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Olivier Brunet, Finance Expert in Deva, Hunedoara County, Romania
Olivier Brunet

Finance Expert in Deva, Hunedoara County, Romania

Member since March 21, 2022
Olivier launched his own consulting practice after a twenty-five-year financial career in Eastern Europe, working as CFO or controller for Fortune 100 and CAC40 subsidiaries (Publics, Alstom, Mondelez), combined with audit lead roles at KPMG and Mazars. He enjoys freelancing because it provides him with the opportunity to meet fascinating entrepreneurs and work on challenging projects, allowing him to leverage his corporate best-practice experience to improve accounting and financial processes.
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Career Highlights

Education

Select Certifications

Case studies

Expertise

  • Accounting
  • Budgeting
  • Cost Accounting
  • Financial Management
  • Financial Reporting
  • IFRS Financial Reporting
  • Managerial Accounting
  • Profitability Analysis

Employment

  • Interim CFO and Consultant for Entrepreneurs

    2017 - PRESENT
    Self-employed
    • Implemented monthly management reports at a leading European bicycle producer (€80 million in sales), with significant growth in the electric bike segment.
    • Redesigned accounting and financial processes to accelerate a monthly financial close and shortened it by around five days at the leading Romanian music recording house (€10 million in sales).
    • Lectured on financial management matters at the Business Faculty and the Entrepreneurship Academy in Bucharest, delivering valuable tools and insights to around 100 students.
    • Performed a sell-side M&A diligence for a Romanian IT-services related company, acquired by a global player, and a buy-side M&A for a European archiving service company who identified a target in Romania; dealt with values of a few MEUR.
    Focus areas: Financial Reporting, IFRS Financial Reporting, Taxation, Budgeting, Modeling, Cash Management, Financial Training, Statutory Audits, Process Design, Process Redesign, Management Reports, Due Diligence, Income Statements, Balance Sheets, Cash Flow, Financials, Business Planning, Forecasting, Spreadsheets, Reporting, CAPEX, CAPEX Budgeting & Inventory Management, Operating Expenses (OPEX), Revenue & Expense Projections, CFO, Interim CFO, Financial Modeling, Cash Flow Management, 13-week Cash Flow, Three-statement Modeling, Small & Medium-sized Enterprises (SME), Small Business Consultants, Business Models, M&A (Sell-side), Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A), M&A (Buy-side), Startup Consulting, Startups, Financing, Fractional CFO, Manufacturing, Finance, Business Services, Business Proposals, Pitch Decks, Due Diligence Consultant, Financial Reporting Dashboards, Internal Financial Reporting, Revenue Projections, Cryptocurrency, Cryptocurrency Development, Valuation, Discounted Cash Flow (DCF), DCF Modeling, Early-stage Startups, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Transfer Pricing, Depreciation, Pricing, Financial Analysis, Cash Flow Modeling, Revenue Management, Retail & Wholesale, Business to Consumer (B2C), B2B, Clothing, Cash Flow Forecasting, Travel, Hospitality

  • Chief Financial Officer

    2011 - 2016
    Publicis Groupe
    • Coordinated the seamless merger and integration of three Leo Burnett agencies into Publicis Romania.
    • Oversaw the growth of the business from €12 million to 24 million billings while maintaining the net margin at 4%.
    • Supported the Client Service Division in negotiating contracts with clients and supervised financial control over commercial activities.
    • Achieved clean statutory audit reports and a satisfactory first-time-ever internal audit by group auditors.
    Focus areas: Financial Reporting, IFRS Financial Reporting, Managerial Accounting, Hyperion, Contract Review, Taxation, Profitability Analysis, Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), Budgeting, Internal Control Evaluation, Forecasting, Spreadsheets, Reporting, CAPEX, Operating Expenses (OPEX), Revenue & Expense Projections, CFO, Cash Flow Management, Financing, Finance, Business Services, Internal Financial Reporting, Revenue Projections, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Policies & Procedures Compliance, Depreciation, Pricing, Revenue Management, B2B, Cash Flow Forecasting

  • Interim CFO

    2010 - 2011
    Alstom
    • Accompanied the implementation of a financial shared service center across Alstom 4 business units in Romania, ensuring the smooth collaboration of the non-outsourced financial processes with the SSC setup, achieved with KPMG consultants in 8 months.
    • Re-engineered the finance function to support the subsidiary of the worldwide leader in power production, Alstom Group, Power Division, with €15 million in revenue, in the frame of a one-year contract.
    • Developed the first model of hedging effect forecasting on foreign currency projects, ensuring all relevant costs were included in the bid.
    Focus areas: Financial Reporting, IFRS Financial Reporting, Internal Control Evaluation, Taxation, Shared Service Centers, Forecasting, Spreadsheets, Reporting, CAPEX, Operating Expenses (OPEX), Interim CFO, Cash Flow Management, Foreign Exchange (FX) Hedging, SAP FI, Financing, Finance, Policies & Procedures Compliance, Depreciation, B2B, Cash Flow Forecasting

