Gautam S. Patankar

As the head of the Internal Audit and Controls team reporting functionally to the chair of the Audit Committee and administratively to the Corporate CFO, spearheaded strategic initiatives including creating and maintaining a strong foundational SOX and internal controls framework, conducting value-added operational audits, and executing fraud investigations to improve the accuracy of financial reporting, enhance organizational efficiency and protect the assets of a privately held $8B acquisitive company.

• Oversee detailed financial reporting (SOX), operational, fraud and enterprise risk assessments to identify and assess areas of significant business risk, financial impact and process efficiency.
• Strengthen the company's SOX environment through continuous monitoring and enhancements of SOX processes and controls, conducting control assessments, and providing guidance on control and risk management issues.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with corporate executive leadership and field senior operational management by assisting with SOX issue remediation and process improvement opportunities.
• Develop and execute the annual audit plan of the organization, perform value-added operational assessments and ensure effective follow-up of audit recommendations and management action plans.
• Conduct fraud investigations in collaboration with Legal to help safeguard company assets and make value added recommendations by identifying preventative and detective controls to minimize the risk of fraud.
• Improve the control culture within the company through training on various topics like importance of internal controls, lessons learned from fraud investigations, how to conduct walkthroughs, importance of spreadsheet controls, Information Provided by the Entity (IPE) requirements etc.
• Provide quarterly updates on the SOX program to the Audit Committee and monthly updates to the SOX Steering Committee comprised of the corporate CFO and Controller
• Maintain professional and technical knowledge by attending educational workshops and reviewing professional publications.
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• Collaborated with executive leadership to devise long-term strategic plans driving sustainable success.

Led a newly formed team of 6 to create a foundational and robust internal control monitoring and governance program framework that is Sarbanes Oxley (SOX) and Model Audit Rule (MAR) compliant for Oscar’s Insurance Operations business segment that includes the Claims, Enrollment & Billing, Member, Provider and Clinical Research lifecycles, while strategically partnering and communicating with Corporate Compliance, Internal Audit, and senior executives.

• Drafted the program governance charter that lays the foundation for the structure, program objectives, and execution strategy for the internal controls monitoring framework.
• Identified and design key financial and operational controls across all lifecycles, focusing on key processes and risks.
• Conducted readiness assessments by testing key SOX/MAR controls and identifying and fixing issues prior to independent testing by Internal Audit or the external auditors.
• Formulated sampling guidance used to determine sample size when conducting readiness testing.
• Identified process improvement opportunities to streamline critical business processes to increase efficiency.
• Coordinated regulatory and internal compliance audits, interacting with the regulators to respond to audit requests, and follow-up on questions post audit completion.
• Created and updated standard operating procedures to align with regulatory changes across all lifecycles.
• Developed subject matter expertise within the team by providing guidance, training, and a broad exposure to each lifecycle.

Led, trained, and developed a team of 4 to manage the Sarbanes Oxley/Model Audit Rule (SOX/MAR) program for Prudential’s seven Asset Management businesses (with approximately $1.5 trillion Assets Under Management) and various Corporate functions (Tax, Treasury, SEC Reporting, Enterprise Risk Management, Accounting Policy, Law, Compliance & Business Ethics, and Finance Shared Services), including strategically partnering and communicating with senior management, challenging the design of 600+ financial and Information Technology (IT) controls, and testing complex business processes.

• Trained the SOX community comprised of over 600 Prudential employees on the COSO 2013 framework, governance controls, and guidance on effectively conducting walkthroughs and performing self-assessments.
• Developed, enhanced, and updated the SOX program Standard Operating Procedures (SOP’s) and published them on the SOX intranet page for use by the SOX community.
• Designed a step-by-step framework to perform vertical and horizontal reviews of business processes across Prudential, identifying the optimal control mix of activity level and direct entity-level controls, reducing key controls by 10%.
• Created a framework to identify and test IT dependencies (key reports, spreadsheets, and automated controls) and risk rate financial, IT and governance business processes and controls, resulting in a reduction in testing hours per control and fees charged by the external auditors.
• Participated as a subject matter expert in the Prudential-wide Assessment Alignment Initiative and the Fraud Governance Council to develop a common assessment methodology around controls, risks, and business processes, and a fraud assessment framework across global financial and operational risk management, compliance, and SOX.

Led and trained a team of 12 members to manage the SOX compliance program across the US and Canada for all business units and corporate functions. Rendered strategic insight as part of the Chief Audit Executive’s leadership team to direct SOX audit strategy development, comprehensive risk assessment, annual budget planning, and SOX projects’ oversight. Participated in the Disclosure Committee meetings with senior leaders (Business Unit CFO’s).

• Drove transparency and integrity by spearheading compliance initiatives and leading the audits of critical financial risk areas, such as Treasury (investments and capital strategy), financial reporting (external, statutory, and internal management reporting) and finance operations (billing to cash, invoice to pay, and general accounting).
• Conducted a companywide COSO Readiness Review to ensure compliance with the 2013 COSO framework, resulting in the identification of key risks and robust internal controls, including controls mitigating accounting fraud risks.
• Steered the SOX Optimization project eliminating non-key controls and shifting the focus to higher level analytic controls, resulting in a 15% reduction in SOX controls.
• Strategically collaborated with business unit management to streamline and enhance controls and underlying processes, communicating significant control improvements to senior management.
• Presented quarterly SOX results to the Steering Committee comprised of the Corporate CFO and Corporate Controller.
• Developed the Deficiency Evaluation Methodology used by the SOX department to quantify exposure to control failures.
• - Oversaw and audited the on-boarding process for SEC Reporting, Investor Relations, Treasury, and other corporate areas, ensuring alignment of key controls with assertions, and risks.
• Led accounting and controls-related fraud investigations for issues reported through the Ethics Hotline.
• Reviewed and updated the fraud risk assessment methodology to mitigate financial and non-financial fraud risks.
• Drafted the ADP Corporate Spreadsheet Policy including guidelines and controls for testing.
• - Participated in the Finance Advisory Board to develop a methodology to attract, cultivate and retain extraordinary talent and communicate the company’s Finance Vision, Mission, and Values to the finance organization.

Led teams to manage SOX compliance reviews of key business units, such as Added Value Services (AVS), Small Business Services (SBS), Majors, Nationals, Total Source, Canada, as well as key cycles including Revenue, Expenditures, Funds Management, Financial Reporting & Closing, and Sales Compensation.

• Assigned team members to SOX projects based on their skills and competencies and reviewed work papers to ensure proper documentation of testing. Oversaw closing meetings conducted by team members providing constructive feedback when needed.
• Identified and eliminated 30 non-key, duplicate, and redundant controls and enhancing the related test procedures to ensure the appropriate testing of controls.

Led a team of 14 auditors to handle international and domestic audits focusing on internal controls, fraud, Financial Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) compliance, revenue recognition, procurement, vendor selection, and contract management.

• Managed the semi-annual global risk assessment process utilized in the development of the audit plan.
• Oversaw the global Sarbanes Oxley (SOX) Compliance program from inception, coordinating joint testing teams from internal audit and Big 4 accounting firms, reducing total controls from 10,000+ to 2500.
• Conducted quality assurance reviews of process testing documentation, acting as a liaison between Internal Audit (IA), external auditors, and management, while providing recommendations for improvement for any control failures.
• Reviewed testing results from 2,500 to 10,000 tests of controls each year ensuring project completion without missing a single deadline and almost $800K under budget.
• Represented Internal Audit in the High-Risk Emerging Market Taskforce by reviewing the business approach in high-risk countries to resolve issues in segregation of duties, conflict of interest, fraud, corruption, and bribery.
• Steered special investigations related to the Hotline and Whistleblower program initiated in response to Sarbanes Oxley.

Managed due diligence for potential acquisition targets, reviewing financial information for proper application of the latest accounting standards in revenue recognition, capitalized software, drafting the financial portion of the Term Sheet and Stock and Asset Purchase Agreement. Managed post-acquisition issues in goodwill (FAS 142) and asset (FAS 144) impairment.

• Managed “carve-out” accounting activities for divestitures of business segments ranging from $60-$300M.
• Formulated the Divestitures Policy that detailed the role of the Accounting Policy, M & A group in a divestiture.
• Updated the company’s revenue recognition policies to align with SAB 101, SAB 104, and other accounting guidelines.
• Developed a model to calculate the impairment of the assets based on FAS 144, Accounting for Impairment or Disposal of Long-Lived Assets and conducted in-house seminars to present key concepts.
• Managed a project related to FIN 45, involving a review of nearly one hundred Acquisition, Divestiture and Spin-Off agreements to determine any indemnification clauses or guarantees that needed to be disclosed in the annual reports.
• Oversaw a project related to FIN 46, Consolidation of Variable Interest Entities, enabling the company to recover on a favorable tax audit outcome.

Managed audit teams of up to 8 people while conducting various full-scope (revenue, expenditure, and production) operational and compliance audits of manufacturing plants, making value-added recommendations, and identifying weaknesses in internal controls.

• Managed an audit of financial derivative instruments and identified approximately $$3M of unhedged transactions that exposed the company to currency risk fluctuations.
• Supervised anti-trust audits to identify price fixing by reviewing price trends and customer pricing.
• Led global cost accounting project involving plants in Germany, Belgium, and the United States to determine the lowest cost manufacturer for certain products by understanding the cost structure, identifying cost accounting differences and comparing the various plants on a common basis.
• Managed a vendor fraud investigation audit that resulted in a claim of approximately $8 million in favor of the company.
• Updated the company’s revenue recognition policies to align with SAB 101, SAB 104, and other accounting guidelines.

Supervised and planned operational audits of domestic and international entities including manufacturing plants, sales offices and distribution centers that focused on all aspects of the business including revenue, expenditure, production, sales and marketing, payroll, and fixed assets.

• Analyzed and mapped the operations of the international sales division and the related distribution centers, and identified opportunities for improvement which helped restructure processes, integrate systems, reduce costs, and eliminate non-value-added activities.
• Designed the centralized Accounts Payable hub for consolidating transaction processing across North American entities.