Dave is a results-driven financial executive and trusted advisor offering more than 30 years of experience and success in driving profit improvement, leading business growth, establishing and scaling operations and building operationally focused teams. Dave has broad financial experience in technology-based businesses including hardware, software development, SaaS, systems integration, managed services, semiconductor, medical device, interactive and social media, and managed print services. He has also served in a variety of other industries including manufacturing, e-commerce, distribution, recruiting, engineering services, legal services, and advertising agencies. He has held financial leadership positions with public and private companies ranging in size from start-up and middle market to global Fortune 500 businesses. Dave began his career with PwC, a Big Four public accounting firm, providing audit, acquisition, and advisory services to mid-size companies. Dave also has significant M&A experience with over 40 acquisition, divestiture, and business exit transactions over the course of his career... SEE MORE
Dave's core expertise includes optimizing cash flow, improving profit, building processes and infrastructure to facilitate growth, managing operations and financial planning.
Dave prides himself on being a strong business partner and trusted advisor with a strategic, market and operations-based approach to delivering value beyond the numbers - providing leadership and independent perspective, solving problems across the business, guiding decisions, and creating value. He thrives in dynamic, fast-paced entrepreneurial environments with the ability to think in multiple dimensions, operate at a macro or micro level at will and bring direction and leadership to complex and ambiguous business issues.
Dave is a seasoned business partner and trusted advisor who can help you achieve your business objectives and increase the value of your company. He is committed to investing the time to understand your business and its culture, learn your objectives and listen to your concerns and priorities. Dave is a CFO who thinks and drives results like a COO, and the combination of his financial and operational expertise make him uniquely qualified to provide solutions for your business to facilitate growth, improve profits, maximize cash and deliver value.
Dave earned bachelors and masters degrees in Accounting and Business Administration from the University of Iowa. He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), a Certified Management Accountant (CMA), a Lean/Six-Sigma Greenbelt and a Certified B2B Exit® Advisor. Dave is also a military veteran with eight years of combined service as an officer in the Army National Guard and Army Reserve.
Dave Saunders - Experience and Expertise:
Finance and Accounting:
• "Operationalizing" your accounting function. Leading and coaching the accounting team to support and add value to your business. Aligning processes, reporting and analytics with strategy and operations to improve decision making, accountability and business performance while increasing efficiency and accuracy.
• Budgeting and forecasting. Developing operationally focused budgets and forecasts based on commitments your management team has made to achieving your business objectives.
• Profit improvement. Optimizing pricing, managing expenses, improving margins, and developing tools to analyze and improve your business model.
• Financial systems and processes. Implementing systems (NetSuite / Intacct) and processes to improve efficiency, operational effectiveness, and information delivery. Reducing the accounting close cycle, improving accuracy, and delivering actionable information and metrics to management.
• Audit planning and preparation.
• Tax compliance and planning coordination and support.
• Managing relationships with banks, insurance companies, accountants, and investors.
• Private Equity, Family Office and Institutional Capital Experience.
Operations Support:
• Working capital management. Improving your cash conversion cycle and sales and operations (S&OP) planning process. Developing cash flow forecasting tools and processes.
• Key performance indicators. Identifying and implementing key performance indicators (KPI’s) linked to strategic and operational objectives and financial reporting.
• Cost management. Developing cost accounting tools to analyze the costs of products and services, identifying key variable expense drivers, evaluating fixed costs, and determining the breakeven point. Implementing operational improvement plans, measuring progress, and facilitating accountability.
Strategy, Marketing and Sales Support:
• M&A / Business Transition Planning. Identifying options and developing a plan to exit your business that meets your financial and career objectives. Implementing a strategy to improve the value of your business and make it more attractive to investors. Support due diligence and other elements of the exit process.
• Strategic planning. Analyzing strategies and investment alternatives and building a growth and profit roadmap for your business. Developing KPI's to measure progress in achieving your objectives. Identifying creative ways to fund innovation, investment, and growth.
• Decision Support. Developing business models and investment cases to guide strategic decisions and establish models for new products, services, markets, and alliances.
• Pricing. Providing analysis and pricing support for products and services across various channels. Developing tools to monetize the value of your solution to highlight advantage and customer benefit.
• Product line and channel management. Developing product and customer profitability reporting. Building tools to analyze and manage pricing, promotions, channel programs and margins and product life cycle planning.
