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About Me
Accomplished problem solver, leader, and critical thinker focused in accounting and data/business analytics. A lifetime learner with two graduate degrees (a Master of Science in Accountancy and an MBA in Applied Business Analytics) and Fortune 40 experience.
Skilled in Microsoft Power BI and Excel, data and financial analysis, and a diverse group of technologies. Has a demonstrated history of learning and adapting to new technologies, and a robust drive for continual process improvement.
Capable research professional with two years of experience in higher education as a Graduate Research Assistant at Appalachian State University.
Experienced international traveler, having traveled to Switzerland, Poland, Italy, Germany, France, Austria, Liechtenstein, Brazil, Puerto Rico, and Canada.
Click the tabs above to view my expanded résumé. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or would like to learn more about me. Below, you can also view a PDF copy of my résumé, or view my LinkedIn profile.
Experience
Senior Financial Analyst
Samaritan's Purse, Intl.
Boone, NC // June 2019 - Present
- Promoted from Financial Analyst in August 2020
- Develop, implement, and coordinate all domestic and international financial reports, statistics, and analysis for Operation Christmas Child (OCC)
- Prepare biannual budget ($80M+) and compile monthly/annual financial statements
- Lead OCC VP and Directors in regular expense review
- Monitor and reconcile gift-in-kind (GIK) and purchased inventory, and complete annual GIK valuation project
- Facilitate transition of reports to Tableau dashboards
- Improve billing, tracking, and reporting procedures for seven international affiliate offices
- Develop and maintain future projections and plans for 5+ years
- Recommend cost-efficient and cost-saving opportunities
Additional Accomplishments
- Train staff on finance and budget procedures
- Assist with annual functional expense allocation
- Maintain ledger and account coding structure, and provide accounting guidance
- Attend and support domestic and international events, projects, and conferences
- Designed, built, and implemented new reporting system (ETL, cleaning, interactive dashboards, daily and periodic reporting) summarizing ~$200M of transactions daily
- Offered new insights into fees and processing errors, and facilitated significant fee reduction through daily reporting tools
- Used Microsoft Power BI, DAX, Access, Excel, Power Query M, SQL, and other tools to clean, analyze, and visualize a variety of financial data
- Worked with data from Oracle PeopleSoft General Ledger software to summarize and analyze credit/debit interchange, assessment, and JPMorgan Chase & Co. fees, and ran periodic account balances and variances
- Investigated debit interchange variances, creating cost-saving potential by altering network transaction volumes
- Traced authorization downgrades to root cause(s) through multiple systems and 2,000+ stores
Additional Accomplishments
- Evaluated Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and AmEx fees and volume (international and domestic tiers)
- Extracted and analyzed data using MicroStrategy reporting tools (DART)
- Worked with Loss Prevention team to provide data-driven insights into fraudulent transactions
- Conducted SOX testing to assist internal audit and inventory teams
- Maintained industry-leading PCI DSS and security standards
Graduate Research Assistant
Appalachian State University
Boone, NC // 2017-2018
- Supervised by Dr. Sandy Vannoy, Associate Dean of Graduate Programs & Research
- Assisted with literary review of hundreds of social media, social computing, and social networking articles
- Created review of rankings of business ethics academic journals
- Researched hybrid/executive business graduate programs as part of an exploratory study
- Assisted with analysis of department budget, program goals, and student fees
- Supervised by Wendy Deng – WCOB Graduate Programs Budget Director
- Graduate Programs differential tuition research
Graduate Teaching Assistant
Appalachian State University
Boone, NC // 2016-2017
- Supervised by Dr. Claudia Kelley, Professor of Accounting
- Assisted with research, evaluations, proctoring, and grading for graduate- and undergraduate-level courses
Serials Processing
Belk Library at Appalachian State University
2014-2018
- Managed, created, and updated thousands of item records with Sierra ILS database
- Conducted annual audits of periodical subscription invoices and receipts
- Worked on various special projects for serials and receiving
- Saved the Library $4,000+ annually in subscription fees by eliminating unread publications
Intern
Johnson Price Sprinkle, PA
Boone, NC // January-April 2016
Accomplishments
- Worked with CCH® ProSystem fx® Suite software to prepare clients’ tax returns
- Analyzed clients’ financials for §1250 and §179 depreciation savings opportunities
- Responsible for completing various accounting projects
- Oversaw records digitization project for Boone office
Conference Assistant
Appalachian State University Housing
Summer 2014
Accomplishments
- Used STG Conference Programmer software to coordinate and monitor thousands of residents across campus
- Managed 10,000+ residence hall keys
Sports Official
