Antonia Lewis

I am an accomplished Finance professional with a progressive background spanning over 18 years specialising in financial and operational planning, management accounting, financial reporting, operations finance and cost and business transformation across the Media and Advertising, Healthcare, Fintech, Shipping and Mailing, Retail, Manufacturing, IT, Education and Banking sectors. Over the course of my career, I have proven myself to be instrumental in delivering enhanced improvements and innovations to drive significant continuous improvement programs.

I have significant experience in introducing improvement strategies to streamline performance, combined with strong communication, relationship management, commercial acumen and strong leadership skills; being able to effectively manage, train and mentor team members in previous employment.

I am passionate about identifying and implementing operational changes to ensure value-for-money decisions are made. I take a hands-on approach to all aspects of finance and perform a range of functions including management accounting, year-end accounts, audits, tax, payroll, AP/AR, accruals and prepayments, data migration and financial reporting.

FINANCIAL CONTROLLER - (3 MONTH CONTRACT): LUMON PAY Nov 2022 – Present

• Appointed on a short-term contract to provide support with year-end Management Accounts and the Audit during a busy period reporting in Sage Line 200, reconciling the Profit Sweep fund reports for the past t three years, investigating variances and assisting with data migration from FXOPS system for Lumon Pay, Lumon Risk, Lumon Exchange and Lumon Acquision
• Reviewing of monthly Management accounts, month end journals, Prepayments and Accruals and Balance Sheet reconciliations
• Working in close collaboration with the Head of Finance, Group CFO, Data Analysts and Risk Management team
•  Assisting with queries and preparing back up and ad hoc reports for the Auditors
• Overseeing the maintenance of the Fixed Assets registers and weekly Cash flow forecasts
• Reviewing and investigating variances with the General Ledger, the Group Tax/VAT and Payroll for UK

• Appointed on a short-term contract to provide a maternity leave cover with responsibility for the Group reporting in Xero and reviewing of monthly Management accounts, Sales Invoicing, Prepayments and Accruals and Balance Sheet reconciliations
• Worked in close collaboration with the Group MD, Group Finance Manager, Finance Managers in NY and Austria
•  Managed the weekly and monthly customer/product sales and profitability reporting models and financial dashboard, drilled down reports to provide visibility of Category, product, and customer performance
• Improved the efficiency of some financial processes including the sales reconciliations, managed financial KPIs to assist with managing control processes in the consignment ledger
• Reviewed and investigated variances with the General Ledger, the Group Tax/VAT and Payroll for UK, USA and Austria

• Appointed on a short-term contract for 6 weeks to provide support with the year-end Management Accounts and Audit during a busy period, investigated variances, prepared year end adjustment journals, reviewed Payroll journals and the Fixed Assets register, Prepayments and Accruals, Balance Sheet reconciliations
• Worked closely with the Head of Finance, the Group Financial Controller and Auditors to facilitate compliance with industry regulations in the UK.
• Assisted with ad hoc accounting and financial management requirements across the division
• Ensured timely financial reporting, reviewed the Group tax to provide answers to tax and Payroll queries and General Ledger queries from the Auditors

• Appointed on a short-term contract for 3 months to provide cover for the permanent Financial Controller position during a period of expansion with responsibility for the Group reporting in NetSuite and reviewing of monthly Management accounts, prepared year end adjustment journals, reviewed Payroll journals and the Fixed Assets register, Prepayments and Accruals, Balance Sheet reconciliations
• Worked in close collaboration with the Managing Director, Finance Director and Management Accountant to improve the accuracy of the Statement of Cashflow, coached and trained the newly employed FC for the permanent position
• Ensured timely financial reporting, reviewed, and adjusted the Fixed Assets register, made recommendations to management on areas within the business where improvements can be made and profits maximised
• Reviewed and investigated variances with the General Ledger and adjusted Payroll journals for UK, Germany and France