  • Internal Audit and Control Consultant

    2009 - 2010
    Groupama Insurance
    • Defined a new set of internal procedures and built the foundation for the proper setup of the internal audit function. Designed the first internal audit program and started its implementation in a time frame of six months.
    • Developed and implemented the collection of procedures across the entity resulting from the merger of three insurance companies and coordinated the elaboration of a sample of model procedures.
    • Changed the board’s view on the internal control system, role band attributions by clarifying the related functions (internal control, internal audit, risk management, quality management) and instruments (policies, procedures, norms, and rules).
    • Directed internal control assignments on key processes (claims management, fraud detection, IT reporting requirements, operations at the head office).
    Focus areas: Internal Control Evaluation, Internal Audit Function, Spreadsheets

  • Audit Manager

    2008 - 2009
    KPMG
    • Conducted audit assignments for one season on a diversified portfolio of clients, including those in the telecommunications, real estate, pharmaceutical, construction, and hospitality industries. Ten assignments performed.
    • Supervised the Cluj regional office, implementing commercial development activities.
    • Took part in the improvement of an internal client acceptance tool.
    Focus areas: Statutory Audits, Group Reporting, Due Diligence, Spreadsheets, Reporting, Accounting, Finance, Business Services, Business Proposals, Depreciation, Financial Analysis, Data Analysis, Financial Data Analytics, B2B

  • Regional CFO For Central and Eastern Europe

    2007 - 2008
    GPV Groupe
    • Enhanced the financial supervision of the regional activity for the head office and addressed strategical organizational issues within GPV Romania. Total sales of €10 million.
    • Supervised the financial departments of the five subsidiaries of GPV Group, the European leader in envelope production, based in Central and Eastern Europe, coordinating 18 employees in total in the region.
    • Redesigned financial processes and tools for credit control (innovative use of a call center), including cash planning, intragroup reconciliation, and standard cost calculation and deviation analysis.
    Focus areas: Cash Management, Financial Reporting, IFRS Financial Reporting, Taxation, Debtor & Creditor Management, Costing, Modeling, Budgeting, Capital Budgeting, Forecasting, Spreadsheets, Reporting, CAPEX, CAPEX Budgeting & Inventory Management, Operating Expenses (OPEX), Revenue & Expense Projections, CFO, Cash Flow Management, Cost Accounting, Management Accounting, Credit Control, Internal Control, Financing, Manufacturing, Finance, Financial Reporting Dashboards, Internal Financial Reporting, Depreciation, B2B

  • Head of Audit Department

    2000 - 2006
    Mazars
    • Conducted the growth of the audit division activity from a team of three and €100–200,000 revenue to a seven employee workforce and revenue nearing €1 million.
    • Directed the audit activities of the Romanian subsidiary of Mazars, a second-tier key audit player: acquisition due diligence, M&A on the buy and sell-side, consolidation package review, parent company reporting, and statutory account audit.
    • Enlarged portfolio of audit clients from four to about 50 companies in diversified operational areas, like FMCG, construction and related materials, retail, advertising and media, IT development, insurance broker, manufacturing, gaming, and services.
    • Promoted the firm within the French business community as treasurer and board member of the French Chamber of Commerce, treasurer of the French Expats Society, and realized advertorial and specialty articles for the MOCI and CCIFER magazines.
    • Prepared tenders for local or international bidding prospects such as Dacia-Renault, Gaz de France, and Lafarge and developed the consulting services business line.
    Focus areas: Statutory Audits, Group Reporting, Business Development, Due Diligence, Reporting, Spreadsheets, M&A (Buy-side), Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A), M&A (Sell-side), Finance, Business Services, Business Proposals, Due Diligence Consultant, Depreciation, Financial Analysis, Data Analysis, Financial Data Analytics, B2B

  • Financial Controller

    1998 - 2000
    Mondelez
    • Supervised translation of statutory to USGAAP accounts and reported financial statements to the parent company Kraft Foods International Inc., N.Y., USA, and the regional head office in Vienna, Austria.
    • Completed first-time consolidation process smoothly, with no question from head offices, at the 1999 year-end in Hyperion Enterprise application.
    • Managed 14 persons and developed Plant Cost Controlling and Marketing Controlling departments, easing tensions between Chief Accountant and team.
    • Developed and monitored internal control procedures; Liaised with internal (Philip Morris Corporate Audit Department) and external (PwC) auditors.
    Focus areas: Accounting, Reporting, Group Reporting, Hyperion, Controller, Controlling, Spreadsheets, Internal Control, CAPEX, CAPEX Budgeting & Inventory Management, Credit Control, Cost Accounting, Management Accounting, Manufacturing, Depreciation, B2B

  • Audit Junior to Auditor-In-Charge (AIC)

    1994 - 1997
    KPMG
    • Executed audit assignments for a diversified portfolio of clients, mostly on local subsidiaries of multinational corporations.
    • Took part in due diligence assignments for the acquisition of local companies by foreign investors.
    • Joined the executive MBA program conceived as a career enhancement path with the University of Bristol and Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussees.
    Focus areas: Statutory Audits, Group Reporting, Financial Reporting, Spreadsheets, Accounting, Due Diligence Consultant, Data Analysis

Education

  • Executive MBA in Business Administration
    1996 - 1997
    University of Bristol & Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussees - Bristol, UK & Paris, France
  • Diploma in Accounting & Finance
    1993 - 1994
    London School of Economics and Political Science - London, UK
  • Master of Science Degree in Accounting & Finance
    1991 - 1994
    EDHEC Business School - Lille, France

Certifications

  • ACCA | Association of Chartered Certified Accountants
    FEBRUARY 2019 - PRESENT
    ACCA | Association of Chartered Certified Accountants

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