Celeste Ramsay
Caulfield South
Summary
Results-driven finance leader with 10+ years' experience steering financial operations, building high-performing teams, and driving system transformations across hospitality, retail, SaaS, and construction. Known for stepping into complex environments, identifying inefficiencies, and delivering robust financial frameworks that support growth and compliance. Proven track record of turning around underperforming finance functions, leading audits, migrating systems (MYOB to Xero), and implementing internal controls that save costs and uncover lost revenue.
After years of fast-paced roles in group finance and transformation, I’m seeking a position where I can build long-term value and relationships, ideally in a firm that values quality, ethics, and stability.
Overview
15
15
years of professional experience
Work History
Senior Financial Accountant
Global Retail Brands
10.2024 - 05.2025
- Oversight of the month end process and board reports for 260+ retail locations, and 5 ecommerce brands including review of works pertaining to journals, Occupancy costs, accruals, financial reporting and reconciliations of General Ledgers and Balance Sheet accounts.
- Compile month end financial statement board pack with commentary to Finance GM & CFO
- Coaching & development of other members of the Finance Team
- Lead Annual Audit inclusive liaising with internal and external stakeholders for query documentation, meeting with auditors on pending items and arranging timely compilation or requests amongst team members.
- Assist Finance GM & CFO with queries as required.
Group Finance Manager
Speakeasy Group
10.2023 - 09.2024
- Oversight of full financial function of 13 entities in a hierarchical structure with private listed company reporting requirements. Entities include 1 SaaS platform, 1 ecommerce business and 9 restaurants. Assisting with Transactional work overflow as required
- 4 Direct reports and 1 indirect report (shared with operations)
- Financial and management reporting to the MD & CEO on performance and results at an entity level and a group level, including consolidated figures.
- Assess and maintain all insurance requirements for the group
- Evaluate and redesign internal financial policies, checks and balances to optimise performance and minimalise risk.
- Internal reviews of financials functions, calculation formations in place and appropriate changes to always ensure best practice.
- Calculate and execute distributions and dividends.
- Implement system advancements including spotlight reporting and leading the rollout of Tanda from a financial aspect inline with other departments.
- Liaising with CBA regarding funding requirements along with the MD, merchant facilities and wholistic banking requirements of the group.
- Implementation and design of budgets at group, entity, and department level that as in place prior.
- Implement training and performance requirements for the finance team (4staff). Design and establish SOP’s and training courses.
- Design and implementation of rolling cashflow, revenue trends and associated forecasts
- Sole responsibility to redesign of mirrored chart of accounts for 9 hospitality venues, one management company, one SaaS provider and an ecommerce platform
- Single handedly migrated from MYOB to Xero for FY25 financial year for all 13 entities
- Redesigned balance sheet for SaaS entity to pick up platform building costs that were previously expensed. Revised the expenses for FY24 and designed an appropriate depreciation schedule with an itemised life span. This increased the platform value from $80K to $144K within FY24.
- Designed workpapers to pick up income in advance for the SaaS entity monthly in line with the subscription term.
Senior Accountant
Hedger Constructions (Temp Contract)
02.2023 - 09.2023
- 4 direct reports being Business Admin Trainee, Accounts Payable, Payroll & Bookkeeper.
- Internal reviews of all financials, processes, procedures, and systems to ensure accuracy and efficiency.
- Creation of cashflow forecast and annual budgets for all entities
- Review loans & leases with owners.
- End of month including accruals, review of transactions, balance sheet reconciliations, intercompany loans, WIP calculations, stock movement journals and monthly BAS lodgement
- Training staff on Super, PTX & Coinvest
- Review and Authorisation of Payroll and AP payment runs.
- Legal recovery of debts and authorise write offs.
- HR including policies, employment contracts, remuneration calculations, staff counselling and issuing warnings.
- Analysis of job budgets with review findings forwarded to relevant team.
- Attend Senior Leadership Team meetings.
Finance & Operations Manager
Roof Wrx
05.2020 - 12.2022
- Day-to-day management of the finance function including payroll, bank reconciliations, Full function AP& AR including legal recovery action, construction industry Long Service Leave, superannuation, Balance sheet & GL reconciliations, accruals, month end closure and FBT position.
