SHARON DHURAY
Greenwith, SA
Summary
A highly skilled professional CPA with over 30 years’ experience working in the Public Sector providing high quality financial and management accounting services to a wide range of stakeholders that support the delivery of services and programs aimed at improving the wellbeing and safety of South Australians. Highly proficient in the development and improvement of financial management and reporting processes, providing expert advice to a range of stakeholders, and in undertaking high-quality modelling and analysis that informs decision making and strategic policy direction. Strong leadership skills including the ability to lead a team to deliver innovative financial management services functions including budget development, budget management, and financial reporting processes that support effective financial management. Possesses strong analytical and critical thinking skills including the ability to analyse and review data from a range of sources to formulate solutions that add value through continuous improvement. An effective communicator with the demonstrated ability to work collaboratively with stakeholders to establish effective working relationships, ensure compliance with legislative and policy requirements, and support the achievement of key business outcomes. Experienced with financial analysis and reporting, ensuring accuracy and compliance. Utilizes knowledge of accounting software and financial regulations to streamline processes. Strong understanding of financial data analysis, budgeting, and tax preparation.
Overview
11
11
years of professional experience
Work History
Principal Financial Compliance Accountant
Department of Human Services, Finance
09.2023 - Current
- Planning and implementing business improvement projects and reviews across DHS to identify corrective action, opportunities for improvement and ensure compliance with government financial policy.
- Lead a team to provide high quality compliance services and provide support and guidance to team members to achieve operational outcomes.
- Provide expert advice on financial compliance matters and accounting treatments.
- Proactively develop and maintain internal and external stakeholder relationships that support the delivery of departmental objectives.
- Development of financial processes, systems, policies and procedures that support the delivery of high quality, compliant and consistent financial and statutory reporting across DHS and ensure compliance with State Government frameworks.
- Undertake a range of complex financial activities including compliance investigations and audits, that are of strategic importance and sensitive in nature.
- Assist in leading and coordinating the year-end financial statements and audit process.
- Reviewed Basware processes and collaborated with key stakeholders in business units to develop strategies to reduce the volume of invoices being sent by Shared Services Accounts Payable to the DHS Unallocated workgroup. This resulted in a reduction of over 20% in the volume of invoices being sent to the DHS Unallocated group in 2024-25.
- Reviewed debt management processes in collaboration with business units to identify opportunities to improve debt management and recovery processes for debts outstanding for more than 90 days and ensure compliance with the department’s Debt Management policy and Treasurer’s Instructions.
- In preparation for the transition from Masterpiece to Oracle, reviewed reporting processes for Open Payables and Unapplied Receipts to ensure follow up of outstanding items and implemented improvements that saw removal of historical Open Payable items outstanding for more than six years and implementation of follow up processes for unapplied receipts outstanding for more than 90 days.
- Developed a refund request checklist and register to ensure refund requests were reviewed properly prior to approval and to prevent duplication of requests.
- Successfully oversaw the implementation of 15-day payment terms in DHS which has resulted in DHS on average processing over 90% of invoices within 15 calendar days.
Principal Management Accountant
Department of the Premier and Cabinet, Finance and Procurement
04.2022 - 09.2023
- Provision of management accounting, budget management and financial reporting services to business units to support the achievement of strategic outcomes.
- Worked collaboratively with key stakeholders to identify and manage financial and budget issues through the formulation of recommendations and the provision of specialist advice to achieve business unit outcomes and meet stakeholder’s needs.
- Undertake analysis to review existing practices, identify opportunities for improvement and contribute to strategies that improve financial performance.
- Preparation of concise, accurate and timely financial reports that assist budget monitoring, performance management and inform decision making.
- Provision of advice on the application of financial policies and procedures including Australian Accounting Standards and Treasurer’s Instructions and public sector processes including annual budget processes.
- Development of collaborative working relationships with internal stakeholders and monthly reporting processes for the Digital and Major Programs that supported effective financial management and facilitated the achievement of strategic business priorities.
- Provision of financial support and advice to key stakeholders within the Office for South Australian Motorsport to support the re-establishment of the Office and the South Australian Motor Sport Board.
- Undertook financial analysis and modelling to determine the financial impact of proposals for processes such as the Mid-Year Budget Review and annual budget processes.
Senior Management Accountant
Department for Correctional Services, People and Business Services
10.2021 - 04.2022
- Undertake analysis to review existing practices, identify opportunities for improvement and contribute to strategies that improve agency financial performance and lead to the implementation of effective business solutions.
- Work collaboratively with key stakeholders to identify and manage financial and budget issues through the provision of high-quality advice, and the formulation of recommendations to address these issues.
- Preparation of concise, accurate and timely financial reports that assist budget monitoring, performance management and inform decision making.
- Provision of advice on the application of Australian Accounting Standards, Treasurer’s Instructions and other government financial policies and procedures to ensure compliance and best practice financial accounting practices are followed.
- Preparation of monthly reconciliations to ensure the alignment and integrity of financial information contained in internal and external financial systems and identification and resolution of issues.
- Preparation of the Department’s monthly monitoring returns and commentary for the Department of Treasury and Finance (DTF) monthly monitoring process.
