Terry Ward
Verified Expert in Management Consulting
Management Consulting Expert
Chicago, IL, United States
Toptal member since March 11, 2018
Terry is the founder of Fulton Advisory, an outsourced CFO & Accounting Services provider for small businesses and growth-stage startups. Terry leads a team of five at Fulton Advisory, where they act as a complete outsourced function for all finance and accounting responsibilities for their clients. They take an operational approach while keeping each founder's specific exit goals in mind in crafting the appropriate financing and reporting strategy.
Career Highlights
Education Highlights
Certification Highlights
Expertise
- Board Presentations
- Digital Marketing
- Financial Accounting
- Financial Modeling
- Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A)
- Manufacturing
- Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A)
- Valuation
Work Experience
Founder
Fulton Advisory
- Served as a CFO for a $10-million digital marketing agency focused on higher education. Led, negotiated, and executed business sales, with founders exiting at a premium valuation to a strategic buyer.
- Served as CFO and controller to company providing private debt placements to law firms. Transactional value of over $200 million in capital deployed.
- Ran company that acts as CFO for over ten small businesses and startups. The focus was on cash flow generation, financial modeling, fundraising, and building accounting infrastructure.
- Ran company that provides fully outsourced accounting services for over ten small businesses and start ups. Provided Quickbooks accounting, payroll processing, bill payments, and invoicing.
Director of Finance and Business Development
Amsted Seals & Forming
- Served as a project leader for the $10-million acquisition of Chinese entity, led a global and cross-functional team through the entire acquisition and integration process. This included negotiations and valuation, securing board approval and due diligence, and ultimately closing the deal and integrating the new business.
- Acted as the head of finance and was tasked with building infrastructure and all financial reporting and analysis deliverables.
- Led strategic business development initiatives to expand the company’s addressable market, resulting in an acquisition in China, a joint venture in India, and two long-term supply agreements.
- Prepared and presented the strategy and marketing board presentations to the CEO and senior management of the parent company.
- Developed and executed an aggressive M&A strategy from lead generation to quarterbacking deal closure and integration.
Director of Finance, Eurasia
Amsted Rail Company, Inc.
- Managed complex partner relations for a joint venture with $40 million in revenue. Developed strategies for new product introductions, potential M&A activity, and strategic partnerships in the region. Served as the key facilitator of coordination between teams in the US, Russia, and other countries.
- Identified opportunity and executed the launch of a US sourcing initiative from a Russian joint venture, leading to $8 million in revenue and $1.5 million in earnings for Russian joint venture and the US parent company savings.
- Played an integral role in the negotiation, structuring, financial modeling, and execution of a ten-year supply agreement worth over $300 million.
- Managed and led the finance and human resources departments in the Moscow office, including four direct reports and a total team of ten.
- Built the financial model, prepared an investment analysis, led the due diligence, and negotiated a contemplated $11 million acquisition in the United Kingdom.
Plant Controller
Amsted Rail Company
- Prepared the financial model, justification, and ROI analysis (NPV, IRR, and so on) for two new production lines totaling $8 million in CapEx.
- Revamped the product costing system to apply overheads more accurately—leading to more precise costing and insight into the profitability by product.
- Led a team of three analysts/accountants, owned the month-end close and all financial accounting for a manufacturing facility with over $50 million in annual revenue.
- Reduced the annual overheads by 15% through consistent coordination with the department managers and by leveraging the SAP.
- Monitored, tracked, and controlled the annual capital expenditure budget of $7 million.
- Prepared and presented the annual business plan and budget to the corporate senior management.
Education
Executive MBA Degree in General Management
IE Business School - Madrid, Spain
Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in Financial Accounting
Department of Financial Professional Regulation - Chicago, IL, USA
Master's Degree in Accounting
Illinois State University - Normal, IL, USA
Bachelor's Degree in Accounting
Illinois State University - Normal, IL, USA
Certifications
Certified Public Accountant (CPA)
ILL Dept of Professional Financial Regulation
Skills
Finance
Certified Public Accountant (CPA), Financial Modeling, Valuation Multiples, Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), Financial Accounting, Working Capital Management, CFO, Accounting, Valuation, Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A), Commercial Finance, Business Advisory, Budget Controls, Cost Reduction & Optimization (Cost-down), Cost Benchmarking, Cost-saving Structure, Management Accounting, Capital Expenditure Planning, Pricing, Valuation Analysis, Capital Structuring, Fundraising, Funding Strategy
Output Software
Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, Google Docs
Industry Expertise
Industrial & Manufacturing, Public Transportation, Transportation & Shipping, Automotive
Geographic Expertise
Russia, China, United States, Ukraine, Europe, Brazil
Data & Analysis Software
QuickBooks Online
Other
Board Presentations, Manufacturing, Interim CFO, Costing, Strategic Planning & Execution, Financing, Presentation Design, Budget Modeling, Annual Budgets, SAP, SAP FICO, Business Planning, Finance, Modeling, Slack, Teams, Cost Accounting, Digital Marketing
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