Assistant Chief Financial Officer
2020 - PRESENTHickman's Family Farms- Hired to replace the retiring CFO in mid-2020, responsible for all accounting, financial reporting, and budgeting for a $300-million enterprise.
- Modernized the data capturing process for several key business practices.
- Implemented Power BI business intelligence tools, to aid in effective business and financial analysis.
- Advised executive leadership team on best practices, and led the implementation of several immediately upon starting work.
Focus areas: Management, Audits, Banking & Finance, Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A), Budgeting, Accounting, Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A)Corporate Controller
2019 - 2020Trax Technologies, Inc.- Led accounting for a recently merged set of SaaS businesses, providing freight/parcel audit and bill payment services for customers via a proprietary software platform.
- Improved a problematic implementation of the NetSuite ERP system.
- Developed data analysis tools in Microsoft Power BI to aid in the effective management of both operations and finance functions.
Focus areas: Financial Modeling, Budgeting, Accounting, Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A)General Manager, Osborne Seed Business Unit
2017 - 2019Gowan Seed Company- Led a business unit comprised of two locations and 22 employees and grew the unit's sales by 20%.
- Revamped the marketing program, including the website and catalog design, social media, trade shows, and pricing.
- Integrated two newly acquired business units into Gowan Seed, including two software implementations required to migrate from legacy packages to the enterprise resource planning (ERP) system of the acquiring company.
- Grew the same-period sales by 40% while increasing marketing spending by only 10%.
- Optimized the purchasing and repackaging practices driving improved efficiency that translated into large improvements in fulfillment speed and customer satisfaction. Cut the busy-season fulfillment time from five days to three days with continued program improvements expected to allow for same-day shipping in the 2019 busy season.
- Led the deal architecture and modeling duties from the prior role after assuming the role of general manager.
Focus areas: Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A), Marketing, General ManagementMember of the Board of Directors
2015 - 2018Acequia Biotechnology- Served as a member of the initial board of directors of a biotech startup, focused on finance and business matters.
- Monitored the project through the first few years, holding scientists accountable and consistently leading the business toward practical outcomes rather than academically interesting ones.
- Conducted an analysis relating to scale-up, contributing practical business expertise to the management that lacked such expertise.
Focus areas: Board of DirectorsHead of Corporate Development
2016 - 2017Gowan Seed Company- Served as the primary deal architect and negotiator for three mid-market acquisitions aimed at improving the company's distribution footprint to new geographies.
- Built models for each deal, determining appropriate valuation and deal structuring.
- Presented each deal to the board of directors, gaining approval to make each acquisition with a 100% approval rate.
- Developed detailed term sheets for each deal to be updated throughout the negotiation, which served as the framework for the ultimate purchase agreement. Saved thousands of dollars in outside legal fees for each deal through this effort.
- Led the integration of the newly-acquired business units into the acquiring company.
Focus areas: Post-merger Integration, Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A)Division CFO
2013 - 2016Gowan Company- Managed all finance and accounting activity for 13 companies across the US and Canada, which involved a total of $400 million in sales.
- Led a team of 14 professionals, ensuring consistent excellent performance, and strong incremental growth by younger team members.
- Managed a complex multinational banking transition, and continued to manage ongoing relationships with banks, insurance companies, and multiple outside CPA firms.
- Executed a complex process of converting the primary holding company from a C Corporation to an S Corporation.
- Automated multiple finance processes, including Accounts Payable, Bank Reconciliations, and electronic vendor payments (ACH/EFT).
- Led estate planning efforts, in conjunction with outside attorneys, that shielded hundreds of millions of dollars worth of assets from estate tax.
Focus areas: Taxation, Estate Planning, Management Accounting, Management, Audits, Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), AccountingController
2012 - 2013Chemring Ordnance- Established an effective control and review regime to an accounting function which had previously lacked either.
