Professional Summary
Overview
Work History
Education
Skills
CORE LEADERSHIP EXPERTISE
Timeline

MATTHEW J. PALADINO

MBP Education Finance Consultant
Wayne,NJ
26
years of professional experience

Strategic Interim/Fractional CFO with over 20 years of experience leading mission-driven organizations through transitions and growth. Directed finance and operations for budgets exceeding $140M, enhancing efficiencies through financial management and process redesign. Skilled in assessing financial conditions, stabilizing operations, and strengthening cash flow and reporting. Expertise spans FP&A, accounting, budgeting, audit, and risk management, resulting in improved financial infrastructure and sustainable practices.

Work History

Owner/Operator | Interim & Fractional CFO | Education Finance Advisor

6 Years 7 Months
MBP Education Finance Consultant | 01.2020 - Current
  • Provide interim and fractional CFO leadership to education, nonprofit, public-sector, and mission-driven organizations navigating leadership transition, organizational change, capacity constraints, and financial or operational complexity.
  • Step into complex financial environments and rapidly assess priorities and risk, identifying financial, operational, compliance, staffing, reporting, cash-flow, and control issues requiring immediate leadership attention.
  • Stabilized and strengthened critical finance functions across accounting, FP&A, budgeting, forecasting, cash management, close, AP/AR, payroll, grants, procurement, reporting, audit readiness, and internal controls, enhancing operational integrity.
  • Developed multi-year budgets, forecasts, cash-flow models, scenario analyses, variance reporting, and KPI dashboards, improving executive and Board visibility into performance, liquidity, risk, resource requirements, and strategic alternatives.
  • Build multi-year budgets, forecasts, cash-flow models, scenario analyses, variance reporting, and KPI dashboards, giving executives and Boards greater visibility into performance, liquidity, risk, resource requirements, and strategic alternatives.
  • Improve financial and operating efficiency by up to 30% through financial analysis, procurement optimization, process redesign, reporting automation, technology adoption, workflow improvement, and stronger controls.
  • Modernized financial infrastructure while leading finance and operational teams, resolved bottlenecks, strengthened accountability and execution, and established scalable processes and sustainable financial disciplines for continuity and future leadership.

Chief Financial & Operations Officer | School Business Administrator / Board Secretary

8 Years 6 Months
Belleville Board of Education | 06.2017 - 12.2025
  • Acted as principal financial advisor to the Superintendent and strategic partner to the governing Board while directing $140M+ in annual finance and multidisciplinary operations through organizational transformation, capital investment, and evolving operational priorities.
  • Led annual and multi-year financial strategy and advised the Superintendent and Board, integrating revenue, staffing, cash flow, forecasting, scenario analysis, capital requirements, risk, and KPIs into actionable recommendations that strengthened financial stability and long-term resource allocation.
  • Directed $140M+ in annual finance and operations spanning accounting, FP&A, budgeting, treasury, cash management, payroll, procurement, grants, compliance, technology, facilities, transportation, food services, insurance, and administration.
  • Strengthened financial governance and organizational resilience through enhanced reporting, internal controls, cash management, policies, audit readiness, compliance, and accountability, achieving consistent success in independent audits.
  • Led $52M+ in strategic capital and facilities financing, including a $48.5M voter-approved referendum and $3.5M financing program, ensuring alignment of infrastructure investments with affordability, liquidity, risk, and long-term sustainability.
  • Modernized financial and operational infrastructure, developing multidisciplinary teams and leveraging systems implementation, business intelligence, automation, procurement optimization, and process redesign to generate efficiencies and enhance visibility and accountability.

Chief Financial Officer | Controller | Senior Accountant | Assistant Business Administrator | Staff Accountant

16 Years
01.2001 - 01.2017
  • Progressed from hands-on accounting to CFO-level leadership, cultivating financial and operational expertise across healthcare, nonprofit, and public education sectors.
  • Advanced into senior financial leadership, partnering with executives and operational teams to stabilize operations, resolve complex issues, enhance controls and processes, manage risk, and translate financial results into actionable decisions during organizational change.
  • Developed deep technical expertise across GL, financial close and reporting, AP/AR, reconciliations, payroll, budgeting, forecasting, grants, audit, internal controls, compliance, and management reporting, establishing the hands-on foundation to lead complex finance functions.
  • Healthcare
  • Nonprofit
  • Public Education

Education

M.S. - Management

Saint Elizabeth University | Morristown

B.S. - Accounting

Seton Hall University | South Orange

Skills

Finance ERP CSI
Scenario Analysis
KPI Dashboards
Reporting Automation
Process Automation
Financial Systems Implementation
AI-Assisted Analysis
Analytics: Advanced Excel
Power BI
Finance & ERP: CSI
ERP Software Management
Enterprise & Transformation: Microsoft 365
Google Workspace

CORE LEADERSHIP EXPERTISE

  • INTERIM CFO & STRATEGIC FINANCE: Financial Stabilization
  • Organizational Transition
  • Rapid Assessment
  • CEO & Board Advisory
  • FP&A
  • Multi-Year Planning
  • Forecasting
  • Scenario Modeling
  • Cash Flow & Treasury
  • Strategic Decision Support
  • GOVERNANCE, RISK & OPERATIONS: GAAP
  • Financial Reporting
  • Internal Controls
  • Audit & Compliance
  • Grants
  • Risk Management
  • Procurement
  • Facilities & Capital Planning
  • Administrative Operations
  • TRANSFORMATION & LEADERSHIP: Finance Transformation
  • Financial Systems
  • Process Redesign
  • Automation & Business Intelligence
  • Change Management
  • Cross-Functional Leadership
  • Team Development
  • Leadership Continuity

Timeline

Owner/Operator | Interim & Fractional CFO | Education Finance Advisor

MBP Education Finance Consultant
01.2020 - CurrentRead More

Chief Financial & Operations Officer | School Business Administrator / Board Secretary

Belleville Board of Education
06.2017 - 12.2025Read More

Chief Financial Officer | Controller | Senior Accountant | Assistant Business Administrator | Staff Accountant

01.2001 - 01.2017Read More

Seton Hall University

B.S. from Accounting
Read More

Saint Elizabeth University

M.S. from Management
Read More
MATTHEW J. PALADINO