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Rose Report: Issue 37

RFS Solutions Providers RFS is pleased to announce the addition of our three new Solutions Providers, C. Joseph “Joe” Thomas, Jr., Adrienne Lewis and Karen Long

At Rose Financial Solutions (RFS), our focus is on helping our clients succeed in their missions. That’s why we take a holistic approach to their finance, accounting, compliance and human resource needs. By partnering with strategic, industry-leading professionals, we deliver our clients with a full suite of solutions that help them elevate their businesses to the next level.

“The goal of our RFS Solutions Provider Program is to widen the availability of our finance, accounting, and HR solutions to business leaders seeking to achieve more with financial confidence,” said Ted Rose, president, CEO and founder of RFS. “Mr. Thomas, Ms. Lewis and Ms. Long have deep knowledge and expertise in their industries, and we are excited that they are part of the RFS team.”

 

C. Joseph Thomas Meet C. Joseph “Joe” Thomas, Jr.— CFO, St. Louis
C. Joseph Thomas, Jr. is a finance executive with expertise in both public and private corporate financing, bank relations, cash management, financial analysis, negotiations, foreign exchange, SOX compliance, acquisitions, credit and collections, and employee benefits. With more than 20 years of experience, Mr. Thomas has a proven track record of identifying, analyzing, and resolving important business issues. He possesses exceptional analytical, organizational, and managerial skills that enable him to creatively communicate ideas to achieve company objectives. His background includes extensive leadership experience in billing and collections, treasury operations, and corporate credit operations.

Mr. Thomas is the Managing Partner and Founder of CJ Thomas Consulting, LLC in Saint Louis, MO. Prior to founding CJ Thomas Consulting, he served as the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Treasury Officer of CTSI-Global, where he was responsible for cash management, reporting bank relations, insurance matters, and credit. Prior to CTSI-Global, Mr. Thomas was the Manager Financial Operations-Credit and Collections for CenturyLink Inc.

Mr. Thomas graduated from Missouri State University with a B.S. in Finance.

 

Meet Adrienne Lewis – Senior HR Consultant
Adrienne Lewis is a human resources (HR) professional who leverages her HR and business expertise to drive organizational efficiency, compliance and operational excellence. With more than 25 years of experience, Ms. Lewis has demonstrated success analyzing a business’s precise HR needs and delivering solutions that improve quality, performance, communication, morale and productivity. Her areas of expertise include assessments, compliance, talent acquisition, line management, staff retention, management training, policies and process development, benefits, executive coaching and performance management.

Ms. Lewis is the owner and managing partner of the Lewis Consulting Group and has held senior management positions at companies in the commercial, government contracting and association sectors. Prior to founding LCG, she was VP, Business Operations at Personify Corp. where she managed all internal corporate business functions including human resources, administration, the PMO office and facilities.

Ms. Lewis earned a B.A. degree in Speech Communication with a concentration in Rhetoric from the City University of NY (Brooklyn College) and an M.A. in Business Communications (Organizational Development) from the University of Maryland.

 

Karen Long, RFS Solutions Provider Meet Karen Long, MS, MBA, CFCM—Contract Management Consultant
Karen Long is a federal government contracts expert with over 15 years of experience in government contracting for small- and mid-sized companies. From pre-RFP to close-out, Ms. Long’s expertise spans the entire contract process. This includes reviewing RFPs; pricing; negotiating non-disclosure and teaming agreements; subcontracts; financially and contractually managing contracts; preparing estimates of completion; and completing close outs.

Ms. Long is the Founder and President of Streamline Government Contracts, LLC. