MARTIN J. LARA
Chicago,Illinois
Summary
Financial Analyst with progressive financial industry experience across auditing, financial controls, budgeting, accounting and tax specialties. . Strategic and analytical finance professional with success in financial reporting, analysis and project management. Strong leader with excellent motivation and communication skills to build and manage high-performing teams.
Overview
10
10
years of professional experience
Work History
Senior Financial Analyst
Chicago Park District
Chicago, IL
01.2024 - Current
- Plan, manage and organize projects for the General Accounting Department
- Create and analyze financial reports through excel and Oracle.
- Analyzed financial data to identify trends, patterns and strategies.
- Monitored and analyzed key performance indicators and financial ratios.
- Determined and tracked budget expenses with accuracy and transparency.
- Identified process inefficiencies and recommended improvements.
- Modeled, planned and executed financial processes.
- Evaluated financial information to assess budget requirements.
- Generated informational spreadsheets for tax purposes.
- Analyzed financial data to identify trends, discrepancies, and opportunities for improvement.
- Monitored cash flow projections and advised management on necessary adjustments as needed.
- Calculated the fair value of bonds at year end.
- Generated the investment and bonds records for the year end audit.
- Assessed internal control processes related to accounting systems, procedures, policies.
- Recommended changes in existing accounting practices or procedures in order to improve efficiency and accuracy.
- Developed financial analysis reports and presentations by applying acquired financial principles.
- Created ad-hoc financial reports as requested by senior management team members.
Financial Analyst
Chicago Park District
Chicago, IL
05.2015 - 12.2023
- Receive payments and create dozens of receipt journal entries to post into the general ledger daily
- Review and post dozens of actual and budget entries into the general ledger daily
- Reconcile monthly investments for the Chicago Park District and review transactions and bank statements from a hundred (100) investment and cash accounts
- Create and document invoices for capital grants, tax increment finance, and non-government projects
- Track corresponding payments for every invoice issued by the Chicago Park District
- Calculate the parking taxes for forty (40) parking areas and provide monthly reports to the City and County
- Reconcile the annual parking taxes with the City and County
- Organize the journal entries annually for accessibility by the Comptroller’s Office and for auditing purposes
- Assist auditors and provide information needed throughout the annual audit processReviewed and reconciled general ledger accounts for accuracy and completeness.
- Assisted in the preparation of financial statements, including balance sheets, income statements, and cash flow statements.
- Updated journal entries to ensure accurate reporting of transactions.
- Performed monthly closing activities such as accruals and deferrals.
- Prepared bank reconciliations on a regular basis.
- Researched discrepancies between bank balances and general ledger accounts.
- Analyzed account activity to identify potential errors or inconsistencies.
- Reconciled intercompany accounts on a monthly basis.
- Developed processes to improve the efficiency of accounting operations.
- Ensured compliance with GAAP standards when preparing financial reports.
- Generated reports for internal management review and analysis.
- Provided support to other departments regarding financial matters.
- Processed payroll data into the general ledger system for accurate tracking.
- Conducted financial analysis and research to advise senior management on forecasting decisions.
- Diminished financial discrepancies and accurately reconciled accounts using detailed data analysis results.
Property/Facilities Management Intern and Consultant
Parks Concession Management
Chicago, IL
06.2015 - 09.2015
- Reviewed commercial property lease agreements and vendor service contracts
- Enforced compliance with contract and lease terms
- Inspected properties and documented any breaches, violations and non-compliance with lease terms
- Conducted audits to analyze and determine the validity and accuracy of sales reports.
Intern
Department of Transportation
, DC
06.2014 - 08.2014
- Office of Acquisitions and Grants Intern 40 hours per week
- Routed purchase requests to the appropriate contract specialist or group
- Worked with the closeout team on closeouts and sending the files to archives
- Monitored the status of contracts using the financial system
- Created and organized files for dozens of contracts and prepared spreadsheets for the policy branch.
Tax Returner
Internship
Jacksonville, IL
01.2014 - 05.2014
- Prepared 1040 tax returns for individuals
- 10 hours per week
- Interacted with customers to gather relevant information and explain their resulting returns.
Education
Bachelor of Science - Accounting & Business Administration
MacMurray College, East College
Jacksonville, IL05.2015
Skills
- General ledger journal entry
- Monitoring expenditures
- Comparative analysis
- Due diligence
- Compiling data
- Expense and revenue analysis
- Research and Data Analysis
- Analyzing performance
- Self-motivated professional
- Account reconciliation
- Analytical research
- Project Planning
- MS Office suite
- Trend analysis
Timeline
Senior Financial Analyst
Chicago Park District
01.2024 - Current
Property/Facilities Management Intern and Consultant
Parks Concession Management
06.2015 - 09.2015
Financial Analyst
Chicago Park District
05.2015 - 12.2023
Intern
Department of Transportation
06.2014 - 08.2014
Tax Returner
Internship
01.2014 - 05.2014
Bachelor of Science - Accounting & Business Administration
MacMurray College, East College