• Appointed on a short-term contract for 3 months during a period of expansion of the Global Health Innovation company W2O Group part of Real Chemistry with responsibility for the Group reporting in NetSuite and reviewing of monthly Management accounts for four legal entities – WPL, Pure UK, ISO and Twist UK, preparing year end adjustment journals, reviewing Payroll journals and the Fixed Assets register, Prepayments and Accruals, Balance Sheet reconciliations, analyzing variances , assisting with the year-end Audit for the London office.
• Working in close collaboration with the Head of Finance, Financial Controller, Finance Assistants, Accountants and Auditors to facilitate compliance with industry regulations in the UK.
• Ensuring timely financial reporting, reviewing and adjusting of the Fixed Assets register, reviewing the Group tax to provide answers to tax queries and General Ledger queries from the Auditors, improving the efficiency of some financial processes 
• Reviewing and investigating variances with the General Ledger, the Group Tax/VAT and Payroll 

• Appointed on a short-term contract for 3 months during a period of transition following the acquisition of the digital health company BioBeats Group Ltd with responsibility for the Group reporting in Xero and production of monthly Management accounts for five legal entities in five counties - UK, USA, Germany, Italy and China, consolidating the Group P&L and BS, preparing month end journals, Payroll journals, oversaw the maintenance of the Fixed Assets register, Prepayments and Accruals, Balance Sheet reconciliations, analyzing variances, producing year end adjustment journals and assisting with the year-end audit for the London office
• Worked closely with the Head of Finance, Financial Controller, Accounts Assistants, external Accountants and Auditors to facilitate compliance with industry regulations in UK and overseas.
• Ensured high standard and timely financial reporting, reviewed and improved the efficiency of some financial processes and the robustness and effectiveness of the financial control systems 
• Reviewed and investigated variances with the General Ledger and the Tax/VAT submissions and built a new consolidated Cash Flow from scratch

• Appointed on a short-term contract for 6 months during a period of acquisition with responsibility for migrating and transferring data from EB2 and Great Plains to NetSuite, producing monthly Management accounts for six legal entities in four counties - UK, France, Germany and Poland, consolidating and reconciling the OPEX accounts, preparing month end journals including Payroll journals, overseeing the maintenance of the Fixed Assets register, the preparation of Prepayments and Accruals, BS reconciliations, analyzing variances, producing year end adjustment journals.
• Worked in close collaboration with the Group Finance Directors, Financial Controller, external Accountants and Auditors to facilitate compliance with industry regulations in UK and overseas.
• Ensured high standard, timely and high-quality financial reporting, reviewed and improved the efficiency of some OPEX financial processes and the robustness and effectiveness of the financial control systems
• Reviewed and identified variances with the General Ledger 

• Appointed on a short-term basis for 3 months with responsibility for consolidating and reconciling the accounts, AR, AP Bank Control accounts, Fixed Assets, Inventories, Prepayments and Accruals, BS reconciliations, analyzing variances, producing year end journals
• Worked in close collaboration with auditing services to facilitate compliance with industry regulations
• Managed the preparation and review of consolidated accounts across the group and for subsidiaries
• Oversaw the preparation of monthly P&L and balance sheets and performing financial tasks in line with month-end timelines. Provided Financial support to the Head of Finance with data migration from Xero to NetSuite and year end Audit
• Conceptualized and created systems to minimize the risk of errors in data collection and calculations
• Reviewed, identified and investigated variances with the Nominal Ledger and assisted with year-end processes

• Appointed on a temporary basis for 3 months to lead a small International team through periods of high intensity including month end, year end and the annual audit, took overall control of the Group accounting function
• Consolidated and reconciled the accounts of Malvern House London, Malvern House Brighton, Malvern International Plc and Communicate School, updated and reviewed P&L forecasts on rolling monthly basis as required internally and by Group
• Managed and coordinated the financial operations daily, ensured that that company financial systems are robust, compliant and support current activities and future, produced a Finance Operations Manual from scratch on Xero and Class.Net
• Prepared monthly management accounts, balance sheet reconciliations, bank reconciliations, produced monthly revenue recognition journals, prepayments, accruals and analysed variances, developed and maintained cash forecasting model for use in Treasury process, oversaw and reconciled the Group monthly payroll
• Reviewed Group tax to provide answers to tax queries from time to time including annual corporation tax, VAT and PAYE/NI
• Led and developed finance teams ensured that the corporate budgeting processes are carried out and reviewed

