'GeorgeCocu.Com'
'GeorgeCocu.Com'
Senior Finance Expert

senior finance expert

george cocu

 

Executive Presentation

An experienced finance professional, with expertise in:

  • developing and coordinating financial and management reporting structures

  • creating tailored financial models to implement corporate strategy points

  • effective communication of financial information to non-finance stakeholders

  • ensuring adequate financing and gearing for corporate purposes is in place

  • representing the company towards auditors and various public authorities

  • optimization of corporate cost structures and contractual compliance

  • fraud prevention and examination

Specialties: financial management, financial reporting, budgeting, MIS development, audit coordination, development of internal procedures, fraud investigation, contract negotiation and review, treasury and banking operations, financial analysis, training and employee development, fraud prevention, deterrence and examination.

Happy to assist you and your business grow your finance function or address business risks, or simply to make new professional acquaintances - reach out if you want to talk finance, accounting, fraud, reading or tennis.

 

Experience

DIRECTOR & owner, financengineer.com

July 2017 - Present

Director and owner of finance practice FinancEngineer.Com that specializes in financial and management for answers to complex business finance questions for several companies in real estate, gas drilling equipment, fashion and fitness equipment. For more details access FinancEngineer.Com or contact us using the form on this page.

DIRECTOR & GROUP CFO, GLOBAL EYE INVESTMENTS GROUP

October 2016 - November 2019

  • Director for a group of 10 companies actively operating in retail, real estate and B2B.

  • Managing the operational, finance, tax and accounting processes for the said group; full P&L responsibility.

  • Streamlined the operations of the group by reassessing the tasks and responsibilities of the staff involved, deployment of a risk-based business approach, making transparent communication a key component of work, and simplifying redundant and time-consuming tasks and activities – this has resulted in the turnaround of a retail company that became profitable in the course of one year, after several loss-making years.

  • Remote coordination of multiple, multi-year audits of foreign entities.

  • Managing the biannual forecast and FP&A process for the group of companies, including the financial modeling required to support timely reporting of performance to group owner

  • Leading finance steering and target-setting meetings with operational management to optimize and align activities with owner targets

  • Involved in the selection, analysis and planning of a new ERP implementation (Microsoft’s Business Central) for a group of companies

  • Organizing the financing of the group operations and aligning the finance structure consistent with the owner guidelines

  • High-level management of treasury operations, including FX hedging and overdraft monitoring

  • Coordinating a team of 10, onsite and offsite collaboration

  • Key stakeholder in the recruitment process for operational staff across the group

REGIONAL FINANCE LEADER, MASTERCARD EUROPE SA

June 2015 - October 2016

  • Managing the quarterly forecast and analysis process for a cluster of 5 countries in SEE (HU, RO, ISR, SLV, HR) with full local P&L responsibility

  • Preparation of management reporting, monthly and ad-hoc, to provide cluster management with operational efficiency measures and identify growth and vulnerable areas

  • Measurement of B2B customer performance and impact on future plans of the company

  • Development of sensitivity analyses for the macroeconomic factors and translation into financial impact for the cluster

  • Management of multiple million regional funds spending with issuer banks, acquirer banks and merchants within the cluster

  • Providing financial area support for various business teams and work in cross departmental projects and teams

  • Generating operational insights for the local commercial team and translating them into business opportunities for cross border commerce within CEE

  • Leading and managing a team of two staff

GROUP FINANCE CONTROLLER, FASHION DAYS GROUP AG

October 2012 - June 2015

  • Prepared financial models and forecasts for Group and Local entities to support Advanced Pricing Agreements with local tax authorities

  • Improved financial reporting by simplifying work procedures and automating routine functions, saving an estimated 20 man-hours per month

  • Created and maintained the rolling working capital forecast tool, by using historical and budget data, for Group's liquidity for a 12-month time horizon across 10 operating countries, in order to locate future cash flow shortages to be covered by either sales push or additional financing

  • Managed multimillion credit facility and developed bank guarantee procedures to secure the commercial partnerships of the Group, to facilitate business development and to standardize workflow, while saving 50% of the allotted man-hours overall

  • Created and developed the profit center structure to match Group Management's requirements of financial data across functions and divisions, making the Group’s cost structure more transparent, comparable across territories and easier to consolidate by business unit

  • Assessed the effectiveness of internal controls and documented proposals for improvement to the Group CFO in order to adjust for potential risks and adapt procedures to actual business flows

