Speaking of Certifications....

Tuesday May 21 2013

Students in my classes repeatedly hear me emphasize the importance of focusing on a certification and obtaining it ASAP. Today I received an announcement from Aventine Hill Partners. Aventine hires experienced Comptrollers and then contracts their work to various companies for different purposes. 

Here is a description of their recent hire. I reprint this so you will read all the way down to the last paragraph, Ron has FOUR certifications. This is the perfect example of the trend I have been describing to you. 

 

As part of our continuing effort to increase the ability to support the needs of our clients, Aventine Hill CFOs is pleased to announce Ron Stefani has joined the firm as a Partner in the Houston market. Beth Hair, President of Aventine Hill, stated "Adding Ron to our team expands our firm's ability to better help companies address compliance risks and requirements such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and Sarbanes-Oxley. Ron also increases Aventine Hill's industry experience in manufacturing, chemicals, and oil & gas." Ron brings over 30 years of international business experience in leadership roles for Fortune 500, medium, and small private companies in the areas of Finance, Accounting, Auditing, and Operations. As a Chief Audit Executive for several large companies, Ron started the audit and enterprise risk management department and turned-around under-performing audit departments. Ron played a key role in helping a major oil & gas company remediate its FCPA violations by establishing sound internal controls in high-risk countries.

As a Regional CFO, Ron was instrumental in driving profitability through new metrics and steps to improve communication and coordination among the key stakeholders, and cost reduction initiatives using Lean Sigma techniques. As a Controller, Ron led and assisted with acquisitions, divestitures, process improvement projects; and ERP design, selection, and implementation projects involving multiple IT platforms.

Ron is a public speaker on FCPA, Enterprise Risk Management, internal audit, compliance, and human capital development matters and presents for the Institute of Internal Auditors and universities.

Ron earned his Bachelor of Science Degree from Iowa State University, and MBA in Corporate Finance from The University of Georgia. Ron is a Certified Public Accountant, Certified Management Accountant, Chartered Global Management Accountant, and is Certified in Risk Management Assurance.

 

Comments

[Dan]

Certifications! My true passion! Ha, thanks for this article, it definitely cements my thoughts (and yours apparently) that qualified candidates need not procrastinate! Get certified already!

[SJA]

CGMA is paper certification. He got CMA, good for him. I would say even CPA is not as hard as equivalent overseas qualifications like that of the ICAEW or ACCA. Ah, but this is the US.