Andrea Vardaro Thomas

Andrea is a Managing Director in Protiviti’s Business Performance Improvement Solution based in New York City. Andrea leads Protiviti’s Business Planning & Analysis practice, providing clients with the necessary tools to navigate complex scenarios, adapt to business changes, and achieve significant outcomes. Prior to joining Protiviti, Andrea spent more than 20 years in various finance and accounting leadership roles across corporate finance, divisional strategic finance, FP&A, and SEC reporting and technical accounting. At Protiviti, Andrea serves clients in various industries, guiding them through their finance transformation and public company readiness journeys, as well as enhancing business performance through financial planning, operational effectiveness, strategic cost optimization, and innovation.

Major Projects

• Designed and executed annual budget, rolling-forecast and long-range planning processes, inclusive of cross-functional business partnerships connecting end-to-end strategic decision making, scenario planning models, zero-based budgeting and utilizing various planning tools such as Adaptive Planning and Hyperion.
• Served as a strategic finance business partner to regional, operational and corporate leaders, driving financial discipline and enabling effective decision-making through analysis around revenue growth strategy, cost structure and capital expenditures.
• Led public company readiness for various companies.  Managed key areas of infrastructure buildout, including developing a formal financial close process, building out the FP&A function and related processes, and implementing routine financial reporting in accordance with US GAAP and SEC requirements.  Assisted in IPO-specific activities such as drafting the Form S-1 document and determining KPIs aligned with the IPO story.
• Managed finance transformation projects and various post-acquisition integrations, including establishment of a shared services function and redefining the finance business partnering function to provide strategic, data-driven support, achieving reductions in the cost of finance, improved efficiencies and upskilled talent in the finance organization.
• Developed and implemented zero-based budgeting financial models to evaluate a prioritized list of strategic spend initiatives, including cost reduction and investment opportunities in support of business growth strategies.
• Transformed the external reporting function of a multi-national public company resulting in expedited time to file and improved quality of external reporting in compliance with US GAAP & SEC requirements; implemented data analytics to enhance the quality MD&A disclosures highlighting business performance.
• Designed and implemented lean international finance organizations capable of supporting public company requirements in a highly controlled environment.

Areas of Expertise:

• Business Planning & Analysis
• Finance Transformation
• Business Performance Improvement

Education & Certifications:

• Bachelor of Science, Lehigh University
• Certified Public Accountant (CPA), New York
• Chartered Global Management Accountant
• Association for Finance Professionals (AFP)