Barrie John Baker Curriculum Vitae

Address for correspondence: 28 Llanbedr Road, Fairwater, Cardiff, CF5 3BWContact telephone numbers: 07966 650 577, 029 20214 199Email: barrie.baker@gmail.com

Personal Profile

Highly motivated individual with considerable experience within the Financial Services industry.  Extensive experience of the preparation of a wide range of management accounts, and audited statutory accounts, AAT qualified and qualified by experience (QBE). Works to tight timescales and within budgets. A strategic thinker, with the ability to develop and implement processing procedures to improve the functionality of a team and or process to ensure efficiency. Has a confident and informed leadership style.

Made redundant due the consequence of an in sourcing strategy by one of the companies major clients.

Skills and Key Achievements

● Extensive experience of working in many different industries and public practice.

● Strong analytical and reporting skills.● Excellent written and communication skills.● A strong and confident manager, resourceful, innovative and

outcome driven.● Able to motivate and focus the performance of others.● Improved efficiency of dealer commission and debit-back posting

process to the purchase ledger, resulting in the saving of approximately 14 man hours and the increased productivity of a department.

● The reduction of the time taken to prepare group monthly management accounts. Streamlined the preparation of supporting documentation. This enabled a reduction in the time and complexity when consolidating in to group accounts of an international banking group.

● Played a key role in the successful preparation of financial data ahead of migration from Sage to AS400.

● Prepared analysis of the impact of the introduction of changes to accounting standards.     

Career History

Finance ManagerSmart Solutions Recruitment Limited Group (March 2013 - February 2016)

Smart Solutions is a group with many varying subsidiaries and connected companies. The group turnover of £92m, employees over 250 permanent staff as well as over 4,000 temporary workers daily. Each of these businesses presented different challenges and learning opportunities from high value low volume transactions to low value high volume transactions through to accounting for a publically funded training company for the first time.

My role was Finance Manager within the finance department. The team consisted of 10 members reporting to me, either directly or indirectly.

● Part of my duties were a supervisory role within the finance department and completion of adhoc reporting and reconciliation requests for the financial controller and finance director.

● Also, included was the assisting with credit control duties which required the contacting of customers, arranging payment dates, supply of copy invoices etc.

● Together with the temporary cover for the Training & Development Company which included the processing of sales and purchase invoice transactions, together with the review, authorisation and payment of staff expenses and purchase ledger items.

● The liaising with further education facilities to enable the preparation of sales invoices.

● The preparation of balance sheet backup information in the preparation of monthly management accounts.

● The daily processing of a large volume of low value purchase invoices and sales invoices for Nationwide Waste Solutions Limited a new start company to a turnover of £2m pa within two years.

● Debt collection duties and the posting of bank transaction within the main ledgers.

● Preparation of monthly management accounts for presentation to the board with a full balance sheet reconciliation being completed.

● The completion of an audit file with full balance sheet backup for presentation to auditors.

● Successful handover of duties to a finance assistant with regards the processing of the above daily transaction, and the transfer of the preparation of monthly management accounts to a third party.

Senior Finance ExecutiveTarget Loan Servicing Limited (Feb 2009 to January 2013)

● Continued preparation of Park Finance Group management accounts and associated duties (noted below) due to company and employees being transferred under the TUPE regulations to Target Group.

● Preparation of additional service user management accounts and supporting backup reconciliations and analysis.

● To ensure the reporting of client information within a time critical deadline on a daily and monthly basis with regards a number of lending portfolios.

● Preparation of daily bank reconciliations and the associated cash receipt waterfall summaries between funders and banking institutions for a number of clients.

● Preparation of monthly service user reports, portfolio performance analysis (cash split, arrears analysis etc) and reconciled monthly cash totals.

● Ensure efficiency and cost effective administration to reduce operational cost and provide a superior service to our clients

● Developed a considerable knowledge, experience and understanding of the operation of the servicing industry.

● Active member of the company forum to ensure the continued adherence to the regulatory policy of Fair Outcomes for Consumers.

Group Management Accountant Park Motor Finance Limited (April 1998 to Jan 2009)

● Prepare the management accounts for the Park Finance Group of four companies, with a group turnover of up to £24million a year

within a strict timescales with direct reporting to the Group Financial Controller.

● Prepare monthly key performance indicators and the comparison of actual with budget values with variation explanation.

● Liaise with various corporate funders on internal audits and drawdown of funds.

● Preparation of statutory audited accounts and liaising with the companies’ auditors and tax advisor.

● Regular contact with the company’s financial investor.● Responsibility for management and development of a team of four.

Senior in ChargePWC ((formerly Coopers & Lybrand) July 1988 to March 1998)

● Preparation of a wide range of accounts for clients ranging from a sole trader, partnership and limited companies with a turnover of up to £4 million requiring statutory audited accounts.

● Completed assignments either on own or as an in-charge of a team of auditors.

● Liaise with clients who were practicing solicitor’s and held client monies with the preparation of reports to the Law Society in relation to their obligations under the Solicitors Accounts Rules.

● Preparation of weekly and monthly payroll calculations for a number of clients including filing of year end returns with HMRC and quarterly VAT returns.

Accountants AssistantDeloitte Haskin & Sells (April 1982 to June 1988)

● Preparation of accounts for a range of clients from sole traders, partnerships,political and non-political social clubs and limited companies.

● VAT returns for a number of clients and the maintaining of their sales, purchase and general ledgers. Dealing with practicing solicitor’s and the preparation of returns to the Law Society with regards their obligations under the Solicitors Accounts Rules (now Solicitors Regulatory Authority).

● Preparation of a client’s quarterly management accounts which led to the education of the client to produce their own accounts in due course.      

Educational qualifications and training

● AAT qualification (Association of Accounting Technician) ● O level: English language, English literature, Geography, Physics,

Chemistry, Computer studies and Mathematics.● Experience of using the following software packages :- Sage Line

50, Sage payroll, CODA, CAAP (Contract Administration and Accounting Programme), Centrac, MS dynamics, Microsoft outlook, excel (intermediate), word and PowerPoint.

References upon request