Mr. Howard has over 23 years of experience as a senior financial executive, primarily for mid-market companies in manufacturing and distribution. He has over 11 years in public accounting with the national firms of Arthur Andersen, McGladrey & Pullen and Grant Thornton. Lynn had key involvement with systems operations as well as strategic projects. His extensive finance and accounting experience include: restructuring systems to provide meaningful management information while meeting high level compliance requirements; advanced modeling for financial forecasting and analysis; managing treasury operations including FX and FX hedging; and direct involvement with risk management. Lynn has significant international experience in Europe (UK, France, The Netherlands, Germany), Asia (China, India, Korea) and Africa (South Africa).
Selected highlights from his career are:
- Optimized and restructured financial reporting systems to provide timely, meaningful and actionable financial information for an $85M food manufacturer. Consulted with IT support regarding utilization of the enterprise software systems, developed strategic plans to improve utilization of the software.
- Restructured management financial reporting systems, customer profitability analysis and departmental costing for a $38M private national logistics service provider. Improved processes and systems utilization, developed customer profitability analysis and assisted with positioning the Company for sale during a rapid growth period. Developed a comprehensive management financial forecasting model.
- Led the process of establishing foreign subsidiaries in Shanghai, China and Korea including legal, accounting, labor compliance, outsourcing, H/R and risk management for a $110M private global sourcing and logistics provider of industrial steel components. Concluded negotiations and closed the acquisition of a distribution subsidiary in South Africa and led the migration to the Group IT platforms and transitioned all FX management to Group level. Restructured management accounting systems to provide a foundation for multi-dimensional financial and management reporting by business unit and product line.
- Led finance, accounting, H/R and IT for a $45M private multi-location manufacturer of prefabricated stairs. Analyzed needs, restructured accordingly, initiated process redesign. Restructured management accounting systems to provide actionable management reports for all business units. Created multi-dimensional views by business unit, product line and sales channel.
- Negotiated $50M domestic and international multi-currency credit facilities for a $250M high-growth NASDAQ international manufacturer of personal care products. Established international financial reporting standards resulting in 20% reduction in consolidated closing cycle.
Lynn holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Accounting from the University of Georgia and a Master of Public Accountancy from Georgia State University. He earned his CPA in Georgia in 1983.