- Calculation and lodgement of BAS & IAS
- Tax planning and modelling in conjunction with external tax agent.
- Quoting, job costing & job profitability analysis.
- Budget calculations, implementation and management, actual vs estimate comparison
- Cashflow projection and management
- Prepare and present monthly and annual financial performance reports to the Director.
- Implementation and management of systems to enhance efficiency including take off software (Ground plan) and Xero Analytics
- Ensuring regulatory and legal compliance is adhered to, including WHS.
- Escalations and dispute resolution including contract disputes and liaising with external legal team.
- Marketing and website management
- Manage the effective planning and execution of all daily work scopes of the team including supply chain, work allocations and subcontractors to ensure the jobs run smoothly and to schedule.
- HR including recruitment, onboarding, and employment contracts, managing resourcing needs, performance and reviews of 5 direct reports.
- Manage relationships with new and existing customers and stakeholders of the business.
- Adjusting the financial and operational strategies based on analysis, forecasting, performance tracking and workload.
Company Accountant
Paramount Recreation Club and Golden Age Cinema & Bar
01.2019 - 01.2021
Group Bookkeeper
Swillhouse Pty Ltd
01.2017 - 01.2019
Bookkeeper, BAS Agent & Finance Broker
Bookworx Group Pty Ltd
01.2010 - 01.2017
Education
Graduate Diploma - Chartered Accounting
Chartered Accountants Australia New Zealand
05-2027
Graduate Certificate - Business Administration
Edith Cowan University
Perth, WA09-2025
Bachelor of Business - Accounting
Southern Cross University
Certificate IV - Finance & Mortgage Brokering
International Institute of Technology
Melbourne, VICStatement of Attainment - BAS Agent Services
Open Colleges
Sydney, NSWCertificate IV - Financial Services: Accounting
Intercontinental Collage
Corrimal, NSWCertificate 3 - Financial Services: Bookkeeping
Tafe NSW
Skills
Operational & Financial Oversight
Budgeting & Forecasting
People Leadership & Training
Contracts & Compliance
Systems Implementation (Xero, MYOB, Spotlight, Tanda)
Business Efficiency gains
Cross-Functional Communication
Strategic Planning
Accomplishments
- Acting General Manager at Roof Wrx from May 2022 to November 2022
- Checks and balances implemented at Speakeasy Group identified over $100 000.00 of unclaimed expired gift vouchers for the group over F23 & FY24 that were able to be brought into FY24’s revenue whilst reducing the liability concurrently.
- Increased the use of technology by enabling Impos reporting directly into the accounting software on a nightly basis. This was then reconciled against the impos terminals for each venue at month end. This step identified multiple open bar tabs for staff that ranged between $200 & $1750.00 that we were able to recover totalling around $10 000.00
Affiliations
- BAS Agent
- Institute of Public Accountants (IPA) member
- Financial Executives Institute of Australia (FEI) member
Timeline
Senior Financial Accountant
Global Retail Brands
10.2024 - 05.2025
Group Finance Manager
Speakeasy Group
10.2023 - 09.2024
Senior Accountant
Hedger Constructions (Temp Contract)
02.2023 - 09.2023
Finance & Operations Manager
Roof Wrx
05.2020 - 12.2022
Company Accountant
Paramount Recreation Club and Golden Age Cinema & Bar
01.2019 - 01.2021
Group Bookkeeper
Swillhouse Pty Ltd
01.2017 - 01.2019
Bookkeeper, BAS Agent & Finance Broker
Bookworx Group Pty Ltd
01.2010 - 01.2017
Bachelor of Business - Accounting
Southern Cross University
Certificate IV - Finance & Mortgage Brokering
International Institute of Technology
Statement of Attainment - BAS Agent Services
Open Colleges
Certificate IV - Financial Services: Accounting
Intercontinental Collage
Certificate 3 - Financial Services: Bookkeeping
Tafe NSW
Graduate Diploma - Chartered Accounting
Chartered Accountants Australia New Zealand
Graduate Certificate - Business Administration
Edith Cowan University
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