Chris Buls

About Chris Buls

Chris Buls is a skilled leader with extensive experience across a broad spectrum of finance and accounting activities within S&P 500 companies as well as small businesses. His organizational skills and sense of urgency, combined with his ease in building relationships and establishing lines of communication with critical stakeholders has facilitated the success of organizational goals based on top line growth, cost reductions, installation of streamlined processes and improvement in the controls environment. Chris is also a quick study enabling him to rapidly learn new businesses and seamlessly translate his skills across industries as diverse as aerospace and defense, specialty materials, chemicals and utilities. He has routinely entered organizations in transition and collaborated with the leaders to drive necessary and lasting improvements while building a strong, business focused finance function. His understanding of the development and utilization of metrics to drive process improvements and increase profitability has resulted in successful implementation of numerous projects delivering over $3 million of annual cost savings, significant inventory efficiencies and a step change in the controls environment. Chris led a Companywide revenue process remediation enabling a successful IPO at American Water. He has also conducted acquisition due diligence and integration along with evaluating divestitures and reorganizations in the United States and internationally. Additionally, he has developed the modeling of complex business activities including lease/buy analysis of a railcar fleet, make/buy analysis supporting back integration of the supply chain, decision support of “Greenfield” manufacturing sites in the US and Latin America and detailed cash flow projections supporting business and financing activities. Specialties: Strategic Business Advisor & Executive Team Partner Process Remediation & Improvements Facilitating Top line Growth Installing Key Metrics & Profit Improvement Programs Team Building & Organizational Restructuring Strategic Planning, Budgeting & Forecasting Acquisitions, Divestitures & Joint Ventures Financial Modeling & Analysis Team & Project Leadership Mentoring & Coaching Accounting & External Reporting IPO SOX & ERP Implementations

Experience

1. Principal

   Breakthrough Cfo

   Nov 2012 — Present · Phoenix, AZ, US

   Working with the Owners of privately held businesses to solve their current issues, develop plans and options for the future and ultimately grow the value of their business.

Education

• Indiana University Bloomington

  MBA

  1985 — 1987

• Indiana University Bloomington

  BA

  1978 — 1982

Skills

• Performance Metrics
• Crm Integration
• Cash Flow Forecasting
• Cost Control
• Financial Modeling
• Erp Implementations
• Treasury Management
• Financial Metrics
• Commercial Insurance
• Risk Management
• Performance Reporting
• Finacial Management
• Contract Negotiation
• Financial Forecasting
• Mergers & Acquisitions
• Strategic Planning
• Fraud Detection
• Ipo
• Financial Analysis
• Cash Management
• Internal Controls
• Collections
• Financial Statement Analysis
• Acquisition Integration
• Esop
• Business Turn-Arounds
• Budgeting