Internal Audit and Management Expert Consultant Resume

Provides expertise in internal auditing, management, corporate compliance, as well as managing construction project contracts.

An established consulting firm specializing in contract compliance audits and development of contract payment terms for construction projects throughout the US. Responsible for auditing various trade contracts such as construction, electrical, plumbing, mechanical, etc. for compliance with contract terms. Current work entails review of $400 million Microsoft Data Center construction project contracts in the Chicago area. Have already identified over a million dollars in improper overcharges. Developed Excel worksheets using various formulas to efficiently and accurately analyze various data relating payroll, union benefits, state and federal taxes. Verified compliance with state and federal income tax laws by evaluating withholding percentages and tax cut-off limits. Analyzed paid invoices for compliance with contract terms and conditions, and using Excel formulas, investigated and found several duplicate payments.

Founded in 1895, Whitehall Jewelers was a leading retailer of fine jewelry with 375 stores in 39 states. Whitehall went bankrupt in 2008. Started and developed Internal Audit into one of the key, value-added corporate functions. Established an Internal Audit function by quickly learning company’s operational and financial policies and procedures, building professional relationships with key department heads, and interacting with various personnel to convince them of the importance of Internal Audit function and how it could help them do their jobs more effectively and efficiently. Specifically, it required skills to build a team to achieve the desired results. Completed successfully and under-budget 2007 Audit Plan. Utilized years of well-honed planning skills to create the first successful Audit Plan at Whitehall taking into account available resources and prioritizing senior management goals and objectives. Successfully completed the 2007 SOX compliance review project from scratch, which resulted in recommendations to improve several key financial process controls. Hired an IT Consultant to successfully complete the SOX IT general controls review. Established long term professional relationship with the consulting firm. Developed an audit program to successfully review the operations of a distribution center that supplied merchandise to a chain of 375 retail stores in 39 states. Increased improvement in and enforcement of policies and procedures for employee compliance with the Code of Conduct and Fraud Prevention as a member of the Corporate Compliance Committee. All incidents, in probable violation of the company’s Code of Conduct and the ethics policy, and reported on the company’s anonymous Hot Line, were copied to me. My job as the company’s Chief Audit Executive was to ensure that appropriate follow-up and corrective actions were taken by the responsible parties in Legal, Human Resources and the Loss Prevention departments. Reported to the Chairman of the Audit Committee and a dotted-line to the CEO. Surpassed Board expectations via results delivered in quarterly Audit Committee Meetings. Led a Corporate Acquisition Team during performance of due diligence involving inventory valuation, and financial analysis of merchandise pricing, receivables, payables and contractual obligations. Developed risk-based, annual Audit Plan and a Strategic Plan that helped achieve both departmental and corporate goals and objectives. Established and monitored department operating budget. Conducted live presentations to senior management and field management about SOX, internal controls and fraud prevention. This not only helped me market Internal Audit; but also helped me build relations with managers at all levels of the organization. Hired, trained and mentored a staff of 4 auditors. One of the things I really enjoyed was to share my years of experience and knowledge with the new people I hired, and it was very rewarding to watch them learn and grow into very productive members of the organization. Conducted several fraud investigations at the request of Senior Management with favorable results. Utilized and proficient in Microsoft Office, AS400, ControlsDoc and XBR Loss Prevention.

