Alexander F.-My profile as CFO & Executive Finance and Controlling Manager
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Experience
Freelance Business Consultant and Interim Manager
A. Folch von Sydow INTERIM MANAGEMENT
Advising various companies in the areas of controlling, finance and planning, transformation, business partnering, management reporting and AI-driven forecasting systems
Interim Head of Controlling DACH/BENELUX
MAIT Holding GmbH
Leading, developing and coaching the international controlling team of 6 employees, supporting the CEO and CFO in all controlling-related aspects, ensuring the monthly closing process, and managing and coordinating the company’s forecasting and budgeting process. Working with management as a business partner and supporting private equity acquisitions.
CFO Europe & Executive Financial Director
Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions GmbH
Provider of retail solutions, point-of-sale systems, software and services
Reporting to the Senior Vice President & Managing Director Europe and the Global Group CFO in the USA, 45 / 4 direct employees in 9 countries
Overall responsibility for managing the finance organization, treasury, internal and external audit, controlling, financial planning & analysis, and all commercial activities, including planning, reporting, and optimizing processes, structures and IT tools for 12 companies in Europe with total revenue of over 200 million euros.
- Managing European financial operations, including business controlling, accounting, taxation, financial accounting, treasury and financial reporting in accordance with US-GAAP, local standards and internal policies
- Developing the company’s European finance strategy, forecasting future financial performance and analyzing financial data to support data-driven decision-making
- Managing the EU pricing strategy in close cooperation with local sales and marketing organizations
- Developing, managing and monitoring group management reports, annual financial statements, statutory reports and tax returns in compliance with all regulatory requirements and standards
- Supporting strategic decisions through detailed financial planning and analysis in the preparation of budgets, forecasts and detailed risk and opportunity assessments.
- Responsible for budget and forecasting cycles and defining financial targets.
- Leading and monitoring internal and external audits.
- Identifying and mitigating financial risks (market, credit and operational risks) to ensure the company’s financial stability.
- Managing cash flow, investments and liquidity to ensure sufficient funds for business operations, in close cooperation with HQ in the USA and Japan
- Identifying and evaluating growth and cost optimization initiatives
- Managing the internal shared service center for accounting and treasury as well as the finance and business controlling team, including setting targets and promoting a culture of continuous improvement
Achievements:
- Successful implementation of a new European budgeting and forecasting process, including the required new tools and reporting structure, initially in xls and later in IT tools (Adaptive).
- Reorganization of the European FP&A team to increase efficiency, improve management reporting and develop the team into business partners for the business units.
- Significant improvement in the cash flow situation by optimizing receivables management, introducing a factoring program and reducing month-end overdue receivables by 50%
- Initiation and implementation of a comprehensive restructuring program within the finance organization to increase efficiency and reduce costs by €1.2 million annually (including outsourcing the accounting shared service center to Asia)
Director Finance Controlling & Business Partner Europe
Hager Vertriebsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG
Manufacturer of electrical solutions and services
Reporting to the Vice President Group Controlling; 40 / 7 direct employees in 18 countries
Responsible for managing all commercial activities, including finance, planning and reporting, and optimizing processes, structures and tools for all sales and marketing units in Europe with total revenue of >2.3 billion euros and a cost/budget volume of >240 million euros.
- Functional and disciplinary management of business controlling and business partner teams in various countries, as well as strengthening the business partner concept within the organization
- Responsible for setting the budget and the 3-year plan for the sales and marketing organization covering revenue, resources, costs, expenses and investments (ROI), taking into account the group’s overall goals for profitable growth
- Ensuring proper planning and forecasting processes as well as monthly, quarterly and annual closings
- Monitoring target achievement against budget and prior year, identifying optimization potential and initiating corrective measures in case of deviations from plan
- Overall responsibility for P&L and balance sheet, OPEX, accounts receivable and accounts payable, cash and risk management of the regional sales companies
- Developing pricing and bonus strategies in all markets in close cooperation with the pricing team and local management
- Closely monitoring sales and marketing costs to optimize the cost-benefit ratio and continuously improve sales productivity
- Planning and implementing the business partner concept; establishing a European functional controlling hub to centralize and harmonize sales, marketing and financial controlling and reporting activities
- Continuously improving and standardizing databases to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of standard reporting
- Responsible for consolidating and transparently presenting financial results – not only in traditional financial reporting such as P&L and balance sheet, but also across functions and the various sales channels.
