(312) 555-0163 ◇ Chicago, IL
adrian.kowalczyk@example.com ◇ linkedin.com/in/adrian-kowalczyk ◇ adriankowalczyk.com
Finance Director with 15+ years leading FP&A, controllership, and business partnering for mid-market companies between $200M and $600M in revenue. Improved forecast accuracy from 79% to 96%, lifted gross margin by 4.2 points through pricing and cost work, and cut the monthly close from 12 days to 5. Builds finance teams that operating leaders actually consult before making a decision.
Coursework in Corporate Valuation, Managerial Accounting, and Strategic Cost Management.
Certified Public Accountant, licensed in Illinois since 2011 and current; graduated magna cum laude.
- Lead a 12-person finance function for a $480M distributor, owning planning, controllership, and business partnering across 6 operating units.
- Improved forecast accuracy from 79% to 96% over three years by rebuilding the driver model and moving to a monthly rolling forecast.
- Lifted gross margin by 4.2 points through a pricing review of 1,400 SKUs and a freight cost program, adding roughly $19M in annual gross profit.
- Managed FP&A for a $260M business, owning the annual budget, 5 quarterly reforecasts, and the monthly business review pack.
- Cut the monthly close from 12 days to 5 by standardizing 40 reconciliations and automating 9 recurring journal entries.
- Built the business case for a $14M capital program, and the 3 approved projects delivered a 22% internal rate of return against a 15% hurdle.
- Owned accounting and reporting for 2 plants generating $95M in revenue, managing a team of 5 across general ledger and cost accounting.
- Delivered 4 consecutive clean external audits with zero material weaknesses after inheriting 6 open control deficiencies.
- Reduced inventory carrying cost by $2.1M by introducing monthly cycle count discipline and slow-moving stock reviews.
Forecast Model Rebuild. Replaced a spreadsheet forecast built on last year plus a percentage with a driver-based model tied to volume, price, and mix. Forecast accuracy moved from 79% to 96% and the board stopped asking for mid-quarter reforecasts.
Margin Recovery Program. Reviewed pricing and cost-to-serve across 1,400 SKUs, repricing 380 and exiting 45 unprofitable items. Gross margin rose 4.2 points, worth about $19M in annual gross profit, with volume down less than 1%.
Close Acceleration. Standardized 40 balance sheet reconciliations, automated 9 recurring entries, and moved 3 tasks before period end. The monthly close went from 12 days to 5, freeing the team for analysis rather than assembly.
- Treasurer of a Chicago youth education nonprofit, overseeing a $1.8M annual budget and reporting to the board each quarter.
- Guest lecturer at Westmoreland State University, delivering 2 sessions a year on financial planning careers to about 80 students.
- Mentor 3 finance professionals annually through a CPA society program, focused on the move from manager to director.
- Lead a 12-person finance function across FP&A, accounting, and analytics, with 4 internal promotions in the past three years.
- Sponsored the NetSuite implementation across 6 operating units, delivering the cutover on schedule and $180,000 under a $1.2M budget.
- Chair the monthly operating review with 8 department leaders, a forum that replaced 3 separate reporting meetings.

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