Meet our DLC Finance and Accounting Consultant, Garrett Boersma!

consultant-spotlight

Meet our Finance and Accounting Consultant, Garrett Boersma! Garrett has been a valuable part of DLC Consulting for a year! Get to know him better below!

Hometown:  Batavia, IL

Alma Mater: Trinity Christian College, Palos Heights, IL

Favorite things to do outside of the office: On any given weekend, you can find me either biking along Batavia’s extensive tree-shaded network of bike paths or wading in the Fox River looking for the elusive small-mouth bass. While I’ve put jogging on pause, long walks around town with my wife are not infrequently interrupted by sightings of deer, fox or coyote.

How has your background impacted your experience as a consultant? Having experience as a controller in a variety of private and publicly-traded companies has provided me with many opportunities to develop practical applications of technical accounting, gain deep understanding of financial systems, implement controllership best practices, evolve approaches to coaching and team-building, and overall affirm just how much I enjoy being a part of performance- driven teams finding solutions to challenges and striving for continuous improvement.

What’s a typical workday like for you? For me a typical workday starts with some at home cardio followed by coffee and a quick glance at Bloomberg TV. While I find having a plan for the day allows me to organize, experience has taught that flexibility is key as unexpected events regularly cause a shift in priorities. This understanding helps me to encourage focus and positivity for both myself and the team. Adapting to the PC (post-Covid) hybrid-model has reduced frequency of late nights in the office. I’m often thankful for technology and the commitment of fellow team members to doing what it takes to get the job done.

What motivates you to wake up and go to work every day? The people.  I most enjoy building relationships with intelligent, upbeat, committed coworkers. People who, like me, look at their roles with an eye to make the company better.

Where did you deliver the most value to your client? A client had recently implemented a new ERP and the controller-SME left. I joined as interim Controller and working with the CFO, IT, Operations and the accounting team, we dove deep into the system, business processes and data-flow. Using the information we gathered, we developed and documented key processes around inventory, sales, A/R, A/P, monthly close and financial reporting. When the new Controller was hired, we cross-trained and divided work on some immediate priorities until we could stabilize.

Linking data to finance and accounting, explain environments that have had lack of reporting infrastructure/inefficiencies and how have you brought organization and solutions-implementation. My passion for accounting and controllership teams is due to our ability to develop deep insight into the operations of a company and to share the information with operators throughout the organization to effect positive change.  In past roles, successes include:

  • Refinancing multiple debt instruments to a lower rate note, yielding significant savings
  • Implementing customer contracts and automated credit card billing to collect recurring payments, reducing A/R and bad debt
  • Developing a “single source of the truth” comprehensive financial package
  • Evaluating and implementing cost savings opportunities through reducing redundancies and renegotiating agreements

What’s your process? My process is likely the same as most others who find themselves in a new situation. I like to get an understanding of the environment including key stakeholders and initiatives, and then make an assessment of the project before me including timeline, deliverables, past challenges, team participants and expectations. As a consultant, I find providing direct and clear status during a project is key for both me to ensure I capture new project requirements and for clients so we are clear on scope and status.