Paul R Souza

Bolton, MA CFO

27 Years of Experience

Direct Contact:
paulsouza@

978-618-0634

Paul has more than 35 years of financial and operations experience including 26 years as Chief Financial Officer in small to mid-size privately held companies. In his role as CFO he has been recognized as a valued and trusted advisor to the CEO and management team. He has provided financial and business tools and advice to support profitable growth in each of the businesses in which he has held the position of senior financial executive. He has also been an owner and participated as a member of the Board of Directors.

Paul began his career at a Fortune 500 company working in manufacturing, marketing and supply chain management prior to focusing on a financial career. He has repeatedly demonstrated the benefits derived from applying his operations background to roles as financial manager and member of the executive team and frequently assumed responsibilities outside the normal realm of the financial executive including project management, customer service and supply chain management as well as management of joint ventures and foreign subsidiaries.

While working predominantly with small to mid-size companies, Paul adopted a hands-on approach to managing the accounting, financial reporting, financial planning and cash management activities as well as overseeing the information technology, tax, legal, human relations and risk management functions. He communicates effectively with management, employees, clients and suppliers and has extensive experience managing relationships with external accountants, tax advisers, attorneys, bankers and investors.

Paul has acquired diverse industry experience with manufacturing, distribution and service organizations operating in the automotive, textiles and computer systems industries as well as the highly regulated biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical device markets.

Paul has guided businesses through periods of rapid growth, restructurings and turnarounds. He has expertise implementing general accounting, cost accounting, financial reporting, financial planning and ERP systems as well as experience with raising debt and equity financing, mergers and acquisitions, management buyouts and international operations.

Paul served as financial and business advisor to the CEO in his last company contributing in the following ways to support sales growth of $3M to $17M and the successful sale of the company for $27M:

Established weekly reporting to track sales and orders, customer collections, cash flow vs forecast and other key metrics.
Implemented monthly financial reporting with management commentary as well as a quarterly financial planning process to keep management, shareholders and financial institutions informed of actual and projected financial performance and important business activities.
Consolidated bank term debt to reduce interest rates, secured additional term debt of $4M and increased the bank line of credit from $500K to $1M.
Instituted a project management system to ensure timely completion and proper revenue recognition of customer orders and provide a platform for accurate sales forecasting.
Installed an inventory management system to facilitate materials planning and tracking of materials to comply with FDA regulatory requirements.
Worked with the management team to orchestrate a turnaround from a $1.5M loss in Q109, arising from the unanticipated financial crisis and economic recession, to return the company to profitability in Q209 and the remainder of the year.
Prepared business plans and financial projections, participated in negotiations and managed the due diligence process leading to the successful sale of the business in 2010.

Paul has a BBA in Marketing from the University of Massachusetts (Amherst), MBA from Babson College and an MS in Accounting from Bentley College.

Paul resides with his wife in Bolton Massachusetts which is centrally located between Boston, Worcester, Providence RI and Nashua NH. His wife is a physical therapist and they have a son in a surgical residency program in Chicago and another in investment banking in New Yok City. Paul has a vacation home in Maine and attempts to find time for skiing, windsurfing, sailing and tennis.