Benjamin Mueller, M.B.A.
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER / CONTROLLER / STARTUP ACCOUNTING (REMOTE)
Rotonda West, FL & Denver, CO · (720)-937-0843
www.linkedin.com/in/bluecollarcfo/ · www.bluecollarcfo.com
CORE COMPETENCIES
*Capital Raises / IPO, Budgeting, Month and Year End Close, Financial Statement Preparation and Analysis *Cost Reduction and Control, Fraud Investigations, Data Analysis, Accounting Process Creation and Implementation
*International Accounting, IFRS / GAAP, Tax, Audit, Project Accounting, Family Office, and Not For Profit
*Financial Software Set Up and Integration, Mergers & Acquisitions, QuickBooks ProAdvisor
*Family Trust and Wealth Management Accounting, Asset Management, Forensic Accounting
*Accounting Restatement, Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A), and Startup Accounting Buildout
I am an organized, analytical, and accomplished CFO, Controller, and Accounting Consultant that has worked in a variety of business industries. My accounting emphasis has been in month and year end close, capital raises, financial statement preparation and analysis, restatement, fraud investigations, startup and accounting department development, plus many years of public and private accounting for large companies.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE (2008 to Present)
CFO, FRACTIONAL CFO, CONTROLLER, & ACCOUNTING CONSULTANT
BLUE COLLAR CFO/MUELLER FINANCIAL, ROTONDA WEST FL, DENVER CO
Providing a full range of professional accounting services for startup, NFP, public, and private companies specializing in Tech, Healthcare, Service, Real Estate & AirBnB, Retail, Oil & Gas, Construction, Legal, Commodity, Marketing, & Family Office.
Private Family Wealth Management: Used Forensic Accounting techniques to identify fraud. Developed ongoing accounting processes to mitigate theft and established a month end financial statement analysis of the family's assets (securities, real estate properties, & cash management).
Gilchrist Interiors LLC: Accounting restatement and accounting department development for an interior design and real estate company. Several years of back taxes solved and capital raises for expansion of properties ($4M).
Backhouse Brands/NextGem: CFO for tech startups. Built out accounting departments, processes, FP&A, and helped drive several million dollars in capital raises.
Crystal Love Collective: Retail, online, and wholesale products. Revamped accounting department from one bookkeeper to a fully functioning accounting department. Software migration and inventory process development. Internet sales tax implementation. Helped drive 10% increase in revenue and improved profit margin by 3% in a down economy.
Tribe Recovery Homes: NFP was in danger of losing its 501(c)(3) status due to fraudulent accounting. All accounting was restated, and taxes filed to allow the NFP to keep its status. Developed all accounting processes and accounting department buildout.
New Health Services: Restatement of all accounting records and tax filings, for multiple healthcare locations. Identified over $1.5M in fraudulent activity and established all accounting processes and procedures to move the company forward.
Magnolia Road: Complete rebuild of all accounting records for several years. Identified inventory theft through fraud detection ($1M). All tax work completed.
ADM Labs LLC: CFO for a CBD startup. Implemented new accounting system and CRM, created accounting processes and procedures, full restatement of accounting since inception, GAAP audits and tax returns, $5M in capital raises, created inventory accounting for product derivatives, contract management, and loan restructuring.
The Minerva Group: CFO & Controller for multiple clients ($1M to $25M revenue); restatements, software implementations, remote employees, month and year end close, and financial statement management. Helped several companies grow profit margin by 5-20%.
GDBA Investments: Family office CFO ($100M in Assets). Managed 20 entities. Investment portfolio management, fraud analysis, audits, month and year end close, process and software implementation, tax filings.
EARLY CAREER
From a Staff Accountant to International Controller, the first part of my career was spent in Corporate America where I was part of Private and Public entities. I developed skills such as Forensic Accounting, International Accounting (IFRS), Public Accounting (GAAP), Tax Accounting, FAS 52, Auditing, Employee Management, SOX, Process Development and Implementation, FP&A, Accounting Department Development, Financial Statement Analysis, I.P.O.’s, Mergers and Acquisitions, Software Integration, and Family Wealth Management.
Stand out successes included; nominated for the Spirit of Service Award at Qwest Communications International (Only 4 out of 30,000 employees receive the award) for a two year international restatement project (filed 121 financial statements and tax returns in 15 countries), added $6M annually to Net Income through cost saving and logistic strategies at Swift & Company, successfully completed several audits during an I.P.O. at Coretec, completed a full SOX process implementation at Swift & Company, and participated in large accounting system integrations at J.D. Edwards (PeopleSoft) and Swift & Company.
2005 TO 2008
INTERNATIONAL ACCOUNTING MANAGER & LEAD PROJECT ACCOUNTANT
QWEST COMMUNICATIONS INTERNATIONAL (TELECOMMUNICATIONS), DENVER CO
Using Forensic Accounting, restated all statutory and GAAP financial statements from 1998-2005 (126 sets of financials and tax returns for 15 countries). SAB 108 analysis, tax initiatives, and software implementation. Nominated for Spirit of Service Award for work on international restatement (Only 4 out of 30,000 employees receive the award).
2003 TO 2005
INTERNATIONAL ACCOUNTING MANAGER & DISTRIBUTION CONTROLLER
SWIFT & COMPANY (COMMODITY), GREELEY CO
Accounting for international operations and Swift Distribution Centers ($1.5B) including IFRS and GAAP, FAS 52, audits, and managed 35 employees. Created all procedures for Corporate Accounting to satisfy SOX. Brought $5.6M to bottom line in cost savings by outsourcing to 3rd party warehousing.
2001 TO 2003
INTERNATIONAL ACCOUNTANT
JD EDWARDS (TECH), DENVER CO
Maintained General Ledger for several countries, trial balance, reconciliations, journal entries, fixed assets, and financial statement preparation and presentation.
1999 TO 2001
CONTROLLER
CORETEC-DENVER (CIRCUIT BOARD PRODUCTION), LITTLETON CO
Cost accounting, financial statement prep, ME/YE close. Completed 3 successful audits and an I.P.O. Installed new accounting software and implemented all accounting processes and procedures.
1996 TO 1999
ACCOUNTANT
FIDUCIARY COUNSELING (FAMILY OFFICE), ST. PAUL, MN
Taxes, audits, financial statements, AP, AR, GL, payroll, reconciliations, and trial balances for the Weyerhaeuser family individual and trust accounts.
EDUCATION
JUNE 2003
MASTERS IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION (MBA)
UNIVERSITY OF PHOENIX, AACSB ACCREDITED, GPA 3.89
JUNE 1996
BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN ACCOUNTING & SPANISH
ST. CLOUD STATE UNIVERSITY & UNIVERSITY OF COSTA RICA, GPA 3.25
*Fluent in Spanish
SOFTWARE EXPERIENCE
QuickBooks ProAdvisor (all), NetSuite, Slack, Bill.com, Gusto, Brex, JustWorks, Zoho Inventory, Zoho Books, Zoho CRM, Payroll 1, AS400, JD Edwards One World & World, Oracle, PeopleSoft, Macola, Progression, Time Value, Business Works, Access, Fast Tax, MS Mail, CD-ROM, Portfolio Analysis, F9, Winstar, Ceridian, Peachtree, Great Plains, Acorde, Microsoft Project, Business Intelligence, Solutions Modeler, Crystal Reports, H&S, MAS 90, Word, Excel (Pivot Tables and Macro level) and many other applications.
For more information and references, please visit my website at www.bluecollarcfo.com