- Identifying risks and opportunities and developing strategic initiatives to further develop the financial (and partly non-financial) management model
- Close cooperation and interaction with the accounting SSCs for accounting, receivables management, cash management and tax
- Ensuring compliance with all statutory and international regulations in all business processes and contributing to the further development of the Group Financial Manual
- Member of the supervisory boards of various European subsidiaries of the Hager Group
Interim Shareholder Project/Capex Controller
real GmbH / The SCP Group
Building, leading and managing capex and investment controlling for over 30 real estate / investment properties and coordinating various external partners. Implementing processes for budget control, capex postings, cash flow management and the timely payment of accounts payable invoices.
Interim European Project Management Office Leader
Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions (Benelux) NV
Leading, advising and managing 31 European “Cost Transformation” and “Growth Initiative” projects to increase efficiency and profitability. Responsible for a team of 3 project managers.
Freelance Business Consultant and Interim Manager
A. Folch von Sydow INTERIM MANAGEMENT
Advising various companies in the areas of controlling, finance and planning, transformation and business partnering
Interim Director Finance Continental Europe
Foodbuy CE GmbH und M.S.G. Frucht GmbH
European procurement companies of Compass Group
CFO reporting to the Managing Director & Managing Director Continental Europe;
As Commercial Director, responsible for setting up, managing, planning and implementing all processes, structures and tools of the Continental European procurement companies of Compass Group, as well as the third-party business with annual procurement revenue of 1.4 billion euros.
- Creating and implementing all business processes for the commercial areas, order processing, procurement, sales and marketing, as well as the required IT planning tools
- Preparing the budget and breaking it down into departmental targets
- Responsible for monthly, quarterly and annual financial closings, analyzing actual-versus-budget variances, identifying potential for improvement and initiating corrective measures
- Managing and analyzing various financial KPIs for Group Reporting and implementing measures to increase profitability
- Responsible for P&L, OPEX, accounts payable and accounts receivable, cash and risk management
- Developing business cases for decision-making processes as well as business modeling
- Responsible for assessing risks in supplier and customer contracts, including their negotiation
- Responsible for customer operations and supply chain management
- Defining and managing Shared Service Center services provided by headquarters
- Responsible for compliance and contact person for internal and external company audits (SOX, VAT, tax audits, etc.), as well as for customers, suppliers and auditors from financial and judicial authorities
Achievements:
- Successfully setting up a Continental European procurement company and handing it over to the newly implemented management team
- Project manager for the carve-out and successful sale of a Compass Group subsidiary (from due diligence through transfer of ownership)
- Appointed liquidator of a local Compass subsidiary
Director Business Controlling & Planning Region DACH, NL & CEE
Sony Mobile Communication International AB
Manufacturer of tablets and mobile communications devices
CFO / Authorized signatory reporting to Vice President, Business Control & Planning Region Europe in London; 15 / 9 direct employees
Responsible for the commercial management, planning and optimization of all processes, structures and tools of the regional European business units
- Functional and disciplinary management of the Business Control, Credit Control, Business Partner, Pricing, SCM and order processing teams at 3 locations in Europe
- Contact person for customers, suppliers and auditors from financial and judicial authorities
- Responsible for and contact person for internal and external audits of the business areas (SOX, VAT, tax audits, Export Control)
- Budget and profitability control, deriving suitable measures in the event of actual-versus-plan variances
- Coach and first point of contact for commercial, financial and contractual questions and topics of the sales organizations
- Participation in business modeling, including at country / customer level
- Investment planning and management of discount campaigns (budgeting, provisions, success analysis and learnings)
- Preparing sales, marketing and back-office budgets, forecasts and monthly closings for each sales organization
- Coordinating / harmonizing commercial processes for all product areas, departments and sales regions within the business division
- Ensuring monthly, quarterly and annual closings
- Responsible for the entire order processing and logistics process through to the customer (end to end)
- Optimizing and managing the Cash Conversion Cycle through strict receivables management, approving customer credit lines (credit insurance, bank guarantees)
- Defining DSO and DOI targets for the entire sales channel
- Optimizing existing risk management systems / risk cockpit
- Defining cross-functional bonus-relevant targets for employees (incentives, bonuses)
- Supporting the local HR and Legal teams within the branches with contract drafting, works council matters, bonuses and special benefits, etc.
