Director of Finance
Safwan Abu Risheh Resume 2 of 3 Rosewood Hotel Georgia Vancouver
Total years of experience :27 years, 8 Months
Recruited by network contact to oversee accounting, IT and purchasing department operations. Implement
all local and Rosewood policies and procedures. Keyplayer in the preparation and presentation of cash flow
projections, weekly forecasts, monthly financial statements, annual budgets, capex plans and five-year
projections. Member of hotel Executive Committeeas one of the key leaders in the hotel, involved in all
decisions including those related to operations, sales and marketing, and human resources.
• Created local policies in preparation for opening.
• Maintaining profitability from opening to present.
• Prioritized audit checklist to focus on key areas while not ignoring others. Change resulted in
identifying and rectifying several previously unidentified serious procedureal issues.
• Established cross training in finance department enabling all staff to cover all areas.
• Mentored three junior accountants into Assistant Director of Finance roles.
Built relationships with other Finance and Managing Directors that created more open reporting
environment that facilitated sharing of problems and solutions across region resulting in earlier and
quicker solutions. (Rosewood Area Director)
• Identified previously overlooked process error in hotel monthly forecasts that had skewed results,
and improved overall forecasting process for area. (Rosewood Area Director)
• Created concept of “Local Policies and Procedures” to match local needs. Concept now being
adopted corporate wide. (Rosewood Hotel Georgia)
• Member of the pre-and post-opening leadership team of the first Canadian hotel to win the Forbes
5 Star award. Hotel also won award for the following two years (Rosewood Hotel Georgia)
• Frequently mentored juniors into more responsible roles. (Rosewood, Four Seasons, all hotels.)
• Created and implemented successful contingency plan to surmount the 2008 recession. Plan saved
about $2M in expenses and allowed the hotel to achieve its previously set financial goals. (Four
Seasons Vancouver)
• Recruited and trained the entire finance team in Four Seasons standardsand policies prior to pre-
opening of what became the best hotel in Lebanon. (Four Seasons, Beirut)
Partof the pre-opening and post-opening team for this hotel located in an exciting and challenging part
of the world. Prepared the weekly forecast, reviewed monthlyfinancial statements, cash flow
projections, capital expenditure plans and prepared the annual budget and five-year projections.
• Successfully opened the hotel and surpassed revenue expectations.
Led all Finance functions including Accounting, Purchasing and IT. Served on the Executive Committee,
participated in all operations, sales and marketing, and human resources policy decisions. Prepared weekly
forecasts, reviewed monthly financial statements, cash flow projections, capital expenditure plans and
preparedthe annual budget and five-year projections. Implemented a third party labour management
system(Heath) which had a very positive impact on the financial results.
Recruited to lead all Finance functions asmemberofthe pre- andpost-opening team of the leading hotel in
Amman. Served on hotel Executive Committee, prepared weekly forecasts, reviewed monthly financial
statements, cash flow projections and capital expenditure plans. Preparedannual budgets and five-year
projections.
• Hotel profitable from second year.
Partof the pre-opening and post-opening team, oversaw payroll, accounts payable, accounts receivable,
general cashier, and cost control positions. Strictly observed the finance policies and procedures and
adhered to all company and government standards. Developed strong financial controls and improvedbusiness
analytics. Coordinated and preparedforecasts, cash flow forecast, projects and cost analysis.
Supervised the preparation of local and home office reports and financial statements, togetherwith all
related financial and analytical reports.
Safwan Abu Risheh Resume 3 of 3
Checked and matched invoices to delivery notes and purchase orders. Posted all purchase vouchers
daily to the accounts payable ledger. Prepared creditorpayments according to the payment schedule.
Reconciled the accounts payable aginganalysis and balanced the general ledgerpayables.
Oversaw daily revenues and expenses, organized and prepareddoctors’ accounts, conducted monthly
inventory of medical supplies and prepared monthlypayroll and bank reconciliations.