  • Co-managed and mentored a shared-service team of 11 finance analysts and accountants, working to identify, prioritize and implement financial process improvements in the working capital business cycle

  • Developed Group-wide policy for non-current asset recognition in order to streamline the asset recognition process and comply with local, Group and IFRS standards

GROUP FINANCE MANAGER, GAZ SUD GROUP

November 2010 - July 2012

  • Managed corporate restructuring processes i.e. capitalization of shareholder loans and renegotiation of various costs, thus improving the leverage of the Group

  • Led Group treasury and banking operations, managed multimillion working capital and investment loans refinancing, including bank guarantees to public institutions, in order to secure sufficient funds for development and reduce financial costs for the business

  • Coordinated internal and external financial reporting, including local reporting, tax reporting, IFRS Group reporting, improving and simplifying the reporting process

  • Took responsibility for proper bidding processes in place to source raw materials for technical departments

  • Managed, as a key contact person, external audits, tax and legal consultants

  • Simplified and maintained the 5-year Group budget, created suggestive dashboards of the financial and operational indicators for the Group, to enhance transparency, comparability and understanding of data by the shareholders

  • Analyzed and implemented interest rates swap to hedge the Group's exposure to EURIBOR fluctuations and compensate for the negative impact of interest rate fluctuations

  • Directed, mentored and appraised a team of 2 senior accountants and 3 accountants to ensure the quality of financial and operational reporting to the regulatory bodies on quarterly, semi-annual and annual bases, thus ensuring adequate disclosures within legal deadlines

FINANCE MANAGER, ELMEC romania

November 2010 - July 2012

  • Created and maintained management accounts together with helpful ERP customizations to support the Information System for Group and Local Management, to analyze and restructure costs and understand sales and COGS variations in detail and by business unit

  • Directed the financing strategy in order to maximize financing resources for the Local Company in terms of working capital, investment loans, cash collection, bank guarantees and foreign exchange hedging, by re-negotiating better terms or refinancing existing deals

  • Prepared quarterly presentations on the Company’s financial evaluation for the Group Board and implemented all agreed recommendations

  • Developed financial models for the Company's business valuation, daily sales reports, and 12-month rolling cash flow forecasts, providing Management with a clear view of the business seasonality at micro and macro level, and key drivers for year-on-year fluctuations

  • Created, led and mentored a team of 2 financial analysts and 2 billing officers to ensure proper finance and banking day-to-day monitoring and to monitor the wholesale segment responsible for a significant portion of the Company's turnover for contracts, payments, guarantees, and risks

  • Freed up resources to prepare IFRS accounts in-house quarterly and ensuring response times during month closing improved

  • Managed as a key contact person the communication with tax specialists and lawyers to ensure legal compliance and reduced costs for the company as a result

  • Managed as a key contact person the external audit processes, reducing audit burden on company finance staff.

  • Overseen 3 external auditor changes in order to ensure smooth and timely reporting within Group and legal deadlines

AUDIT ASSOCIATE, PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS ROMANIA

November 2010 - July 2012

  • Gained detailed understanding of retail, telecommunications, oil & gas, manufacturing and transportation industries, which enabled me to adapt quickly to job environment changes and have a versatile approach to work

  • Participated as team member in multiple external audit assignments as well as various agreed upon procedures and limited reviews, locally and abroad, thus learning how to audit, control and prepare financial statements under IFRS and Local GAAP’s (US, UK, German)

  • Underwent ISA audit methodology, IFRS and US GAAP training courses and updates to use in US companies’ audit assignments subject to SEC requirements

Languages

Skills

 

InterestS

Long reads fan
Staying up to date on scientific discoveries via specialized news sources, documentaries and books

Education

CIA, USA

CERTIFIED INTERNAL AUDITOR
Graduated November 2020

acfe, AUSTIN, TX, USA

CERTIFIED FRAUD EXAMINER
Graduated September 2018

ACCA, glasgow, UK

FELLOW CHARTERED CERTIFIED ACCOUNTANT
Member since March 2008

 

the academy of Economic studies, bucharest, RO

BACHELOR OF ECONOMICS, BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
Graduated September 2003

special courses

Forensic Accounting and Fraud Examination, West Virginia University

Credential ID KBQ2JJZQZW
Completed December 2014

Certificate in Business Valuations, ACCA, Ordre des Experts-Comptables

Credential ID 0953051

Issued Apr 2022 · No Expiration Date

Contact

Email: george[DOT]cocu[at]financengineer[dot]com

 

Contact ME