Appalachian State University Recreation
2013
Accomplishments
- Officiated intramural sports games and championships
- Shift supervisor for soccer referees
Staff
William B. Shuford Recreation Center
2010-2013
Accomplishments
- Sports official, office manager, score/timekeeper, groundskeeper, landscaper, and more
- Officiated and was a score/timekeeper for baseball, basketball, soccer, and volleyball program
- PA announcer for baseball games
Education
Graduate Studies
Master of Business Administration
Applied Business Analytics
May 2018
- MBA Top Student Award
- Selected as Graduate Commencement Speaker
- Chancellor’s Fellow
- International Experience in Switzerland, Italy, and France
- Completed analytics practicum with CommScope (Hickory, NC) focusing on quality control
- Received a job offer upon graduation
- Emerging Leaders Certificate – BB&T Leadership Institute
Graduate Certificates
Minimum 15 Hours of Coursework Each
May 2018
- Analytics Graduate Certificate
- SAS® Global Joint Certificate
Undergraduate Studies
Bachelor of Science in Business Administration
Accounting
August 2016
- 3.87 GPA – Summa Cum Laude
- University Honors
- Walker College of Business Honors
- Published Honors Thesis – The Effects of Accounting Standards Update 2014-09: Revenue From Contracts With Customers
- International Experience with Honors/MBA Program – Warsaw, Poznań, and Kraków, Poland
Other Studies
Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary
Dimensions of the Faith Program
February 2020
- Completed 12 hours of Biblical studies courses through a remote education program
Honors
- MBA Top Student Award
- Selected as Graduate Commencement Speaker – May 2018
- Recipient of Chancellor’s Fellowship – ASU’s highest award for graduate studies
- Chancellor’s and Dean’s List recipient
- Recipient of 5 Walker College of Business merit scholarships
- Junior Marshal – Walker College of Business
- Member – Beta Alpha Psi
- Member – Beta Gamma Sigma (Top 10% of Class)
- Member – Appalachian Honors Association
- Member – Walker College of Business Honors Association
- Member (Previous) – Gamma Iota Sigma
- AIM High – Prestigious Scholars Program
Involvement
Alliance Bible Fellowship
- Boone, NC
- Active Member 2012-Present
- Worship Leader on Sunday mornings, Sunday evenings, and Wednesday evenings
- Taught various Bible studies and classes for college ministry
- Taught Systematic Theology/Doctrine to high school ministry
- Co-led four Superstorm Sandy disaster relief trips to eastern NJ through the NC Baptist Men/Baptist Builders
Hope Pregnancy Resource Center
- Boone, NC
- 2013-Present
- Volunteer – setup coordinator for annual fundraiser- $16,000+ in 2018 and $17,000+ in 2019
Beta Alpha Psi
- Appalachian State University
- 2012-2016
- Appalachian Honors Association Member
- Peer Mentor
The Honors College
- Appalachian State University
- 2012-2016
- Appalachian Honors Association Member
- Peer Mentor
AppolCorps Leader
- 2013
- Led a group of 25+ freshmen through a three day orientation
President, Cone Residence Hall Council
- Managed Residence Hall budget and oversaw student programs
- Planned and directed weekly meetings for student and faculty representatives
Coursework
Throughout my educational career, I’ve had the opportunity to learn much through the coursework I’ve taken, under the tutelage of many incredible professors. Below are the courses I have completed, organized by degree.
MBA - Applied Business Analytics
- Applied Analytics Project
- Data Management
- Economics for Decision Making
- Executive Skills
- Fundamentals of Business Analytics
- International Experience – Business, Ecotourism, and Climate Change in the Alps
- Managerial Finance
- Marketing Strategy and Applications
- Operations and Supply Chain Management
- Probability Analysis and Quantitative Methods
- Security, Privacy, and Ethical Issues in Technology
- Strategic Management
Master of Science - Accountancy
- Accounting in the Business Environment
- Advanced Accounting Capstone
- Advanced Managerial Accounting
- Audit Concepts and Applications
- Auditing Theory Seminar
- Contemporary Issues in Accounting
- Current Issues in Technology and Accounting Information Systems
- Executive Seminar
- Survey of Financial Accounting
- Taxation of Business Entities/Accounting Regulation
B.S. Business Administration - Accounting
- Accounting for Not-for-Profit and Governmental Organizations
- Accounting Principles I & II
- Accounting Systems and Internal Control
- Auditing
- Business Capstone
- Business Communications
- Business and Economics Statistics I & II
- Calculus with Business Applications
- Cost Accounting
- Foundations of Information Systems
- Individual Income Taxation
- Industrial/Product Design [Honors]
- Intermediate (Financial) Accounting I, II, & III
- International Experience – Business in Poland [Honors]
- Internship in Accounting
- Introduction to Finance
- Introduction to Marketing [Honors]
- Introduction to Organizational Behavior [Honors]
- Honors Thesis
- Legal Environment of Business
- Macroeconomics
- Marketing and Society [Honors]
- MBA Executive Seminar: International Leadership and Ethics [Honors]
- Microeconomics
- Principles of Risk Management and Insurance [Honors]
- Productions and Operations Management
- Strategic Management [Honors]
- Systems Analysis and Design
