Chamika McLean
Accounts Payable/Finance
High Point,NC
Summary
Results-driven Accounts Payable Manager with 20+ years of Accounts Payable/Finance experience and 11+ years of Leadership experience. An accomplished professional with a proven ability to develop, build and lead a diverse team. Proficient in managing departmental operations, including recruiting, training, employee relations, performance reviews, and monthly statistical reporting. Adept at creating and maintaining policies and procedures, workflow charts, SOP's, performing weekly reconciliations, monitoring end-to-end invoice reconciliation, and overseeing vendor relations. Consistently enhances operations and streamlines timelines/processes while upholding all quality standards and regulatory mandates.
Overview
15
15
years of professional experience
4
4
years of post-secondary education
Work History
Accounts Payable Manager; Global Shared Services
Ralph Lauren Corporation
High Point, NC
05.2017 - 01.2023
- Responsible for performance of geographically distributed AP team, including development, training, promotion, recruitment, etc.
- Partnered with multiple divisions/departments to coordinate and complete month-end/year-end close reporting, accruals, account/invoice reconciliations, etc.
- Assisted with continuous improvement of key initiatives in Procure to Pay process, including invoice automation (reducing manual entry resources by 60%), vendor portal resolution, and global consistency efforts/shared services.
- Lead weekly meetings with Senior Leadership team to review and discuss reporting outlining both organizational and departmental expenditures, forecasting, aged invoices, continuous improvement efforts, vendor master maintenance, etc.
- Automated and managed workflow controls for invoice reconciliation and risk assessment in accordance with GAAP and SOX guidelines.
- Globally supported and aligned all RL entities/divisions through review and analysis of all AP ERP systems, processes, and financial activities.
- Managed continuously to conform processes and resources as needed, to align with all organizational and departmental goals, needs and expectations.
- Measured, tracked, and assessed key performance KPI metrics to properly quantify volume of incoming invoices, gauge staff productivity and process efficiency, detect system and/or process inefficiencies, identify opportunities for improvement; etc.
- Partnered with both internal/external audit to assist with accurate and timely completion of all AP ERP system audit requests, ensured proper ERP system controls functioned according to configuration and in compliance with all AP processes and workflows in accordance with GAAP and SOX guidelines.
- Managed and assisted team with preparing timely and accurate GL account reconciliations related to A/P, including vendor aging, prepaid purchases and expenses, and accrual reserves. Ensured corrections were made in a timely manner; as errors were discovered, minimizing financial reporting impacts.
- Created efficiencies through process and software implementations.
- Partnered with Finance, IT, Procurement, Inventory Control, Master Data and other parts of the business as needed to address and resolve invoice/PO reconciliation issues, and system failures contributing to late/non-payment of vendor invoices.
- Participated in UAT testing by creating and executing test scenarios and provided project updates to leadership while ensuring clear coordination and communication between project teams and operational teams.
- Ensured all documentation (SOP's, process, flowcharts, policies, and procedures, etc.) were accurate, complete, and maintained in accordance with organizations policy.
Accounts Payable Supervisor
Ralph Lauren Corporation
High Point, NC
03.2011 - 05.2017
- Supervised a team of 12 and assisted as needed with processing vendor invoices in a high volume environment; both PO and non-PO, promptly in accordance with company policy, GAAP standards and SOX compliance.
- Oversaw monthly accounting close process for timely and accurate reporting of financial information.
- Researched all invoices that were past due
- Effectively interacted with corporate vendors, upper management, and peers through both verbal and written communications
- Created business continuity plans for department in event of disaster or outage.
- Tracked expenditures and prepared reports for records and management review.
- Trained, supported and educated new hires on work flows, and departmental/interdepartmental procedures
- Partnered with management to complete AP month-end/year-end closings with journal entries and reconciling accounts.
- Built highly efficient administrative team through ongoing coaching and professional development opportunities.
- Delegated task to AP team to organize and improve departmental efficiency.
- Resolved issues through active listening and open-ended questioning; escalating major problems to management.
- Coordinated individual duties after careful evaluation of each associates skill level and knowledge base.
- Interceded between employees during conflict and diffused tense situations.
- Organized meetings for executive and senior leadership teams, and coordinated availability of conference rooms and equipment for participants.
Accounts Payable T&E Analyst
Ralph Lauren Corporation
High Point, NC
09.2007 - 03.2011
- Perform day to day administrative duties of Concur/SAP System, including pulling Concur files for integrations, setting up new cardholders, making changes to cardholder access or business unit, inactivating accounts for terminated employees, and adding G/L accounts and expense types when needed.
- Review all daily, weekly, and monthly reports to ensure that data is processing correctly per corporate policy; including performing reconciliations between Concur/SAP and coordinating banking institutions to ensure all batches integrate successfully. Resolve discrepancies for any batches that failed integrations.
- Audit expense and P-Card reports submitted by employees for overall reasonableness and receipt attachment, ensuring that users are not in violation of Corporate T&E and P-Card policies.
- Provide solutions to user problems in a timely manner to ensure high user satisfaction and productivity.
- Train all new travel card holders and
- P-card users in the use of the Expense reporting solution to adhere to Corporate Policy. Work with employees and business unit to assist and troubleshoot when a card may have been suspended or canceled.
- Actively monitor T&E and P-Card activity and when suspected, identify to Manager possible fraudulent activity, suspected "exception" matters and/or non-compliance.
- Responsible for linking new Corporate Card and/or P-Card to an employee in expense reporting system to ensure Corporate Card automated feed of charges.
- Monitor Corporate Card payments and refunds.
- Assist with auditor requests, including providing copies of expense reports as required and answering any T&E questions as they arise.
- Oversee Concur/Sap system maintenance, which includes making the necessary changes to audit rules, reports, and system settings to ensure compliance with Corporate Travel Policy. In addition, activate and maintain employee data, and monitor out of pocket reimbursements.
- Ensure that T&E and P-Card process and procedure documentation and User documentation are properly maintained and that updates are created, as required, in a timely manner.
- Produce monthly reporting metrics from Concur/SAP system.
- Work with Concur support and IT to resolve technical issues.
- Research and respond to internal and external accounting/financial questions and resolve issues as needed.
Education
Associates of Business Management; Human Resources - Business Management; Human Resources
08.2019 - 05.2023
Certifications
- Institute of Finance & Management (IOFM) APM (Accounts Payable Manager) Certified
- Institute of Finance & Management (IOFM) APPS ( Procure-to-Pay Specialist) Certified
Skills
Account Reconciliation
Accounts Payable/Finance expertise
Business Continuity Planning
ERP Systems (SAP, Concur, Ariba, Lawson, Island Pacific, Blackline, Commerce Hub, Kofax)
GAAP
Invoice auditing, Audit Support, Internal Controls
Leadership/ Managerial/ Motivational
Microsoft Applications (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Visio, Outlook)
Onboarding, Training, Mentoring
Operational Management
Process Improvement
Project Management
Reporting, Analysis, Research, Problem Solving
SOX
Strategic planning
Strong Communication skills; both verbal and written
System Implementation (Apex, Kofax, SAP, Ariba)
Time Management
Workflow Management