Stephen is available for hire
Hire StephenStephen Mwithi
Verified Expert in Finance
Finance Expert
Location
Nairobi, Nairobi County, Kenya
Toptal Member Since
June 5, 2020
Steve is a finance expert and CPA with an MBA in finance from the University of Nairobi. After a 12-year stint with a Big Four accounting firm (PwC), Steve ventured out as a finance director and most recently has served as a controller of a subsidiary of a large multinational corporation in the alcohol industry. Steve enjoys freelancing because it provides opportunities to meet so many fascinating clients and to work on projects where he can leverage his finance skills to maximize value.
Career Highlights
Financial Controller
East African Breweries Ltd (Diageo plc Subsidiary)
Finance & IT Director
Haco Tiger Brands Ltd
Assurance Manager
PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers)
Education Highlights
Master of Business Administration (MBA) Degree
University of Nairobi
Bachelor of Commerce Degree
University of Nairobi
Certification Highlights
CPA (Certified Public Accountant)
Kenya Accountants and Secretaries National Examination Board
Case Studies
Expertise
Work Experience
Financial Controller
2016 - 2020
East African Breweries Ltd (Diageo plc Subsidiary)
- Oversaw a US$150-million capital expenditure project from the justification of the project, forecasting, modeling, execution, and post-implementation reviews.
- Engineered change management on travel and entertainment policy that led to US$ 1.5-million savings in one year.
- Led a successful transition of finance controllers' team to a shared services team out of the country that led to a US$2-million savings in one year.
Focus areas: Finance Shared Services Management, Debtor & Creditor Management, Business Performance Management (BPM), Annual Budgets, Board Reporting, Board of Directors, Income Tax, Audits, Financial Reporting, Internal Control
Finance & IT Director
2014 - 2016
Haco Tiger Brands Ltd
- Turned around a cash-strapped company from a negative $2-million to a cash positive company of $1-million within six months.
- Convinced the directors to curl a number of non-performing products that led to an increase in the gross margin and therefore a net margin of 500 basis points.
- Revolutionized internal controls and completely changed and tightened them as there was a fraud just before he joined of US$10 million.
Focus areas: Business Performance Management (BPM), External Financial Reporting, External Audits, CFO, Board Reporting, Board of Directors
Financial Controller
2010 - 2013
KK Group of Companies
- Instituted a robust improvement in internal control procedures.
- Engineered a radical transformation of reporting of the monthly performance review document.
- Introduced monthly branch performance reviews with the branch managers.
Focus areas: Management, Audits, Cash Management, Controllership
Assurance Manager
1999 - 2010
PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers)
- Led a team of professionals from various countries in the transaction advice of the acquisition of Zain by Airtel (telecom companies) in the Central Africa region. The deal was for US$ 8.97-billion for 15 African countries.
- Led an audit team for a large EU-funded project in Malawi.
- Won employee of the year in 2003 PwC Lagos due to his exemplary work in helping others achieve excellence in audit and financial reporting.
- Earned consistent promotions over the years at PwC and had double promotion due to exemplary performance where he skipped a grade.
Focus areas: Deferred Tax, Due Diligence Consultant, External Audits
Education
2010 - 2012
Master of Business Administration (MBA) Degree in Finance
University of Nairobi - Nairobi, Kenya
1994 - 1998
Bachelor of Commerce Degree in Accounting
University of Nairobi - Nairobi, Kenya
Certifications
JUNE 1998 - PRESENT
CPA (Certified Public Accountant)
Kenya Accountants and Secretaries National Examination Board
Collaboration That Works
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