Damaris Were

Finance and operations professional with 13+ years of progressive experience in healthcare finance, accounting, treasury, receivables, budgeting, financial reporting, internal controls and operational improvement.

Currently Finance

Officer at Avenue Hospital, with earlier experience in receivables and cashier operations. Experienced in reconciliations, month-end activities, cash-flow management, procurement/payment controls, statutory compliance, audit readiness, budgeting and management reporting. MBA (Finance), BCom (Finance), CPA Part II ongoing and CISA ongoing.

Brings a strong service orientation, ethical approach, attention to financial integrity and experience working across clinical, administrative and operational teams.

Finance Officer - Avenue Hospital - Kisumu

(2019-07)

• Manage day-to-day finance operations, financial records, reconciliations, cash flow, accounts payable, vendor accounts and reporting in a high-volume healthcare environment.
• Prepare and review monthly financial schedules, management reports, reconciliations and supporting documentation; investigate discrepancies and follow up outstanding items.
• Lead budgeting and forecasting activities, achieving 95% forecasting accuracy; analyse variances and recommend corrective actions.
• Support journal entries, period-end adjustments, fixed-asset accounting, depreciation and audit requirements.
• Coordinate statutory deductions and tax submissions, maintaining zero penalties and complete compliance documentation.
• Strengthen internal controls, finance procedures and audit readiness; train staff on controls, receipting and system processes.
• Participate in process mapping, workflow redesign and digital-payment initiatives; coordinate doctors' revenue-share and non-revenue-share payments.
• Work cross-functionally with management, clinical, procurement, customer-service and operational teams to resolve finance issues and support decisions.
• Selected results: 98% cashless-payment adoption; 10% expense reduction; 30% reduction in branch budget-preparation time; 15% reduction in operating expenses; 15% reduction in procurement costs; improved controls and reduced audit findings.

Receivable Accountant - Avenue Hospital - Kisumu

(2015-06 - 2019-06)

• Managed receivables, collections, billing, insurance-provider accounts, pre-authorisations and receivable reconciliations.
• Improved debt collection by 30% and reduced average days sales outstanding by 15%.
• Investigated billing discrepancies, resolved payment issues and coordinated with internal teams and external stakeholders.
• Optimised credit approval and collection processes while strengthening controls and cash-flow management.

Cashier - Avenue Hospital - Kisumu

(2013-07 - 2015-05)

• Processed patient financial transactions, receipting, daily balancing and reconciliations; resolved payment discrepancies and maintained accurate records.

Finance Assistant Intern - KITE Sacco

(2010-05 - 2010-07)

• Supported accounting records, reconciliations, data entry and finance administration.

MBA - Finance - University of Nairobi (2019 - 2021)

Bachelor of Commerce - Finance - KCA University (2015 - 2018)

Diploma - Accountancy - Kisumu Polytechnic (2008 - 2012)