Experience

Peter Laws, CPA – Consultant/Auditor (01/1990 – 07/2016)

• Interpreted data to obtain approximately $6,000,000 in refunds for clients
• Saved $300,000 yearly for a construction client using QuickBooks and Excel tools
• Negotiate and prepare contracts and pricing based on customer needs
• Teach auditors how to detect false statements and streamline work papers
• Research tax issues to reduce sales and federal excise taxes, Canadian (GST/HST) tax
• Audit paid invoices for overcharges using MACROS and IF statements for data selection
• Performed A/P audits for cost savings for retail, construction and manufacturing
• Review A/P invoices, make decisions on data to improve efficiency and costs and controls

Verizon Telecom Property Tax Accountant (Contract) 2013 & 2014 Tax Seasons

• Prepare Centrally Accessed property tax returns for Verizon Companies
• Used pivot tables to present data for inclusion in state tax returns
• Used IF and compound IF statements to search large volumes of data
• Used Vlookup to find street address based on CLLI codes (Common Lang. Loc. ID)
• Prepare Unitary tax returns for several western states
• Identified areas of potential savings prepare written recommendations

 RWC Consultant for NRCS – Washington, DC (Contract) 05/2011 – 12/2011

Consultant Responsibilities

• Update and be proactive in database maintenance of Natural Resources Conservation Services’ (NRCS) Leases
• Review lease agreements for contractual compliance
• Score potential leases for classification as Operating or Capital Lease using FAS 13
• Examine documentation presented for Scoring by State Personnel; evaluate data to ensure Office of Management Budget (OMB) guidelines for lease classification are correctly interpreted for inclusion in financial statements
• Describe complicated guidelines to agency personnel in any state or territory to persuade them to gather proper and adequate documentation to support a financial conclusion
• Clarify technical and factual issues between NRCS Management, Outside Auditors and agency personnel

 Regency Energy Partners – Dallas, TX (Contact/Employee) 06/2006 – 01/2010  

• After completion of telephone bill audit Regency I was hired as the Tax Accountant

Sales Tax Responsibilities

• Created routines and internal controls for reporting and payment processing online for multiple states and interface with all auditors
• Researched CCH to support and reduce taxes and support decisions
• Designed and performed audit of open years under statute and research decisions
• Prepared sales tax returns and paid tax of $20,000,000 on a $650,000,000 construction project with coding annotation to support decisions
• Created review policies for invoice selection and classification for tax accrual and payment
• Prepared Balance Sheet, Income Statement, Statement of Cash Flows and Statement of Owner’s Equity quarterly for government reporting
• Reconciled general ledger accounts and maintained tax SOX governance using MS Great Plains accounting software
• Liaise with A/P Supervisor to create Macro to reduce erroneous payments

Property Tax Responsibilities

• Coordinated with property tax consultant to issue yearly renditions to 100 jurisdictions
• Prepared payment of invoices for over $10,000,000 annually on property values of $1,500,000,000
• Reported Quarterly adherence to SOX controls as Senior Tax Accountant
• Collected general ledger and engineering information to support valuations and appeals of property tax
• Prepare account reconciliations (Prepared by Client) as direct for outside auditors
• Maintained current list of purchases and sales of property via Excel (VLOOKUP function and Pivot tables)
• Verified tax bills to asset list and prepared check requests for payments, then reconcile general ledger
• Coordinated updating database information on ACH payments and vendor bank records

 RWC Consultant for USDA – Albuquerque, NM  (03/2005 – 02/2006)  

• Assisted in development of key performance indicators to measure accounting functions for approximately 100 U.S. Forest Service offices
• Compare and evaluate local operating procedures and select best practices for future unified operations
• Resolved differences on government contracts and payment for process improvement and efficiency
• Conducted several local and national training sessions utilizing web conferencing

AT&T and Western Electric – Dallas, TX  (02/1977 – 12/1990) 

Billing Supervisor (01/1985 – 12/1987)