Jacob Clark

CPA with a Master's in Accounting (concentration in Accounting Information Systems) and two years of Big 4 and Top 10 public accounting experience across EY and Forvis Mazars. Pairs audit-trained analytical rigor with hands-on financial and operational analysis — building driver-based expectations, investigating variances against expected and prior-period results, and turning financial and operational data into clear, decision-useful insight. Now focused on corporate finance, FP&A, and finance systems, deepening SQL, Python, and automation to help own and improve how data, forecasts, and reporting flow through a business.

Experienced Associate at Forvis Mazars (Top 10 Firm) (2025-10 – 2026-04)

• Analyzed operating expenses — commission expense, SG&A, and vendor spend — evaluating the cost drivers behind recorded amounts and surfacing unresolved vendor disputes that affected whether costs were supportable.
• Evaluated period-end close activities through accrual and prepaid testing — independently recalculating payroll accruals and verifying prepaid balances against supporting invoices to assess the accuracy and completeness of period-end reporting.
• Built an independent expectation for interest expense using market rate data and outstanding balances — comparing expected to recorded amounts and explaining the drivers behind the difference.
• Developed driver-based revenue expectations across ~13 operating entities — deriving expected results from production volumes, market pricing, and seasonality, then investigating differences from recorded amounts and explaining the underlying business drivers.
• Automated recurring analytical procedures using DataSnipper, TeamMate Analytics, and CaseWare — streamlining repetitive workflows across document matching, data extraction, and large-dataset testing.
• Ramped quickly across five industries — energy/oil & gas, SEC broker-dealer, local government, school board, and hospitality — adapting analytical procedures and priorities across changing scopes, shifting priorities, and compressed reporting deadlines.
• Sustained ~90% utilization (~1,035 billed hours) across a full busy season.

Audit Associate at Ernst & Young, LLP (Big 4) (2024-09 – 2025-08)

• Evaluated management’s budget-to-actual variance reporting process — assessing significance thresholds, documented business-driver explanations, and follow-up procedures for significant fluctuations from an independent quality-control perspective.
• Assessed full-population general-ledger data using EY GLA — identifying trends, anomalies, and risk drivers and communicating data-driven analytical conclusions to engagement leadership.
• Collaborated with client finance and operational stakeholders to understand transaction flows, cost and payroll processes, ERP environments, and period-end reporting underlying financial results.
• Performed audit procedures over SEC financial reporting (10-K / 10-Q) for large public clients — gaining exposure to how underlying transactions, controls, close activities, and financial reporting connect through the reporting cycle.
• Sustained 90%+ utilization (1,250+ billed hours) across multiple concurrent engagements.

Bank Teller at Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. (2016-07 – 2022-11)

• Maintained zero transaction and cash-drawer losses across seven consecutive quarters through strict procedural controls and risk awareness.
• Trained new tellers on policies, procedures, compliance, and service standards.

Master of Accounting in Accounting Information Systems – Florida Atlantic University (2024-08)

Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting – Florida Atlantic University (2022-12)