Summary
Overview
Work History
Education
Skills
Timeline
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Varun Karunakar

Varun Karunakar

Tampa,USA

Summary

Senior Finance Analyst with over 5+ years of progressive experience in Accounting and Finance, specializing in financial analysis, SQL Database, account reconciliations, and month-end close. Proven expertise in Oracle Smart View, SAP (S/4HANA, ECC, FICO, Ariba, Fiori), and advanced Excel (VLOOKUP, XLOOKUP, Pivot Tables, Power Query) to drive financial reporting, variance analysis, and process improvements. Adept at decoding complex financial data, preparing journal entries and accruals, and ensuring compliance with GAAP/IFRS and SOX controls. Skilled in leading cross-functional collaboration, implementing automation, and delivering insights that support management decision-making and operational efficiency.

Overview

5
5
years of professional experience

Work History

Senior Finance Analyst

Centene Corporation
12.2023 - Current
  • Led end-to-end Procure-to-Pay processes, including invoice processing, T&E audits, vendor payments, and exception handling, ensuring compliance with corporate policies and SOX standards.
  • Conducted root cause analysis on escalations, reducing recurring exceptions and improving payment cycle efficiency by 40%.
  • Reconciled vendor/dealer statements, cleared open items, and validated AP/AR balances to maintain financial accuracy.
  • Authored and updated Desktop Procedures (DTPs), strengthening compliance, audit readiness, and team training.
  • Wrote and optimized SQL queries to extract large financial datasets from Oracle and SAP systems, supporting month-end reconciliations, variance analysis, and management reporting.
  • Designed ad hoc SQL reports to validate AP/AR balances, vendor transactions, and accrual postings, reducing reconciliation discrepancies by 20%.
  • Leveraged SQL joins and aggregations to reconcile subledger vs. general ledger balances, ensuring accuracy of Balance Sheet and Income Statement reporting.
  • Automated recurring financial reports by integrating SQL queries with Excel and Power Query, cutting manual data preparation time by 30%.
  • Produced monthly metrics and AP dashboards (aging, cycle time, exception rates) using Excel (VLOOKUP, XLOOKUP, Pivot Tables, Power Query); delivered insights that drove process improvements and on-time performance.
  • Leveraged Oracle Smart View and SAP to extract, validate, and analyze large financial datasets, supporting management reporting, financial close, and detailed variance analysis.
  • Prepared financial reports and ad hoc analysis in Smart View, improving accuracy and timeliness of decision-making.
  • Decoded and interpreted complex financial data files, translating data into actionable insights for Finance and Business Unit leaders.
  • Performed journal entries, accruals, and expense variance analysis, identifying cost drivers and recommending corrective actions.
  • Partnered with Treasury and General Ledger teams on payment runs (ACH, wires, checks), ensuring accurate fund allocations and compliance with bank mandates.
  • Implemented OCR automation via ReadSoft, reducing manual keying by 30% and increasing first-pass yield by 25%.
  • Designed and documented SOPs for invoice intake, exception workflows, and payment runs; trained 5+ new team members.
  • Supported external and internal audits by preparing complete backup packages (POs, GRs, approvals, vendor master changes).
  • Proposed and implemented tolerance/workflow adjustments that reduced invoice cycle time from 5.2 to 3.6 days.