Achievements:
- Restructuring and reorganizing the Business Control and Planning teams to meet rapidly changing market conditions and customer requirements
- Implementing a business partner concept to optimize the performance of the sales and marketing teams
- Introducing detailed management reporting, including a KPI cockpit and P&L by country (16) and customer (76), to better measure target achievement and optimize sales investments
- Increasing forecast accuracy to over 90% by changing the planning cycle from monthly to weekly Sell-In and Sales-Out planning by customer and POS
Location Manager & Department Head Business Controlling, Planning & Support
TOSHIBA Europe GmbH
Manufacturer of notebooks, consumer electronics, storage systems, etc.
Digital Products & Services Region: Central-, South Eastern Europe, Turkey, Israel, Switzerland, Italy & Benelux
Reporting to the Vice President PC Europe, 26 / 8 direct employees
Responsible for After Sales Service as well as the commercial management, planning and optimization of all processes, structures and tools of regional European business units at 5 locations in Europe, as well as for the operational matters of the local branches
- Managing the After Sales Service team with 7 employees, including team leader
- Developing a new After Sales Service concept
- Integrating 3 sales regions/locations into an existing central back-office team
- Continuing the responsibilities from the previous position
Achievements:
- Processing and closing the TV and later PC sales divisions in 24 countries
- Back-office processes: realignment and adaptation to B2C and B2B business
- Reducing After Sales Service costs by 5%
- Developing and introducing two process-oriented online management tools; price discount and marketing budget management tool (approx. 1,000 campaigns, €1.5 million / month) / Risk Management
- Introducing an online customer order entry system for 100 customers in 24 countries
Department Head Planning & Controlling
TOSHIBA Europe GmbH
Digital Products & Services, Central-, South Eastern Europe, Turkey and Israel
Reporting to the General Manager Digital Products Europe, 13 / 5 direct employees
Responsible for the commercial management, planning and optimization of all processes, structures and IT tools of the regional European PC & TV business units at 6 locations in Europe
- Managing 2 Planning, SCM and Order Management teams (end to end) (PC & TV), Sales Controlling & Pricing team and Process Innovation & IT Tools employees
- Contact person for customers, suppliers and auditors
- Coordinating and harmonizing the monthly planning cycles for all product areas, departments and sales regions/locations
- Creating comprehensive reporting on production, sales and financial status
- Developing and implementing solutions to optimize profitability and efficiency and ensure compliance with budgets
- Independently preparing budgets, forecasts and monthly closings
- Ensuring audit compliance of all processes (SOX, VAT, tax audits; tax auditors)
Achievements:
- Merging/integrating and optimizing two sales and back-office organizations into central TV and PC organizations with one central back-office team at 6 locations for planning, order management and sales controlling with 14 P&Ls
- Developing and introducing an efficiency-enhancing sales forecasting tool for Sales, Controlling, Order Management, Logistics and Product Marketing
- Implementing standardized planning and closing processes for the TV and PC business (20 countries, 4 regions, 150 customers)
