Ryan Townes

As Assistant Manager of Commercial Finance at Jamieson Wellness, I spearhead the day-to-day operations of the Canadian finance team, providing critical support to our commercial partners within the business unit. My responsibilities encompassed:

• Top Line Forecasting: Led efforts to forecast sales by customer, channel and brand. Collaborating closely with sales teams to analyze POS assumptions, promo plans and inventory management requirements, resulting in accurate projections that guide strategic decision-making
• Trade Spend Management: Implemented robust strategies to optimize trade spend allocation, ensuring maximum return on investment while maintaining budgetary discipline. Reduced unnecessary expenditures by 2% ($5-$7M) through data-driven analysis and proactive budget controls
• Marketing Support: Provide crucial financial insights to the marketing department, enabling effective forecasting, ROI analysis, and evaluation of new product innovations. Collaborate on cross-functional teams to review and assess the financial viability of marketing initiatives, contributing to improved resource allocation
• Monthly Total Canada Business Review: Orchestrate the monthly presentation of the commercial P&L statement to Sales Directors, VP of Sales, VP of Marketing, and Managing Director. Present insights by channel to provide a comprehensive understanding of market conditions by customer segment, facilitating informed strategic decisions and fostering alignment across departments

As Senior Financial Analyst with Jamieson Wellness, I continued to expand my role and responsibilities within the Canadian Business Unit. This allowed me to contribute further to strong strategic decision making and drive actionable insights for the commercial team. My duties included the following:

• Monthly Variance Analysis: Provided valuable insights by leading monthly variance analysis reviews between actual results and budget/forecast expectations for revenue, trade spend, COGS mix and SG&A
• Data Compilation: Enabled informed decision-making by presenting key findings from complex data sets in clear, concise formats for senior leadership team members. This included the compilation, analysis and summary of over 2000 trade spend programs annually
• Financial Model Development: Built robust models to help support the needs of our cross functional partners. These included an ROI analysis tool, new innovation planning template and display profitability form
• Audit Support: Completed year end audits as the lead financial contact for the commercial finance team. Supported the delivery of all audit support material and compliance with reporting requirements

As a Financial Analyst at Jamieson Wellness, I played a pivotal role in financial reporting and commercial support. Key responsibilities included:

• Month-End Close Duties: Managed month-end closing activities, ensuring accurate and timely financial reporting. Led reconciliation efforts to verify trade spend transactions and maintained compliance with accounting standards
• Promotional Planning Support: Collaborated closely with account teams to understand annual promotional plans. Analyzed and forecasted promotional spend, providing insights that supported budgeting and financial forecasting processes
• COGS Mix Analysis: Conducted monthly analysis of COGS to evaluate product and category mix impacts on profitability
• Monthly Reporting and Presentation: Prepared comprehensive slide decks for monthly operating reviews and presentations to the Board of Directors

As a Senior Accountant within the Audit and Assurance practice at Grant Thornton, I led the planning, execution, and completion of complex audits, ensuring adherence to deadlines and regulatory standards. Key responsibilities included:

• Audit Planning and Execution: Spearheaded the planning phase of audits, collaborating with engagement teams to define audit objectives, scope, and methodologies. Ensured efficient allocation of resources and timelines to achieve audit milestones and deliverables
• Complex Audit Oversight: Managed and executed the most intricate audit sections, including revenue recognition and inventory valuation. Applied deep technical expertise and critical analysis to assess financial statements' accuracy and compliance with GAAP standards
• Supervision and Mentorship: Assigned audit sections to junior staff, providing guidance and oversight to ensure accuracy and completeness of work. Fostered a collaborative team environment, facilitating professional development and knowledge transfer