1. Curriculum Vitae
Name: Caraleigh Carter
E-mail: caraleighcarter16@gmail.com
Mobile: 072 920 1536
Visa/ Work Permit: Full Working Rights UK and South Africa
Professional Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA)
Memberships: ACMA CGMA
Qualifications: University of Pretoria (South Africa)
B.Com (Hons) Financial Management
Sutherland High School (South Africa)
Employment History:
Mar 2015 – Present: FoodCorp Baking Division (South Africa)
Financial Controller
At present I am the financial controller for the baking division of Foodcorp. The baking division
comprises 7 bakeries in the Northern Gauteng region as well as the Corporate Office based in
Pretoria West.
Key Responsibilities
Reporting
Responsible for all aspects of month end reporting including Flash, Cashflow and completion of
monthly reporting packs for Head Office and holding company (RCL) and all associated schedules.
Reporting to departmental managers and bakery managers to track actual spend vs budget/forecast.
Any other ad hoc reporting as requested by the financial manager or financial analyst (e.g. lease
interest calculations, insurance premium splits)
Analysis and Improvement of Processes
Analysing and reporting to the financial manager regarding various processes within the business (eg
understanding the rebates process)
Improvement or automation of month end schedules in order to create efficiencies to allow for faster
reporting times.
Analysis and understanding of processes at Bakery level in order to streamline reporting and ensure
accuracy of information (e.g. ensuring all intercompany balances are signed off by relevant managers
and agreed)
Capex
Report on all aspects of capex expenditure to various stakeholders, including the executive
engineering manager. This includes tracking all WIP, analysing budget vs actual and forecast
2. expenditure. Tracking of capex approvals and ensuring good relationships are maintained between
Foodcorp and all capex suppliers.
Year End
All aspects of year end reporting including assisting with audit queries and budget and forecast
processes.
Relationship Management
Ensure good relations are maintained between finance and all customers of financial information.
This is achieved through a combination of efficient reporting and communication with all customers of
the department. This includes maintaining excellent relations within the department to ensure a
cohesive team and co-ordinated effort.
Jan 2015-Feb 2015: Travelling in South Africa
Jan 2013- Dec 2014: VUE Cinemas (UK)
Management Accountant
I worked as part of a team of 6 management accountants responsible for all aspects of management
reporting for the UK territory.
VUE Cinemas is a world class operator and developer of modern multiplex cinemas. VUE (UK)
commands 20% of the total market share within the UK territory.
Key Responsibilities:
Fixed Assets
Fixed asset accountant responsible for all aspects of fixed asset accounting for the UK
business including asset registers, depreciation and disposals.
Preparation of monthly rolling forecasts of Capex expenditure (accruals and cash basis).
Analysis of committed/ uncommitted spend and analysis of spend over full project life.
Preparation and posting of all operating lease entries for both statutory and management
accounting purposes
Monthly Management Information
Prepare detailed month end P&L commentaries for R&M lines.
Determine whether an accrual/prepayment is necessary.
Ensure AP postings have been correctly allocated to relevant line items and cost centres.
Provide written commentaries to Management on variances to budget, forecast and prior
year regarding any anomalies each month.
Prepare templates to allow sense check reviews for key metrics and drivers (LTM numbers,
monthly historics crossing financial years, dashboards)
Prepare all balance sheet reconciliations for assigned lines on a monthly basis (R&M and
Capex)
Review assigned Sites and Area P&Ls on a monthly basis
Interpreting and communicating finance information to non-finance managers
Other Reporting
Responsible for all National Statistics reporting for UK territory.
3. Prepare reports that highlight any anomalies on the performance of key areas of the P&L in
order to support the resolution of issues.
Provide key internal stakeholders with reporting to support existing business initiatives and
new business initiatives
Key contact for the Operations team for areas of responsibility to provide responses to queries
and additional information ensuring Area and Site budgets and forecasts are agreed to.
Work with the operational team to identify profit opportunities and operational best practice and
communicate to other finance business partners
Analysis and Improvement of Processes
Identifying , driving and implementing process improvements
Utilising systems and technology to improve accounting, reporting and operational standards
Design, recommend and implement financial controls and processes to deal with new business
initiatives.
Ensure finance and business “views” of business performance correspond and any differences
are understood
Budget/Forecast Process
Prepare annual budget figures for assigned line items in accordance with issued guidelines
Prepare review documents explaining variances to prior year and run rates.
Assist UK Management Reporting Manager and business partners deliver an accurate and
timely Budget/Forecast Process
Ensure budget/forecasts are accurately captured in Cognos & Agresso for ongoing reporting
Ensure site budget/forecasts are communicated to the relevant operation team and
management
Maintain rolling view of balance of year for performance including upsides/downsides
Year End
Assist the Financial Accounting team with the preparation of the year end stats.
Detailed Balance Sheet Reconciliations for assigned lines
Assist UK Management Reporting Manager in responding to audit queries
Analysis of P&L movements YoY.
Controls, Standards & Procedures
Ensure all company processes and procedures are followed
Ensure issues highlighted by UK Senior Compliance Accountant are addressed in a timely
fashion
Cash Management
Ensure timely invoicing for income streams and review timelines of payments in order to
escalate commercial risk particularly for large capex payments.