- Cleaned up the balance sheet over several months, conducting research of questionable items despite weak historical records. Ensured that all items in the balance sheet existed, and could be substantiated in time for the year-end audit.
- Led the business unit through multiple audit visits in the absence of a permanent chief financial officer, beginning immediately after starting work. Pushed for, and achieved, substantial improvements in financial operation quality in a short period of time in conjunction with those audit findings. Took the business unit’s accounting performance from the “worst to first” over a six-month period.
- Repaired a substantial fixed assets program which was not properly maintained for nearly a year, and was in complete disarray. Established and maintained new processes to ensure successful fixed asset management on a go-forward basis.
- Served as a finance lead on a major implementation of Microsoft Dynamics GP. Participated in the adoption of GP’s Manufacturing Orders module which allowed labor, materials, and overhead to be costed accurately at a product/lot level. This replaced a much less effective manual back-flushing process.
Focus areas: Budgeting, AccountingDivision Controller
2007 - 2012Xerox- Served as a controller for the company’s largest client-serving business unit, and nine smaller ones which combined to represent 64% of the business unit’s revenue, totaling $110 million.
- Conducted and presented an unsolicited analysis of the workforce mix (employees and contractors) in a billable hours environment, recommending the elimination of higher-cost contractors with full-time employees. This recommendation was eventually adopted and resulted in cost savings of approximately $900,000 per year.
- Developed training and led the user-level implementation of JD Edwards job cost functionality, and time accounting module. The job cost implementation encompassed 150 users, and the time-accounting implementation included more than 500 users.
- Led the management of close processes, time accounting, accounts payable, capitalized software program, fixed assets, accrued liabilities, utilization reporting, all income statement accounts, variance analysis, and review and approval of all journal entries at the company level.
Focus areas: Budgeting, Capital Budgeting, Financial Reporting, AccountingFinancial Analyst
2005 - 2007DRS Technologies- Served in an entry-level finance and accounting position for the manufacturer of power and control products used primarily in US Navy ships.
- Supported senior management by providing accurate and timely analysis and reporting.
- Assisted in the formulation of a new protocol designed to efficiently allocate research and development funds, and to subsequently quantify the success of these projects.
- Contributed to a variety of financial and operational decision-making processes, including mergers & acquisitions, cost accounting, and contract analyses.
Focus areas: Capital Budgeting, Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A)
Finance Expert in Cleveland, OH, United States
Member since June 22, 2017
Ted has led the finance and operational functions of companies with sales ranging from $2 million to $20 billion, including Xerox and the Gowan Company. He has recently specialized in modeling, negotiation, and deal architecture for mid-market M&A transactions and joined Toptal to help a broad array of clients to create value through acquisitions. Ted is also a licensed CPA and holds an MBA.
Ted is now available for hire
Career Highlights
- Gowan Seed Company
- Gowan Company
Education
- Cleveland State University
- Cleveland State University
Select Certifications
- Arizona State Board of Accountancy
Industry Expertise
- Accounting Services
- Advertising & Marketing
- Banking
- Financial Modeling
- Taxation
Other Expertise
- CFO
- Controllership
- Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A)
- M&A (Buy-side)
- Post-merger Integration
- Term Sheet Negotiations
Employment
Other Experience
- Making Your Software Work For You: an ERP Implementation Tutorial (Publication)In the life of almost any growing enterprise, there comes a point in time when the existing systems and processes become insufficient. For most enterprises at this key inflection point, implementing enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, which integrates all areas of the business, can help to overcome this issue. This article provides enterprise leaders with the benefits and risks of ERP, as well as a detailed step-by-step implementation guide.
Education
- Master of Business Administration (MBA) Degree in Operations Management2010 - 2012Cleveland State University - Cleveland, OH, USA
- Bachelor's Degree in Finance and Accounting2002 - 2005Cleveland State University - Cleveland, OH, USA
Certifications
- Certified Public Accountant (CPA)JULY 2014 - JULY 2021Arizona State Board of Accountancy