Finance Analyst

TIAA Financial Services
02.2023 - 12.2023
  • Managed end-to-end Accounts Payable for a multi-plant manufacturing environment, processing 1,500–2,000 invoices monthly in SAP with high accuracy.
  • Performed 3-way matching on complex multi-line POs and partial GRs, resolving price and quantity variances to ensure compliance with procurement contracts.
  • Collaborated with R2R teams during month-end close to validate accruals and GR/IR balances, preventing misstatements in financial reporting.
  • Prepared and posted journal entries, accruals, and reclassifications for month-end and year-end close, ensuring compliance with GAAP/IFRS.
  • Reconciled balance sheet accounts and vendor subledgers, analyzed variances, and provided management with clear explanations.
  • Developed automated Excel and Power Query models to streamline reconciliations and financial reporting, cutting manual effort by 25%.
  • Led process improvement initiatives that improved reconciliation accuracy, reduced cycle time, and standardized workflows across finance functions.
  • Partnered with auditors and compliance teams, delivering clean audit documentation and maintaining strong SOX/internal controls.
  • Supported ERP enhancements and UAT testing, validating system changes to ensure accurate billing and payment processes.
  • Applied strong controls and risk management practices to mitigate errors, compliance gaps, and fraud risks in payment cycles.
  • Partnered with Procurement to correct vendor master data (tax codes, remit-to, bank details), reducing rework and improving data integrity.
  • Standardized intake procedures via shared mailbox and naming conventions, reducing invoice exceptions at intake by 25%.
  • Built KPI dashboards (first-pass yield, exception rates, on-time payments) using Excel Pivot Tables and Power Query to monitor AP performance.
  • Assisted with 1099 year-end processes (TIN/W-9 collection, coding adjustments), ensuring compliance with IRS requirements.
  • Facilitated cross-functional huddles to resolve high-impact supplier match exceptions and piloted ReadSoft OCR template updates, improving hit rate from 78% to 90%.

Accounts Payable Analyst

Genpact
03.2019 - 12.2021
  • Supported SAP FICO and HCM integration with DX systems, ensuring seamless financial data flow and accurate reporting.
  • Developed and assisted in system enhancements across procurement, inventory accounting, and invoice verification, improving efficiency and accuracy.
  • Implemented a centralized purchasing management system by configuring release strategies for PRs and POs.
  • Processed 100+ invoices weekly, ensuring accuracy, timely payments, and compliance with accounting standards.
  • Coordinated with vendors and internal teams to resolve payment and billing issues, improving supplier relationships.
  • Verified and reconciled vendor statements, clearing discrepancies to maintain accurate AP records.
  • Maintained the Chart of Accounts and master data (vendor, material, customer, purchasing info records), ensuring integrity of postings in SAP FI/CO.
  • Supported finance master data migration and integration between SAP and legacy systems (FTP/sFTP), ensuring secure and accurate data transfer.
  • Identified and implemented process improvements in procurement and invoice verification using Lean principles, reducing cycle times.
  • Performed month-end close activities, including accruals, reconciliations, and financial reporting adjustments.
  • Refined configuration of SAP Logistics/MM functionality to optimize procure-to-pay processes and conducted unit/integration testing for procurement and inventory workflows.
  • Managed secure data transfers through FTP/sFTP and encryption protocols, maintaining compliance and data integrity.

Education

Master's Degree - Computer & Information systems

Saint Leo University
Tampa, FL
12.2023

Bachelor's Degree - Finance & Accounting

St. Joseph's Degree and PG College
04.2018

Skills

  • Financial Analysis: Variance Analysis, Management Reporting, KPI Dashboards, Ad Hoc Analysis
  • Accounting & Close: Journal Entries, Accruals, Balance Sheet Reconciliations, GR/IR, AP/AR, 1099/W-9
  • Databases & SQL: Oracle SQL, SQL Server, MySQL, Joins, Aggregations, Data Validation, Query Optimization
  • ERP & Systems: Oracle Smart View, SAP S/4HANA, SAP ECC, SAP FICO, SAP Ariba, SAP Fiori, Wise, Coupa
  • Data & Automation: Advanced Excel (VLOOKUP, XLOOKUP, IF, Pivot Tables, Power Query, Macros), Power BI, ReadSoft OCR
  • Compliance & Controls: GAAP, IFRS, SOX, Audit Readiness, Internal Controls, Risk Management
  • Process Improvements: Procure-to-Pay Optimization, Workflow Standardization, Lean Methodology, Automation
  • Collaboration & Support: Cross-Functional Partnering (Finance, Accounting, Procurement, Treasury, R2R, C2A, I2P), Vendor Management
  • Data Integration: Master Data Management (Chart of Accounts, Vendor/Material Master), FTP/sFTP Secure Data Transfers

Timeline

Senior Finance Analyst

Centene Corporation
12.2023 - Current

Finance Analyst

TIAA Financial Services
02.2023 - 12.2023

Accounts Payable Analyst

Genpact
03.2019 - 12.2021

Bachelor's Degree - Finance & Accounting

St. Joseph's Degree and PG College

Master's Degree - Computer & Information systems

Saint Leo University

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Varun Karunakar