Juan Liu
Verified Expert in Management Consulting
Management Consulting Expert
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Toptal member since June 16, 2022
Juan is a trusted financial advisor and a hands-on people coach focused on achieving financial excellence and business growth. For over 15 years, she’s supported the business revival of the million-dollar EBIT improvement and business upscaling. Juan's ability to effectively lead economic transformation results from her lean six sigma background. Her freelancing empowers Juan to help a diversity of businesses to grow effectively and sustainably.
Career Highlights
Certification Highlights
Case Studies
Six Sigma Purchase Cost-saving Project
Getting Fit Financial Transformation
Lean Inventory Control Improvement
Expertise
- Change Management
- Lean Certified
- Microsoft Dynamics AX
- SAP
- Six Sigma
- Strategic Planning & Execution
- Upscaling
Work Experience
Fractional CFO
Taze Consulting
- Spearheaded CFO-as-a-Service, optimizing company's capital structure, strengthening strategic planning capability, and ensuring financial compliance with robust control measures in place.
- Conducted assessment, planning, and strategic execution for diverse initiatives, including ERP implementation, tax accounting, and IFRS compliance.
- Acted as a change management coach, optimizing team dynamics, high-potential coaching, or coaching teams through organizational changes for a sustainable workplace.
Vice President, Global Finance
Arch and Hook
- Directed the global finance department and led the scaling-up process of the business and its global presence to the next phase.
- Scaled up the global financial structure, including business finance, accounting, consolidation, cash forecast, and finance policies by collaborating with sales, operations, and legal departments in the new business development.
- Initiated, set up, and monitored financial processes, to increase sales and operational performance.
- Expanded the finance team successfully to support the increasing demand of the growing business and coached individual team members to achieve the next level in their careers.
- Supported shareholders of the company by providing solicited and unsolicited advice and insights.
Finance Manager
SC Johnson
- Led the strategic financial planning and project controls for a company of 300 people. Owned the local FP&A function and supervised the performance and output of the finance team. Acted as a CFO of the local branch and management team members.
- Improved the accuracy of budgets and forecasts from above 10% deviation to below 1% deviation. Supervised plant financial performance with critical insights into risks and opportunities.
- Managed the finance department across the implementation of lean manufacturing principles in financial loss deployment, site prioritization as well as cost-saving projects review.
- Ensured best-in-class internal controls, with continuous improvement in compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley on the site.
Business Controller
ASSA ABLOY Entrance Systems
- Facilitated continuous improvement in operational excellence, risk management, and financial compliances. Provided finance advisory to operational management with full P&L responsibility. CFO to the local branch and management of team members.
- Led the multi-functional team successfully to ensure the business compliance of Microsoft Dynamics AX implementation before the launching.
- Improved the top line by leaning the sales pricing model with higher predictability and timely updates.
- Managed the stakeholdership in a highly complex matrix organization with an average tenure of 10-20 years.
- Implemented a series of cost control programs to reduce waste. As a result, EBIT improved from €3 million to over €2 million in three years.
Regional Manufacturing Accountant and Cost Controller
Hexion
- Improved forecasting accuracy to 1% deviation and led budgeting process for both cost and CAPEX projects which achieved cost savings by 10%.
- Led two Six Sigma projects with 500,000 USD savings for each project realized and certified as a Six Sigma Green Belt.
- Directed as a lean finance coach to Hexion Inc., improved the KPI structure and financial reporting while providing financial education to the operational leaders.
- Trained local plant controllers during the roll-out of SAP systems to standardize finance budgeting and reporting successfully.
- Performed an internal audit as a guest auditor to several business locations effectively.
Management Reporting Analyst
DSM Food Specialities
- Owned a portion of the management reporting process including analysis, reconciliations, and consolidations for business groups and business units.
- Delivered timely various management analyses with insights into periodic P&L, balance sheet, and cash flow.
- Improved the cost control for the sales organization through re-engineered reporting.
Assistant Project Controller (Graduation Project)
Heerema Marine Contractors
- Facilitated the project control department to consolidate monthly finance reports from all project controllers.
- Delivered a risk assessment of the Angola Investment project, for which the graduation project was rated at 8.0 out of 10.0.
- Supported various process improvement projects in contract tendering and tax departments by updating their process manuals.
Marketing Assistant
Synventive Molding Solutions
- Consolidated and built monthly sales reporting for regional sales management.
- Conducted independent marketing research on automotive and plastic in developing markets.
- Designed and built the lost order report to better understand market development and competitor trends.
Education
MSc of Financial Management in Financial Management
TIAS School for Business and Society - Utrecht, The Netherlands
Bachelor of Economics in Business Economics
InHolland University of Applied Science - Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Certifications
CSCA (Certified in Strategy and Competitive Analysis)
Institute of Management Accountants (IMA)
ESG Investing
CFA Society Netherlands
Certified Management Accountant (CMA)
Institute of Management Accountants (IMA)
Leading with Finance
Harvard Business School/HBX
Lean Coach
Lean Management Instituut
Lean Management Green Belt
Lean Management Institute
Six Sigma
Hexion
Skills
Finance
Financial Management, Valuation, Accounting, Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), Project Accounting, Cash Management, Market Research, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Investing, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Reporting, Taxation, Financial Reporting, Corporate Finance, Budgeting, External Financial Reporting
Output Software
Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Dynamics
Geographic Expertise
EMEA
Industry Expertise
Lean Six Sigma
Other
SAP, Investment Cases, Strategic Planning & Execution, Change Management, Lean Certified, Six Sigma, Six Sigma Processes, Project Management, Project Budget Management, Project Rescue, Cash Flow Management, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), FPA, Control & Cost Analysis, Management Reporting, Project Controls, Business, Financial Controls & Processes, Transformational Leadership, B2B, B2B Partnerships, Organizational Change Management (OCM), Business Processes, Business Process Analysis, Operating Models, Business Process Modeling, Program Management, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Microsoft Dynamics AX, Accounting Software, People Management, Supply Chain Management (SCM), Risk Management, Upscaling, Mentorship & Coaching, MacOS, Microsoft Power BI, Management, Shared Service Centers, Compliance, Coaching, Sales Analysis, Lean Manufacturing, Startups, Scaling, New Business Development, Lean Project Management, Lean, Customer Success, Sales Strategy, Customer Experience, Business Transformation, Digital Marketing Strategy, Renewables, Business to Business (B2B), Market Research & Analysis, System Integration, Microsoft Dynamics Great Plains (GP) ERP, Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Organizational Management, Business Law, Sales, Audits, IT Audits, Marketing Research & Analysis, Business Evaluation, Financing, Pricing Models, Stakeholder Management, Management Consulting, Leadership, Stakeholder Engagement, Cost Accounting, Performance Management, Stakeholder Analysis, SAP Business Intelligence (BI), Business Strategy, Strategy, Reporting, IFRS Consolidation, US GAAP, Investments, Internal Control, Strategic Planning, Financial Analysis
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