1. STONEWORKS
ebt&nico mexicono
sinks + faucets
c o m m e r c i a l
p r o d u c t s
MASTERCRAFT
REVERE8
ORJOWNE
CABlNETRy
February 1, 2010
To: Hiring Manager
Re: Anne Scott, Corporate Controller and Manager of Information Technology
I am writing this letter of recommendation for Anne Scott, Corporate Controller and Manager of
Information Technology at Mastercraft Cabinets, Inc, a subsidiary of the Elkay Cabinet Division. Anne
was originally hired on a contract basis as the Controller of Mastercraft and became a full time employee
in January, 2006. Anne was promoted to also manage Information Technology in 2008. Anne reported
to me as Vice President, Finance and Administration during my tenure with Elkay Cabinets.
Anne is an experienced Controller that works effectively with all functional leaders of the business.
Significant accomplishments of Anne and the finance team included:
• New product introductions. New products are required to continue to excite the market, gain
share and add features to increase unit sales prices. Anne was instrumental in leading pricing
decisions, margin analysis and integration into the ERP system.
• Margin Expansion. Anne presented to the leadership team actionable margin analysis reports
that identified SKU's, door styles and customers that required corrective action. Improved
margins were realized through implementation of surcharges, customer delivery charges and
pricing model changes. Additionally, Anne led the review of the Installation Services Business.
Through Anne's efforts, margins were improved by over $1M.
• Continuous improvement. Anne identified areas for process improvement to drive productivity in
finance and throughout the business. Partnering with Operations, Anne developed a cycle
counting program which achieved 99.7% accuracy, eliminating the need for a year end physical
of the raw material warehouse. Savings realized exceeded $250K.
• Cost Reduction. Mastercraft was impacted by the severe downturn in new construction which
began in 2008. Anne responded with innovative approaches to continue to reduce costs. Lease
commitments, cell phone agreements, office supply arrangements were all restructured to drive
savings. Anne also implemented various bolt on software tools (Global Spreadsheet Server), to
improve financial reporting and productivity of the finance team.
• Cash Flow. Anne led the credit and collections, Payables and Payroll functions of Mastercraft.
Anne continually monitored customer payment patterns to anticipate issues. Days Sales
Outstanding was improved each year under Anne's direction, improving over 15% over a 4 year
period. Anne was a catalyst in working with Operations to extend payment terms to 2% 30, net
60 days from 2% 10, net 30 days. Inventory was aggressively reduced allowing the
consolidation of the business into one facility from three in 2005. This focus drove continued
improvement in return on invested capital (ROIC).
• Leadership. Anne faced many challenging decisions as headcount was reduced to respond the
overall decrease in economic activity and revenue. Through open dialogue and frequent
updates to her team, Anne was successful in keeping her team focused and experienced very
limited turnover. Anne delegated effectively to keep her team engaged in supporting the
business. In addition, Anne led the systems conversion that would ultimately lead to the jobs in
Colorado being absorbed elsewhere in the Division.
• Strategic Planning, Budgets and Forecasting. Anne was an active participant in the Strategy
development for the Division and the Finance team. Anne developed tools to streamline the
budget and forecasting process though her expansive knowledge of Excel. Spending was
summarized to highlight where the cash was spent to communicate areas for the Leadership
team to focus. Anne generated contribution margin analysis by business segment to assess
future direction of the Company.
I would like to highly recommend Anne Scott to any future employer, as an individual of indisputable
integrity, and a very high work ethic. Strong in her financial disciplines, Anne also has the ability to work
cross functionally to add value on a broad range of issues, and is a solid team player.
I would be willing to discuss this personally should that be deemed useful.
Sincerely,
James Koleski