- Preparation of internal reports for the Department’s prisons including financial and performance information for the DCS monthly Executive and Key Performance Indicator reports.
- Provision of advice on costing of funding proposals and the review of the financial performance of areas.
Principal Management Accountant (Project Management)
Department of Human Services, Financial Services
02.2015 - 10.2021
- Provision of specialist advice on a range of asset management processes including the disposal of fixed assets, the annual asset stocktake process, asset valuation processes and establishment of divisional attractive items registers thereby enabling the provision of accurate information for the preparation of the DHS Annual Financial Statements.
- Coordination of the review and reconciliation of information to identify new lease agreements and determination of accounting treatment under AASB 16 Leases resulting in the provision of accurate, timely information for decision making and financial reporting purposes.
- Review of Shared Services monthly reconciliations for accommodation incentives, right of use (ROU) assets, and lease liabilities to assist in the provision of relevant and timely information in accordance with financial accounting policies.
- Facilitated the review of information contained on the Department of Human Services (DHS) Asset Register for the Domiciliary Equipment Services Program which resulted in the removal of over 1 100 donated assets valued at $3.8m in under two weeks.
- Coordination of the 2020-21 valuation process for DHS Land and Buildings including analysis of valuation calculations, identification and resolution of issues, and collaboration with key stakeholders resulting in the provision of accurate reporting of values for land and buildings assets in the DHS Financial Statements.
- Establishment of a process to review Shared Services SA monthly reconciliations for accommodation incentives, ROU assets and lease liabilities.
Strategic Finance and Analysis
Principal Management Accountant (Project Management)
01.2019 - 12.2020
- Develop and maintain effective working relationships with a range of stakeholders including DHS Executive, divisional staff, and non-government organisations (NGO’s) through collaboration and the provision of advice on a range of issues to ensure compliance with government financial policies thereby building trust and influencing decision making in relation to financial management issues.
- Analysis and monitoring of grant budgets including the preparation of monthly reports, budget preparation, analysis of financial information, the formulation of end of year projections and recommendations to address emerging issues in accordance with Government and DHS financial policies.
- Undertake reviews of financial information to identify issues, formulate recommendations and identify business improvement opportunities.
- Preparation of briefings and correspondence for various stakeholders including DHS Executive, the Disability Service Reform Group (DSRG) and NGO’s.
- Development and maintenance of costing models including models to ensure appropriate determination of costs and to support strategic planning.
- Reviewed internal budgets and forward estimates to determine the impact of new accounting standard requirements in relation to Financial Instruments, Leases, and Revenue.
- Review and establishment of new service level agreements between DHS and the South Australian Housing Authority.
- Undertook a review of the Concessions Administered Items budgets and formulated recommendations and advice to stakeholders to address Chart of Account issues.
- Coordination of the Individualised Funding Host Grant Program in 2019-20 which involved the payment of $20m in grant funding, the retrieval of $7.5m in overpayments and the management of the 2018-19 acquittal process which led to the recovery of $1.3m in unspent grants.
- Undertook a review of the Supported Residential Facilities (SRF) grant program and implementation of a reconciliation process for quarterly grant payments.
- Reviewed and implemented changes to the monthly reporting process on debt recovery from State funded disability providers to DHS Executive.
Education
Graduate Diploma - Public Sector Management
Flinders University
Adelaide, SA01.2011
CPA Full Certified Member -
CPA Australia - Deakin University
Adelaide, SA01.2000
Bachelor of Arts - Accountancy
University of South Australia
01.1993
Skills
- Strong Leadership skills – the ability to lead and develop teams to deliver high-quality financial support services to a broad range of stakeholders, foster collaboration, and manage financial processes that support the achievement of strategic business priorities and processes
- Strong analytical, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills – Significant experience in reviewing financial processes, identifying issues, providing advice on opportunities for improvement, and implementing changes to enhance service delivery, ensure compliance with legislation and government financial policies, and drive innovation
- High level communication skills – Ability to work collaboratively with a wide range of stakeholders, build trust and influence, and to provide specialist advice to ensure the effective management of resources and the achievement of financial management objectives for business units
- Budget Management and Financial Reporting skills – Extensive experience in the coordination of budget and financial reporting processes and the provision of high-quality management accounting services to stakeholders including the development and management of budgets and the management of both internal and external financial reporting processes
Hobbies and Interests
Dog walking, Movies, Theatre, Reading
Timeline
Principal Financial Compliance Accountant
Department of Human Services, Finance
09.2023 - Current
Principal Management Accountant
Department of the Premier and Cabinet, Finance and Procurement
04.2022 - 09.2023
Senior Management Accountant
Department for Correctional Services, People and Business Services
10.2021 - 04.2022
Strategic Finance and Analysis
Principal Management Accountant (Project Management)
01.2019 - 12.2020
Principal Management Accountant (Project Management)
Department of Human Services, Financial Services
02.2015 - 10.2021
Graduate Diploma - Public Sector Management
Flinders University
CPA Full Certified Member -
CPA Australia - Deakin University
Bachelor of Arts - Accountancy
University of South Australia
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