
Focus areas: Startups, Fractional CFO, Controller, Financial Reporting, Managerial Finance, Financial Analysis, CFO, Revenue Recognition, Xero Accounting, Cash Flow Analysis, Business Models, Business Planning
CFO
2012 - 2022
Vision Integrity Engineering
- Created and applied forecasting models to build budgets and facilitate growth.
- Led negotiations to develop partnerships with other companies and coordinate joint projects.
- Contributed to corporate growth by assisting with business development and optimizing profit margins, which led to an 800% increase in revenue. This included supporting the expansion of the organization from 3 to 78 employees.
- Developed and implemented an M&A plan to acquire two companies, leading to their successful merger.
- Played a key role in managing external relationships by acting as the point person on all external connections with audit, tax, legal, bankers, investors, and union.
Focus areas: Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A), Finance, Financial Analysis, Financial Reporting, Valuation, M&A Due Diligence (Financial), Business Risk Assessment, Capital Structure Optimization, Quality Control (QC), Safety, CFO, Revenue Recognition, Internal Control, Interim Financial Controller, Cash Flow Analysis, Business Models, Business Planning
Education
2013 - 2015
Master's Degree (MBA) in Finance
University of Calgary - Calgary, Alberta, Canada
2000 - 2005
Master’s Degree (Engineer) in Economist Information Systems
Yerevan State Institute of Economy - Armenia
Certifications
SEPTEMBER 2022 - PRESENT
CPA
CPA Canada
SEPTEMBER 2019 - PRESENT
CFA
CFA institute