Head Controlling & Business Planning
TOSHIBA Europe GmbH
Computer Systems Distributor Business, Emerging Markets CIS, ME, Africa & Turkey
Reporting to the General Manager EEMEA PC, 3 direct employees
Responsible for all financial tasks and processes of the business unit, including P&Ls, customer receivables, payables to customers and suppliers in 25 countries, with 5 local branches in EMEA and 18 P&Ls (including MTBP, budgets, forecasts and actual P&Ls as well as the related analyses)
- Optimizing and managing the cash conversion cycle through strict receivables management and customer credit lines (credit insurance, bank guarantees)
- Defining DSO and DOI targets for the entire sales channel, taking individual countries and customer structures into account
Achievements:
- Project manager for the spin-off and establishment of the sales divisions Middle East, Africa and CIS as separate subsidiaries of Toshiba Corporation
- Reducing DOI from 120 to 60 days
- Introducing a web-based customer credit note system including automatic credit note creation
Expert Controlling & Business Planning
TOSHIBA Europe GmbH
Computer Systems Distributor Business, Emerging Markets EMEA
Reporting to the Deputy General Manager EEMEA PC, 2 direct employees
Responsible for the financial management of the business unit, including P&Ls, customer receivables, payables to customers and suppliers in 25 countries, with 5 local branches and 30 P&Ls
- Preparing and monitoring semi-annual financial targets for the 5 sales regions (South Eastern Europe, Central Eastern Europe, Turkey, CIS, ME and Africa) and internal departments
- Responsible for all sales and market analyses of the sales companies
Achievements:
- 2007 Presentation of the “Toshiba Presidents Award” to the department (for the 1st time in Toshiba history outside Japan)
- Reached the 1 billion USD revenue threshold
- Developing a customer receivables forecast tool (A/R) for over 60 customers in 25 countries
- Introducing new KPI reports for Senior Management
Senior Specialist Sales Controlling
TOSHIBA Europe GmbH
Computer Systems Distributor Business, Emerging Markets EMEA
Specialist Sales Controlling
TOSHIBA Europe GmbH
Business Administration, Computer Systems Europe
Industry experience
See where this freelancer has spent most of their professional time.
Experienced in Information Technology, Professional Services, Manufacturing, Retail, and Food and Beverage.
Business area experience
See which departments and functions this freelancer has contributed to most.
Experienced in Finance, Accounting, Supply Chain Management, Audit, Project Management, and Investments and M&A.
Summary
Interim Manager, CFO and Senior Financial & Operations Director with many years of experience in finance, sales controlling & business planning, project management, and managing sales, after-sales and order processing in international sales and purchasing organizations, as well as globally operating manufacturers in the high-tech and electrical, fast-moving consumer goods and food industries. Focused on initiating and managing transformation and restructuring projects as well as post-merger integration within organizations to improve operating results. Responsible for financial management in up to 30 countries in the EMEA region and a revenue volume of over 2,8 billion euros with an OPEX budget of 240 million euros.
- Restructuring of the European finance organization, increasing productivity, improving data quality for business decisions and reducing costs by 1.2 million EUR p.a.
