Ann Leong

• Engaged in bids and tenders for telecommunications services, performed the role of the customised pricing expert.
• Key member in the development of commercial opportunities and business cases in collaboration with subject matter experts, determined the term and discount rate, and calculated the net present value, internal rate of return and other return on investment indicators of the project. Worked closely with the project team to understand the level of uncertainty, risks and other mitigating factors that could influence the outcome, time to completion and cost of the project.
• Created the evaluation tool based on cashflow analysis to evaluate investments in line with the company’s and the Department of Treasury and Finance Investment Framework.
• Created the allocation methodology for calculating product profitability including profit margins before and after overheads.
• Provided expert advice and recommendations to senior management on the financial and commercial merits of commercial deals and business cases including product development and exits, and other major investments with supporting analytics.
• Conducted the benchmarking exercise with external consultant to evaluate pricing competitiveness and gathered other market intelligence for comparison.
• Finance Business Partner for the business, working in close collaboration with the cost centre owners in setting the P&L budgets and quarterly forecasts; reporting on actuals versus budget monthly with insightful commentary for optimizing opportunities and recommendations for mitigating risks and exposures for senior management.
• Reviewed balance sheet and cashflows to ensure financial health.
• Managed and oversaw all finance activities including allocation of work and provided coaching and training to staff members.
• Communicated the month end and year end time frames as dictated by Corporate Finance to relevant stakeholders to minimise delays. This included any special deadlines for processing payments, accruals and other journals that could impact the overall financials of the business.
• Central liaison between the cost centre owners and Corporate Finance for all financial matters including championing the business when seeking capital funding for investment purposes.
• Controlled project costs by developing robust reporting mechanisms and having regular catch-ups with the project teams to review progress including variations and estimate cost to complete by updating forecasts. Prepared a monthly report for capital spend for senior management and Corporate Finance.
• Conducted “lunch and learn” sessions to promote understanding of accounting concepts across the Group such as the difference between capital expenditure and operational expenditure.
• Review of finance systems and processes to ensure compliance and administration efficiency by eliminating redundant accounts from the financial system to relieve reporting burden.
• Worked closely with contract and procurement managers for new partnerships, customers and panel members for the business.

• Performed the role of the finance business partner for Technology by collaborating with divisional leadership teams, profit centre owners and project/portfolio managers to support strategic initiatives.
• Provided transparent, accurate reporting, analysis of financials, and identified opportunities for efficiency and savings.
• Worked with relevant business stakeholders, supported the identification and resolution of data integrity and process issues.
• Supported business case development and financial modelling.
• Evaluated investment opportunities by performing detailed financial analyses, driving informed decisions on capital allocation priorities.
• Provided journal entries and performed accounting on accrual basis.

• Performed the role of finance business partner including month-end close, budgeting, forecasting and preparation of comprehensive monthly management reports with business insights and meaningful commentary for executive decision-making support.
• Trusted advisor for critical business decision making and was regarded as a true business partner.
• Performed business case reviews and financial due diligence for projects.
• Central liaison with external auditors and internal corporate stakeholders.
• People manager managing and mentoring staff including recruitment, allocation of tasks and workload.
• Reviewed customer contract to ensure alignment between domestic and international product offerings.
• Liaised and collected business requirements from various business lines and created a consistent and robust costing model to be utilised by the wider Telstra bidding/tender response community for pre-defined offers and other more complex and customised proposals.

• Assisted in developing bid into mobile virtual network operator business including analysing Australian wireless prepaid market by comparing domestic and international experiences against proposed operating model.
• Developed and executed programme for mitigating risks to Telstra Wholesale revenues because of regulatory intervention including modelling the impacts of various pricing scenarios.

• Provided independent expert advice and recommendations to senior management on financial and commercial merits of customer bids, tender responses and business cases including product development and exit, mergers and acquisitions, divestments, and other major investments.
• Influenced strategy and direction of initiatives so that they are in accordance with Telstra strategies and priorities.
• Provided critical support during mergers and acquisitions activities by conducting due diligence investigations on target companies.
• Identified dependencies and cross product impacts and linkages between different projects and initiatives across Telstra on given project.
• Provided technical accounting advice on transaction strategy to maximise profit and mitigate risk for initiatives.
• Collated information including interpretation of accounting policies for financial modelling purposes and developing financial models for scenario analyses.
• Conducted training and coaching sessions for new team members and responsible for allocation of work to team members and organising cross company workshops for business case analyses.

• Provided senior management and Board with expert analysis and assessment of financial impact on Telstra’s projected financial statements of significant investment proposals, structural changes, mergers and acquisitions, and divestments.
• Valuation of target companies utilizing discounted cashflow techniques.
• Liaising with internal and external experts in accounting, taxation, and other relevant subject matter experts to resolve accounting and other structured finance issues.
• Application of appropriate accounting procedures and practices including consolidation and equity accounting where required for financial modelling purposes.

• Provided valuable insights by leading monthly variance analysis reviews between actual results and budget/forecast expectations.
• Enabled informed decision-making by presenting key findings from complex data sets in clear, concise formats for senior leadership team members.
• Facilitated accurate expense tracking through diligent maintenance of general ledger accounts and reconciliations.