Experience

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  Hewitt

  • Brisbane, Australia

  • General Manager Finance & Accounting

    • Jun 2016 - Present
    • Brisbane, Australia

    AboutWith extensive experience in management accounting and business transformation at a range of top-tier companies, Michael Sims is an expert in the design and implementation of systems improvements to achieve strategic business outcomes and foster growth. In his current role as General Manager - Finance & Accounting at Hewitt, Michael leads a growing finance team and is responsible for overseeing all finance related functions across the Hewitt supply chain. He also plays a pivotal role in the annual budgeting and forecasting process and has created a suite of financial models to streamline this process over the years. Michael has a strong focus on fostering a culture of innovative problem solving within organisations, as well as a keen interest in operational technologies and their ability to enhance business capability. This has been instrumental to the success of many growth initiatives he has led across a range of industry sectors. In the commercial space, Michael has continued to fine tune his experience in mergers and acquisitions and is readily involved in business/asset valuations, scenario modelling and sensitivity analysis. Michael’s ambition and outcome-focused approach to his work has earned him an outstanding reputation for driving positive transformation within various organisations. Other ResponsibilitiesFinancial modelling; EOM Reporting; Variance analysis and commentary; Monthly P&L and Balance Sheet review; Power Bi Dashboards; Fixed Asset Reg. & Depreciation; Inter-company transactions; Capex requisitions; NPV / ROI analysis; Acquisition modelling and financial due diligence; Payroll (80 employees); FBT; Implementing good corporate governance practices; Key contact for all operational managers; Operational KPI management; Incentive modelling; Staff Training & Development

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  Aveo Group

  • Brisbane, Australia

  • Project Accountant

    • Dec 2015 - Jun 2016
    • Brisbane, Australia

    (7 month contract)

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  Golder Associates

  • Milton, Brisbane

  • Senior Project Accountant

    • Jul 2013 - Sep 2015
    • Milton, Brisbane

    Key Achievements: Responsible for all financial duties on approximately 200 Geotechnical and Hydrological Services projects located in QLD, Australia and New Caledonia.Duties: • Revenue tracking • Variance analysis • KPI reporting and maintenance • WBS development • Variation tracking • Financial risk mitigation • Internal process and policy development • Target tracking • Financial advice & training • Relationship building/networking • Company presence/business acumen (became the ‘go to’ for project accounting matters) • Estimate at completion’s • High volume invoicing • Project creation and closures • Financial lesson learnt commentary

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  Fluor Australia

  • Brisbane, Australia

  • Project Accountant

    • Oct 2012 - Jul 2013
    • Brisbane, Australia

    Key Achievements: Managing all project financial requirements for 3 major operation and maintenance projects within the global services business line.Duties: • Monthly analysis of financial results in SAP • Cost and Revenue reporting • Liaising with project controls • Revenue forecasting • Variance analysis • Variation tracking • Cost & revenue accruals • In-depth cost and billings reconciliations • Revenue recognition in accordance with SOX requirements • Monitoring WIP • AR reporting • Collections • Labour burden analysis • Global pricing models in SAP

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  Port Metro Vancouver

  • 999 Canada Place, Vancouver

  • Accounts Temp

    • Mar 2012 - Apr 2012
    • 999 Canada Place, Vancouver

    First Job upon arrival in Vancouver. Dealing with AP side of things

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  KarelCAD

  • Brisbane, Australia

  • Operations Consultant

    • 2011 - 2011
    • Brisbane, Australia

    This was a 3-month role where I was the key person responsible for transitioning the internal time/expense reimbursement system to cater for its recent growth in the market place. Before I arrived, the employees were recording time through a lengthy excel process, and in turn, the admin department would recycle this information through MYOB. Expense reimbursements were also done through a similar system. My goal here was to free up Consultant & Admin time and limit possibilities for human error.• Perform a task analysis of the top roles down to the lower level roles in the company, and by using a value added model (created in excel) identify examples of double-handling and areas which could be streamlined• Researching and Presenting 3 viable options for both timesheet and expense reimbursement software systems to the Management team • Implementing the chosen cloud-based payroll and expense reimbursement systems.

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  SKM

  • Brisbane, Australia

  • Project Accountant (SKM) – Temporary Contract

    • 2011 - 2011
    • Brisbane, Australia

    This position looks after the QLD mining major projects administration.• Drafting monthly invoices for each project and reconciling hours booked between systems to ensure accuracy of claims• Regularly liaising with other service centers in relation to project progress, resourcing, and other issues• Providing support to the engineering team with all accounts queries

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  AECOM

  • Project Accountant

    • 2008 - 2010

    Basset (recently renamed as AECOM) is considered one of Australia’s leading drafting/engineering firms. This role managers all project financial requirements and business line reporting. In total I was responsible for reporting and tracking over 150 projects valued anywhere between 20k and $15M.• Monthly financial reporting at the project and business line level (P&L analysis)• Forecasting monthly revenue targets via analysis of backlog and future bids and opportunities• Cash flow tracking and collections of difficult accounts (also write off preparation)• Tracking and measuring impact of WIP, project write ups and write downs, revenue hard limits and agreed invoicing schedules under mainly lump sum contracts.• Holding weekly finance meetings with discipline leaders, key project managers and the group leader• Reviewing and processing contract variations and uplifts• Dealing with compliance under tight regulations regarding revenue recognition (SOX)• Full range of admin duties including processing monthly invoices, opening/closing all projects, and sourcing/compiling all monthly project finance reports from over 20 different project managers,• Answering all financial queries from project managers and implementing a new project management in house system (APIC Super-user)

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  Coface - UK & Ireland

  • London, United Kingdom

  • Management Accountant

    • 2007 - 2008
    • London, United Kingdom

    Coface is a receivables finance and insurance company. They are one of the larger organizations leading the industry throughout Europe and the world.Software used: Sage, ROSS, Barclays Business Internet Banking• Daily bank reconciliations and cash flow• Preparation of invoices• Treasury fund management - Maximizing the value of the treasury accounts including foreign exchange• Preparing loans and managing interest rates on borrowing versus treasury deposits• Overhead analysis• Fixed asset register maintenance• Claim payments and daily receivable finance payments• Minimizing bank fees where possible (penny pinching), and AP/AR client maintenance

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  Thiess

  • Brisbane, Australia

  • Accountant

    • 2005 - 2007
    • Brisbane, Australia

    This was the beginning of my accounting career within the construction, engineering and mining industriesProject Accountant (THIESS/SEDGEMENT JV) 2007This was an onsite position based at Dawson coal mine in Central QLD and was for a period of 3 months. Home-away-from-home was at the nearby mining village in Moura, working a 10 day on 4 day off roster. At the start of his mining experience Michael was seconded to Anglo Coal to assist the project accountant for month end processes but for the majority of the time he worked for TSJV training new workers in procurement (stores) on basic JDE functions and more recently assisting the Admin manager and performing his role while he was on leave.Graduate Accountant (THIESS SERVICES) - Intercompany transfer 2006 Administrative support in all accounting functions. Responsible for administration support to: Springmount Waste Management Facility (SWMF) – a joint venture landfill operation in Cairns; and West End Remediation – a cost plus contract involving soil remediation for Energex. The following tasks are either performed using JDE or our in-house weighbridge program – TSTS.Accounts Payable Officer (THIESS SERVICES) 2005 This was a full function accounts payable role within Thiess Services requiring high volume invoice processing. The position required a thorough knowledge of JDE and a good level of experience with Microsoft Office programs. While in this position I was responsible for maintaining the Thiess Services Queensland division AP ledger.