General Growth Properties is the 2nd largest publicly held “REIT” in the industry with over 200 million square feet of retail space nationally and internationally. Achieved over $2 million in audit recoveries in prior years in addition to over $200,000 in 2005. The majority of recoveries were from audits of Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) Cost Plus construction contracts for office buildings, shopping centers and multi-use development projects across the country. Strengthened and developed Internal Audit into a top notch, value-generating function by establishing on-going professional relationships with key corporate and field management personnel. Marketed Internal Audit function via live and phone presentations on internal controls, fraud prevention and Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) compliance to corporate and field personnel. Supervised 2 managers and 7 auditors in 2 offices, 500 miles apart. Successfully, hired, trained and mentored staff that represented individuals from many walks of life with varying backgrounds. Received frequent compliments from senior management for assembling an excellent, productive group of people. Executed steps in preparation and monitoring of the annual audit and strategic plans in addition to the department operating budget, which exceeded $3 million, by working closely with the Audit Director. Performed and supervised SOX compliance reviews of financial processes and IT general Controls in addition to audits of large capital budgets. Assisted “Big 4” Public Accountants with financial statement audits and Balance Sheet accounts analysis. Updated yearly Enterprise Risk Assessment (ERA) summary and revised audit procedures to ensure attainment of corporate goals of minimizing risks under Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) program. Supervised and performed operational/financial audits of operating centers, construction projects, corporate departments, and compliance audits of various contractors and service vendors. Initiated and developed audit procedures for International Finance operations to ensure corporate compliance with Anti-Money Laundering (AML) program and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Introduced ideas and helped implement revised policies/procedures as a Task Force member for Human Resources and Marketing functions. Performed many fraud audits at the corporate and the field offices over the years. Worked very closely with the company’s security department. Utilized and proficient in Microsoft Office, JD Edwards, ACL, Team-Mate, IDEA, Protiviti SOX Portal, Timberline and UltiPro. Automated processes for contract preparation, change orders, payments and record-keeping. The entire contract preparation and monitoring process was handled manually when I took over the department. I trained my personnel to use the computer to prepare and monitor contracts, contractor payments, change orders and insurance coverage. I also helped create tracking logs and other records documenting the department work. The employee productivity had tripled over the first year and the quality of work had become top notch. Negotiated payroll burden on 2 mall construction contracts and saved over $50,000 prior to contract award. I was always consulted by the Construction and Engineering Department Head (Sr. VP) to help determine reasonableness of the payroll burden costs added by contractors in their bids. My feedback helped the Department Head negotiate a better deal with the contractor every time. Increased compliance with contracts by various construction contractors, consultants, service vendors and suppliers for shopping centers, strip centers, office buildings and multi-use projects. The increased use of computers, better training of my staff and my hands-on supervision helped us monitor contractor compliance better, which minimized duplicate and erroneous payments, and helped us ensure the total payments did not exceed the contract price. Hired, developed and guided up to 11 professionals in various parts of the country. Some of my employees worked on project sites to perform the necessary contract administration work since that function was primarily a control function to monitor compliance by all parties involved. Participated in contract bidding, negotiation, and award process. I monitored the contract bidding, negotiation and the award process as a third party witness to ensure there was no bid rigging and other possible illegal activities. Monitored project costs against capital budgets, processed contract payments, administered change orders, ensured compliance with insurance terms and conditions, etc. We had an average annual construction budget of over $800 million. Served on the project task force to ensure on-time and under budget development of new mall projects. We used to have monthly project development meetings that included members from various disciplines of the organization. One of my responsibilities was to monitor the project budget. Utilized and proficient in Microsoft Office, Timberline and REPS.

Homart, a commercial development company and a subsidiary of Sears, was sold to General Growth Properties in 1995. Implemented an Internal Audit function at Coldwell Banker Relocation Service (a subsidiary) with 6 regional offices nationwide. Audits involved reviews of residential real estate transaction files, mortgage banking transactions, executive relocation fees, maintenance expenses of properties on sale and so on. It also had a subsidiary that handled complete moving of the relocated executives’ belongings. Succeeded in improving efficiency and effectiveness of various accounting and financial reporting processes as a member of 2 quality improvement committees. Perform numerous fraud audits over the years resulting in reduction of frauds and loss of company funds. Performed operational/financial and compliance audits of operating and under-construction office buildings, shopping centers and strip centers plus corporate departmental operations. Initiated and accomplished Information Systems security and access compliance reviews. Assisted Deloitte auditors during interim and year-end financial statement audits. It required me to perform work under their guidance to help my company save on the auditors’ fees. Completed financial and policy/procedural reviews of leases, license agreements, cashier transactions, receivables, payables, payroll, etc. The reviews of real estate leases were for the mall in-line retail tenants and office building tenants. Those were complex lease agreements involving various clauses about minimum and percentage rents, common area maintenance expenditures, tenant construction and so on. The license agreement reviews were for the mall temporary kiosks.