• Appointed on a short-term basis for 3 months to consolidate and reconcile the accounts for year end, was a primary point of contact and assisted with the Audits for the London and Belfast offices
• Managed and coordinated the financial operations daily, ensured that all financial transactions and intercompany reconciliations are accurately processed, filed and reported for the London and Belfast offices
• Produced comprehensive monthly financial reports, responsible for preparation and reconciliations of balance sheets and client accounts reconciliations, reporting in Xero and QuickBooks and preparation of year end management accounts
• Prepared and submitted quarterly VAT returns, EC Sales submissions, prepayments, accruals, deferred revenue accruals, depreciation and cooperation tax journals, Coached, mentored and developed three proactive Finance Assistants
• Provided support to the MD, Director of Operations and the Director of Business Development
• Implemented and managed internal controls, annual budgets and rolling forecasts
• Ensured high standard and timely financial reporting, reviewed and improved the efficiency of the financial processes and the robustness and effectiveness of the financial control systems 

• Oversaw and coordinated the day to day financial operations for the London and Newcastle offices, took ownership for financial control across the business, ensuring all financial transactions including invoices, multi-currency payments, daily bank and intercompany reconciliations are accurately recorded, filed and reported
• Produced comprehensive management accounts for DRS Ltd and Marlborough House (Newcastle) Holdings Limited, responsible for preparation and reconciliations of balance sheets, reconciliation of final budgets to the results reported in Xero and preparation of year end management accounts
• Responsible for managing daily cash flow forecasts, tracking transactions and reviewing internal reports whilst also creating monthly and annual reports to identify trends and enhanced and developed the existing processes and systems
• Prepared and submitted quarterly VAT returns, month end journals, prepayments, accruals, deferred revenue accruals, income accruals, depreciation journals, and cooperation tax journals, setting and monitoring KPI’s for the individual teams
• Provided leadership, coaching, mentoring and support to a Finance Assistant in the Newcastle office, and additionally manage all aspects of company payroll, salary journals, P45s, P60s, P11Ds and company pension scheme
• Accountable for maintaining the company Fixed Asset Register as well as reviewing and updating the operations manual
• Enhanced the existing payment and payroll processes, build a new Cash flow forecast from scratch 
• 5month contract with ownership for overseeing the day to day financial functions for the two businesses with leadership

• Responsible for creating and updating comprehensive financial reports to identify trends, results and forecasts whilst ensuring all financial transactions were accurately recorded, filed and reported
• Managed and reviewed cash flow through regularly tracking and scrutinizing internal reports and transactions
• Set, managed, reviewed and controlled budgets and financial plans to identify cost saving initiatives
• Provided effective leadership, training, motivation and mentoring to financial department staff including accountants and financial assistants through defining and clarifying job responsibilities and managing and appraising performance
• Reviewed and suggested improvements to enhance the performance of accounting, payments and invoicing systems 
• Appointed on a short-term contract basis to process financial data, including revenue and cost of sales journals, sales invoices,

• Ensured supplier payments and payroll requests (UK and Spain offices) were reviewed and actioned promptly, collated data and prepared journals – payroll, prepayments, accruals, depreciation, corporation tax, Spanish tax
• Produced comprehensive management reports, prepared business KPI’s, Implemented new financial processes
• Tasked with balance sheet reconciliations, Credit control, preparation and submission of VAT, P11D, P32
• Maintained records – backup schedules to support accounting entries, weekly Cash flow and forecasting
• Accountable for managing the company pension scheme, annual budget, business and data analysis
• Implemented new financial processes to ensure accurate payroll submissions and sales invoices processing

• Provided day to day financial support across all areas of the business ensuring accurate costs were captured, changes were implemented, operational procedures were met and that value-for-money decisions were made
• Managed and coordinated financial activities including cash book and bank reconciliations, accounts payable, accounts receivable, prepayments and accruals, credit control, financial reporting and authorizing payments
• Accountable for maintaining and updating sales, purchase and Nominal ledgers
• Produced annual budgets and forecasts, Processed and authorized multi-currency payments, company credit card statements, balance sheet reconciliation and P&L variance analysis
• Collated information and prepared full management accounts to senior Managers and Board of Directors
• Liaised with the external payroll provider to ensure accurate and timely payroll runs, served as the primary point of contact for audits and year-end reporting functions
• Spearhead significant improvements to existing financial processes, supervised the workload of two Accounts Assistants

2012 – 2016ACCA LSBF2002 – 2007BA Financial Economics (2:1)London Metropolitan University1992 – 1997MSc in English Philology (2:1)University of Shumen