Work with relevant management teams, as required to meet quarterly cash requirements
Sep 2012- Dec 2013: Full-time study and travelling
4. Aug 2012 : Ingeus Ltd
Finance Officer (Revenue)
Part of a team responsible for all aspects of the Contract Invoicing and Claiming
function for WorkDirections UK Ltd, a mid-large scale UK Welfare-to-work provider
which is a subsidiary of a fast growing Australian multi-national organisation that is
responsible for positively changing the lives of thousands of UK job seekers.
Monitoring the payment of all contract claims from DWP to Ingeus including following
up of any outstanding claims and claw backs
Assisting with monthly estimation of contract revenue for internal reporting purposes
and preparation of the associated journals
Performing financial reconciliations between key finance information systems
(bespoke MIS and Axapta); including providing appropriate explanations for any
identified variances
Data checking and validation between operations and finance systems (Ingeus
Works and Axapta)
Maintaining excellent business relationships with key internal and external business
partners (subcontractors ,regional offices and DWP)
Review and prepare self- bills of subcontractors
Preparation of Subcontractor payment run
Daily cash allocations
Weekly aged debtor review
Support and assist the Finance department with any other adhoc duties as and
when required
May 2012-July 2012: Full-time study and travelling.
June 07- April 2012: Penspen Limited (Richmond Surrey)
Accountant
Responsible for preparation of accurate and compliant monthly accounts for Penspen
as well as full management accounts for two stand alone group companies. Penspen is
a project based business with a portfolio of projects of varying durations and
conceptual frameworks.
Turnover is i.r.o £12m per month and there are 15 offices worldwide.
For MJL and Unipen ( stand-alone companies within the group)
Prepare the monthly management accounts for the above two companies from trial balance
Present and discuss the management accounts with the directors on a monthly basis
Identify and investigate variances or unusual amounts and cost patterns
Analysis and reconciliation of balance sheet items.
Assisting with audit queries and audit preparation.
For Penspen
Assisting the Project Accountant with monthly contractor cost accruals and analysis of
labour man-hours (direct variable costs)
5. Send monthly project and stream cost reports to non-financial managers and assist with
queries as well as analysing variances
Ad-hoc analysis work as requested by finance and project managers
Review and adjust overheads for prepayments and accruals
Perform monthly balance sheet reconciliations including intercompany accounts and
revaluations.
Group Quarterly VAT return
Assisting in preparation of annual budgets
Preparation of statutory accounts based on the group consolidation as prepared by the FC
Integrate ledgers from overseas offices monthly
Preparation of schedules to be used in annual corporate tax returns
Maintain fixed asset register and post depreciation
Completion of monthly and quarterly returns for National Statistics
Other tasks
Assist in the data preparation and migration from SUN accounts to Aggresso MIS. This included
reviewing policies and procedures on depreciation and fixed assets while liaising with various
managers on this task.
I have also had internal auditor training for ISO 9001 compliance as well as serving as a member of
the Employee Forum for 2 years.
Aug 04 – May 07: Jones Lang LaSalle (Bank of America Account) Canary Wharf/ Bromley
Accounts Assistant
Responsible for the day to day running of the AP process, JLL funding, assisting the
management accountant with month end reporting, and ad-hoc tasks as and when needed.
Variance analysis
Forecasts based on outstanding PO’s
Update Fixed Asset register
Preparation of monthly financial statements and reports for management
VAT reporting
Month end closure procedure & reconciliations
Process improvements for AP and AR
CIS reporting
Bank reconciliations and cash management
Processing Journals
Ad-hoc projects
Training and supervising temporary staff
Oct 03 - Apr 04: Mitie Cleaning (SE) Ltd (Limeharbour, London)
Accounts Assistant (temporary role)
6. AP and AR for key client accounts
Detailed billings for key clients
Ad- hoc reporting tasks
Calculated monthly reserves and accruals
Reconciliations
Set up budgets and accounts for new clients
Liaised with operations and management to resolve queries
Staff Training
Jul 03 – Aug 03: Arden Chambers (Chancery Lane, London)
Credit control (temporary role)
Processing payments
Credit control duties
Resolved debtor queries
Dealt with ad-hoc queries relating to Legal Aid
Maintained database and carried out ad-hoc administration
Sep 02 - Jan 03: John Brown Hydrocarbons Ltd (Paddington, London)
Finance administrator (temporary role)
Ad hoc accounting and administrative duties
Reconciled inter-company expense accounts
Maintained fixed asset register and depreciation schedule and
reconciled to Balance sheet
Assisted payroll with processing duties
May 02 – Sep 02: Wandsworth Borough Council (Wandsworth, London)
Administrator (temporary role)
Processed cheques and dealt with incoming correspondence
Responsible for data capture, filing and general administration
Dec 01 – Apr 02: X/Procure Software (Pty) Ltd (Johannesburg, South Africa)
Sales Coordinator (temporary role)
Generated sales leads through telemarketing
Made follow-up calls and provided after sales service
Coordinated appointments for the sales team
Carried out diary management for the Managing Director
Computer Packages:
SQL, Agresso accelerator
MS office: Excel (Pivot tables and Vlookups), Word, Access,
7. Accounting packages: APB, Aggresso, Sage Line 50, SUN and Vision
reporting, Aggresso MIS, Microsoft AXAPTA
References will be supplied upon request