- Optimization of the cash conversion cycle, increasing revenue by reducing overdue receivables
- Development and implementation of online pricing and discount systems, as well as revenue and margin planning systems
- Introduction of the business partner concept in finance and controlling organizations
- Optimization of back-office processes and teams to reduce costs and increase efficiency
- Continuous reorganization, establishment and closure of international subsidiaries (PMI)
- Improving forecast accuracy (FP&A) to over 90 % by optimizing the planning cycle
- Implementation of a European pricing and bonus structure to optimize revenue and profit (PBT)
- Introduction of a new P&L and management reporting structure, creation of new KPI dashboards, standardization of accounting rules within the European organization
- Implementation of a sales productivity report and linkage to the P&L
- Appointed liquidator, responsible for the carve-out and successful sale of group subsidiaries
- Building back-office teams, implementing SLAs for Finance SSC to support a European purchasing company
Skills
Key Areas
- Close Cooperation With And Advising Local And Regional Sales And Marketing Directors, Svps And Managing Directors In Setting And Achieving Production, Sales And Profit Targets
- Developing, Motivating And Leading Multicultural, Partly Virtual Teams In Matrix And Line Organizations
- Continuous Analysis, Optimization, Standardization And Harmonization Of Commercial Processes And It Tools In All Commercial Departments As Well As Production And Sales Organizations. (Digitalization)
- Project Responsibility For Increasing Productivity And Efficiency And Improving Results
- Business Modeling For Innovative Business Areas And Growth Processes
Personal Skills
- Strong Analytical And Conceptual Thinking For Developing Solution-Oriented Measures
- Strong Entrepreneurial And Goal-Oriented Thinking Combined With A “Hands-On” Mentality
- Employee-Focused Approach During Times Of Constant Change, Restructuring And Transformation
- Strong Market And Business Orientation
- 360° View Of Business Interrelationships
- Development-Oriented Leadership Style With Gradual Delegation Of Responsibility
Pc Skills
- Microsoft Office
- Sap Fi/Co
- Oracle
- Salesforce
- Workday
- Microstrategy
- Qlikview
- Jedox
- Rapidresponse
- Ibp
- Adaptive
- Tableau
Languages
Education
Wirtschaftsakademie Hamburg
Betriebswirt (WAH), Controlling · BWL · Hamburg, Germany
Bürokaufmann · Hamburg, Germany
Highschool-Jahr · United States
Certifications & licenses
3-stufiges „Pan – European Management Program“ für Senior Manager der Toshiba Corporation
5-stufigen Weiterbildungsprogram für Controller / Controllers Diplom
CA Controller Akademie privates Institut für Unternehmensplanung und Rechnungswesen AG
Management Development Program
Negotiation Training
The Gap Partnership, UK
Sales Management Workshop
TACK International
Statistics
Experience
Global experience
Expertise
Qualifications
Profile
Frequently asked questions
Have questions? Find more information here.
Alexander is based in Willich, Germany and can operate in on-site, hybrid, and remote work models.
Alexander speaks the following languages: German (Native), English (Advanced).
Alexander has at least 26 years of experience. During this time, Alexander has worked in at least 14 different roles and for 9 different companies. The average length of individual experience is 2 years and 9 months. Note that Alexander may not have shared all experience and actually has more experience.
Based on recent experience, Alexander would be well-suited for roles such as: Freelance Business Consultant and Interim Manager, Interim Head of Controlling DACH/BENELUX, CFO Europe & Executive Financial Director.
Alexander's most recent position is Freelance Business Consultant and Interim Manager at A. Folch von Sydow INTERIM MANAGEMENT.
In recent years, Alexander has worked for A. Folch von Sydow INTERIM MANAGEMENT, MAIT Holding GmbH, Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions GmbH, Hager Vertriebsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, and real GmbH / The SCP Group.
Alexander is most experienced in industries like Information Technology, Professional Services, and Manufacturing. Alexander also has some experience in Retail, Food and Beverage, and Real Estate.
Alexander is most experienced in business areas like Finance, Accounting, and Supply Chain Management. Alexander also has some experience in Audit, Project Management, and Marketing.
Alexander has recently worked in industries like Professional Services, Retail, and Information Technology.
Alexander has recently worked in business areas like Finance, Accounting, and Investments and M&A.
Alexander attended Wirtschaftsakademie Hamburg for BWL.
Alexander has 5 certificates. Among them, these include: 3-stufiges „Pan – European Management Program“ für Senior Manager der Toshiba Corporation, 5-stufigen Weiterbildungsprogram für Controller / Controllers Diplom, and Management Development Program.
Alexander is immediately available full-time for suitable projects.
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Calculated based on our freelancers’ daily rates as of 3 Oct 2026. Actual rates may vary depending on seniority level, experience, skill specialization, project complexity, and engagement length.
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