Curtis H Short
Verified Expert in Management Consulting
Management Consulting Expert
Franklin, TN, United States
Toptal member since June 5, 2023
Curt has 30+ years of experience spanning large, mid-size, and small companies—private equity and public, for-profit, and not-for-profit (NFP)—specializing in process improvement. He has successfully led three sell-side M&A transactions and negotiated and implemented a 3-party transitional services agreement. Curt is a CPA with an MBA who loves learning new businesses and looks forward to driving client business success, leveraging his extensive background.
Career Highlights
Education Highlights
Certification Highlights
Case Studies
Dashboard and KPI Metrics
Divestitures Negotiation
Strategic Offsites
Expertise
- Accounting
- Budgeting
- Cost Reduction & Optimization (Cost-down)
- Dashboard Design
- Financial Forecasting
- Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A)
- Financial Presentations
- Process Redesign
Work Experience
Interim CFO
Collegiate Enterprise Solutions
- Corrected a wrecked set of financial books, completing an external audit of two fiscal years within three months—after taking over from the previous CFO, who had no NFP or higher education experience and had not closed the books for nine months.
- Completed a 5-year strategic financial analysis demonstrating the school's financial viability over the period.
- Simplified and streamlined the chart of accounts focusing on management required to make decisions.
CFO | COO
Christian Theological Seminary
- Launched an all-new financial system with an updated chart of accounts.
- Worked with investment advisors to manage a $120+ million endowment.
- Led negotiations with Butler University to divest the campus in a sale and leaseback.
- Established an all-new accounting system and chart of accounts.
- Grew long-term investments by over 30% during my tenure.
VP of Corporate Strategy
Billerud
- Led a 5-year strategic plan used to exit bankruptcy proceedings.
- Directed the divestiture of two paper mills to satisfy antitrust concerns.
- Negotiated and implemented a 3-party transitional services agreement.
- Drove the response to the DOJ antitrust investigation of a proposed merger.
Chief Accounting Officer
Billerud
- Reduced accounting time to close books monthly from 16 days to 5.
- Drove a 1-year inventory reduction of $120 million.
- Improved financial forecast accuracy by 60% by focusing on physical drivers of financial results.
CFO
Raybestos Powertrain
- Streamlined and reduced close timing from over three weeks to only six days.
- Negotiated bank loan terms to provide sufficient liquidity for operations.
- Handled the sell-side M&A to divest Raytech operating companies.
- Mediated the closing balance sheet negotiations with the buyers.
Director of Material Costs
Ford Motor Company
- Oversaw budgeting, forecasting, and analyzing $35 billion worth of annual spend.
- Drove a $1 billion cost reduction through re-engineering and supplier negotiation.
- Reduced forecast error to under 0.2% by completely revamping the forecasting methodology and organizing strategy workshops.
- Earned multiple Ford Leadership Awards signifying respect from peers and subordinates.
Education
Master's Degree in Business Administration (MBA)
Purdue University - West Lafayette, Indiana, USA
Bachelor's Degree in Accounting
Albright College - Reading, Pennsylvania, USA
Certifications
Certified Public Accountant (CPA)
Tennessee State Board of Accountancy
Six Sigma Green Belt
CSSC
Skills
Finance
Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), Accounting, Budgeting, Cost Reduction & Optimization (Cost-down), Forecasting, Financial Modeling, Controller, Financial Reporting, Revenue & Expense Projections, CFO, Project Finance, Three-statement Modeling, Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Internal Financial Reporting, Cash Management, Cash Flow Modeling, Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A), Working Capital Management, CPA, Private Equity, Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC), M&A (Sell-side), Due Diligence, M&A Modeling, Valuation
Data & Analysis Software
Financial Data, QuickBooks Online, Intuit QuickBooks
Industry Expertise
Higher Education, Nonprofits, Paper & Packaging, Automotive
Output Software
Prezi, Microsoft Excel
Other
Financial Presentations, Financial Closing, NPV Calculation, Strategy Planning, Financial Forecasting, Dashboards, Process Redesign, Financial Reporting Dashboards, Business Analysis, Business Process Refinement, Performance Improvement, Monthly Close Process, US GAAP, Reporting, Excel Expert, Data Visualization, Interim CFO, Business Planning, Budget Modeling, Chart of Accounts, Bookkeeping, Business Operations, Manufacturing, Fractional CFO, P&L Analysis, Board Presentations, Financial Analysis, Grant Accounting, Divestitures, Process Design, Dashboard Design, Board Decks, PowerPoint Design, Meetings, Migration, Automation, Business Processes, Business Process Flow (BPF), Business Process Analysis, Business Transformation, Project Management, Operations, COO, Vendor Management, Business Services, Spinoffs, Microsoft, SAP, Strategy, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), M&A Valuation (DCF), Finance, Investments, Audits, Business Process Modeling, Business Process Optimization, Business Process Flow Diagrams, Business Process Re-engineering, Microsoft 365
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