1. THOMAS J. BURNS, M.B.A
521 McCARTHY RD. TELEPHONE: (630) 257-0608
LEMONT, ILLINOIS 60439 EMAIL: liberty55@comcast.net
SUMMARY
Pro-active, results oriented Managerial and Accounting professional with the ability to lead the accounting
department to ethical and accurate reporting. A cost effective, hands-on, problem solver and teammate.
PROFESSIONAL EMPLOYMENT & ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Independent Financial Auditor/Tax Consultant, NASE, Lemont, Il, 2016 – Present; In conjunction with C.P.A.
colleague, preparation of S-Corp. and individual federal and state tax returns and extensions. Client financial closings
and audits. Proficient use of TaxPro software.
Plant Controller, General Electric Company, Consumer and Industrial, Appliance and Motors Division,
Both De Kalb, Il and Murfreesboro, Tn Plants, 2003 – 2016; Combined Revenues $50M; Appliance Motors Mfg.
***Assisted operations team in attaining a $300k favorability in operating margin to the annual plan.
***Contributed to a 6.8% plant productivity improvement over the previous year. Use of “Lean Manufacturing
and Continuous Process Improvements” concepts.
- Responsibilities include a complete range of plant finance managerial functions in a manufacturing environment.
- Month-end and year-end financial closing, preparation and analysis of financial statements, product line profit margin
analysis, inventory costing and control, assist auditors and enforcement of generally accepted accounting
principles with complete compliance to all Sarbanes-Oxley rules and regulations.
- Cost of sales and profit margin analysis, weekly plant performance and spending reporting.
- Preparation of various federal and state tax schedules and commerce reports.
- Development of standard costs: material and freight-in, direct labor, fixed and semi-variable overhead.
- Control of annual physical inventories and reconciliations. Calculated surplus and obsolete inventory reserves.
- Return material authorizations and issuance of customer credit. Monthly and quarterly account reconciliations.
- Control and tracking of fixed assets, capital expenditure authorizations, and depreciation.
- Monitoring of material price, labor, and overhead variances. Annual standards revaluation.
- Annual operating and capital budgeting and quarterly estimates.
- Specialized reporting to senior management including productivity efficiencies and improvements.
- Effectively utilized MRP-Oracle, Business Objects, Lex-Cognos, and Mapics computer systems.
- Implementation and enforcement of sound operating/accounting policies and controls.
- Assist public and internal auditors.
- Working knowledge of MRP.
- Extensive teamwork with Materials department for inventory planning and control purposes.
- Weekly reporting and control of purchase price variances.
- Assisted Engineering with recommendations for cost effective preventive maintenance on all major machinery.
- Adherence to all ISO standards and reporting.
- Key financial advisor to plant manager.
- Assumed plant manager’s administrative duties in his absence.
- Backup to human resources manager.
- Assisted operations manager with daily labor reporting and recommendations to decrease unnecessary
overtime expense.

2. Plant Controller, Technical Components Division, Methode Electronics, Inc., Harwood Heights, Il
1999 – 2002; Plant Sales $26M of Corporate $465M Total. ***Motorola OEM Supplier Startup Plant.
Industry: Worldwide manufacturer of OEM component devices used in networking equipment,
voice and data communication systems, consumer electronics, automobiles, aerospace vehicles,
and industrial equipment.
- Responsible for a complete range of financial controller functions in a manufacturing environment. Includes
“hands-on” work, a knack for teaming with engineering on job costing/bills of material, and supervision of staff.
- Month-end and year-end financial closings, preparation of journal entries, income statements, and balance
sheets. Trial balance analysis and account reconciliations. Control of invoicing, accounts receivable, and
collections. Control of accounts payable and cash flow. Daily general ledger accounting transactions
including sales and shipments, customer order bookings, and production backlog.
- Cost of sales and profit margin analysis, bi-weekly income statement forecasting, job and process costing.
- Preparation of sales use tax statements and returns. Plant payroll supervision.
- Development of standard costs: material and freight-in, direct labor, fixed and semi-variable overhead.
- Control of quarterly physical inventories and reconciliations. Control of surplus and obsolete inventory reserves.
- Return material authorizations and issuance of customer credit. MRP and ISO.
- Control and tracking of fixed assets, capital expenditure authorizations, and depreciation.
- Monitoring of material price, labor, and overhead variances. Annual standards revaluation.
- Annual operating and capital budgeting.
- Assist public and state auditors. Specialized reporting to senior management including return on investment,
productivity efficiency and improvement, and production capacity. Trained accounting staff.
- Implementation and enforcement of sound operating/accounting policies and controls – Sarbanes-Oxley.
Manager, Cost Accounting; AGCO Corporation - Parts Division, Batavia, Il; 1993 –1999; Div. Sales $265M.
Industry: Worldwide manufacturer and distributor of agricultural equipment and service parts.
*** Saved the division an average of $50k in annual material costs by establishing the daily
review and charge-back of vendors for incorrect p.o. and invoice prices in a manual system.
*** Developed the cycle counting procedure for $80 million of inventory to result in excellent
inventory control and elimination of numerous unnecessary material purchases.
- Responsible for a complete range of managerial cost accounting functions in a light manufacturing and distribution
environment. Includes “hands-on” work, effectiveness in job costing bills of material, and supervision of staff.
- Implementation of cost accounting policy and controls including the annual physical inventory and satellite
divisions’ cycle counts, chargeback of vendor billing errors, proper valuation of inventory, and monitoring of
freight-in expense. Weekly analysis of cost of sales and profit margin by product line. Monthly reconciliation of
general ledger inventory to perpetual inventory. Analysis of material price, labor, freight, and burden variances.
- Control of the surplus and obsolescence inventory reserves. Annual revaluation of standard costs. Coordination
of overhead calculations. Direct training of cost accounting staff. Maintenance of the fixed assets and depreciation
subledger. Specialized cost accounting reporting to senior management as directed. Internal auditing/due diligence
- Cost accounting related MIS systems development and enhancement including MRP.
- Annual operating and capital budget preparation. Compilation of corporate tax information. Assist all auditors.
Sr. Cost Accountant , Cooper Lighting Division, Elk Grove Village, Il; 1989 – 1993. Promoted to sr. level in 1 yr.
OTHER PROFESSIONAL SKILLS
- Experienced with Oracle, Peoplesoft, Hyperion, Lex-Cognos, J.D. Edwards, and Computer Associates.
- Working knowledge of personal computers/software including Windows XP, Excel, Word, and Powerpoint..
- Effective within both independent and team environments.
EDUCATION
Master of Business Administration degree ;
Concentration in Gen’l. Management: Dominican University, River Forest, Illinois; Honors.
Bachelor of Science degree; - Dual Major;
Accounting Major: Benedictine University, Lisle, Illinois; Honors.
History Education Major and Political Science Minor; Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois; Honors.