Wilmington, DE CFO

Bio – Bill Hayes, Partner @ B2B CFO^®

As a talented and dedicated Senior Finance Executive, Bill Hayes combines a proven record of accomplishment and extensive hands-on financial and managerial accounting experience in several industries. Serving as a key resource for developing strategy, making recommendations, and implementing plans that improve business operations, Bill’s trademark is providing high quality, value-added service to all parties who depend on accurate, relevant and critical financial information.

 Bill has often been called on to handle complex situations. With a combination of innovative thinking and proactive problem solving ability, he has been successful, as both an individual contributor and team leader, exceeding expectations and delivering superior results. In these various roles, Bill has acted as a true business partner and positioned finance as a major contributor to continuous improvement and company growth.

Bill excels at developing and implementing strategic priorities; identifying & tracking key performance metrics; and providing vision and leadership to achieve challenging goals. He possesses the keen ability to grasp the big picture, focus on the important details, and prioritize multiple projects.

 Bill’s core competencies include:

 Additionally, Bill has been described as a dynamic leader who enjoys tackling difficult challenges. Co-workers and associates have commented that Bill’s positive attitude, forward thinking approach, intuitive business sense, and participative management style are among his main strengths.

Bill has over 35 years of experience, including: CFO/Controller spots in two closely held mid-sized private companies in the cable installation/construction, and BPO/direct marketing/call center industries; coordinated M&A integration activities for acquired companies for a large bank; assisted in preparing “carve-out” financial statements for SEC filings for a life-sciences conglomerate; and a variety of  roles in a Fortune 500 manufacturer, including assignments as Director - Corporate Accounting and Control, Director – Corporate Reporting & Analysis, Project Team Leader – Global Business Process Redesign, and Business Unit Controller, as well as a series of progressive positions as an individual contributor/manager in business analysis, consolidations, general accounting, internal controls, policies and procedures administration, plant controllership, internal audit, and cost accounting.

Some of Bill accomplishments include the following:

• Built the finance team, and led the development of sound accounting processes to provide more accurate and timely information, while leveraging IT and analytics for decision-making.
• Decreased monthly closing process by seven days and significantly improved relevancy of management reporting. 
• Identified cost reduction opportunities through insightful analysis and developed effective management reporting routines to monitor and manage the achievement of a multi-million dollar business turnaround.
• Compiled financial reporting to enable analysis, negotiation and settlement of a long-standing statutory compliance issue, saving tens of thousands of dollars in increased expense.
•  Developed complex financial analysis utilizing advanced Excel skills (pivot tables, macros, etc.), which provided benchmarks and potential alternatives that greatly facilitated the successful settlement of a challenging legal matter in a timely and cost efficient manner, thereby avoiding a more protracted and costly negotiation/litigation process.
• Increased the accuracy of customer billing processes to eliminate collection delays; improved receivables monitoring and follow-up procedures with customers that reduced past due accounts by over $300K.
• Redesigned financial and administrative processes that greatly contributed to significant revenue growth, and earnings and cash flow improvements. Provided executive leadership and sound management counsel to develop business and strategic initiatives.
• Reduced past due receivables by more than $1.2 million by improving cash collection procedures and increasing effectiveness of dunning process and customer communications.  
• Negotiated a debt restructuring and an agency agreement with a key business partner resulting in a continuing mutually beneficial business arrangement for both parties. 
• Organized and facilitated a Senior Management strategic planning conference to identify and launch critical projects required for business turnaround.
• Coordinated M&A integration activities for acquired companies for accounting areas and collaborated with other support functions to migrate businesses to Oracle systems.  
• Championed continuous improvement through use of best practices and led global finance teams to redesign business processes such as closing cycle, planning and budgeting, and cost and tax accounting.
• Achieved cost savings of $7 million through personnel reductions and generate additional savings of $15 million through insightful expense analysis

Bill is a self-directed leader, who can build and motivate high-performance teams and cultivate effective working relationships with key stakeholders. Bill has been recognized as a trusted advisor and business partner. He is committed to adding value through collaborative problem solving, intuitive business judgment, and disciplined decision making.

Bill has been active in his church and community, formerly serving as Chair of the Parish Council, and has coached a variety of youth athletic teams. He has been active in United Way, and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Delaware, Inc.

A native of Delaware, Bill earned his BS in Accounting from St. Joseph’s University, Philadelphia, PA, and, later, received a CPA certificate from the State of Delaware. Bill and his wife, Sharon, have been married for 35 years, and have two grown daughters, a criminal prosecutor, and a  teacher of children with special needs. Bill enjoys golf and reading, and also relishes the time spent with his granddaughter.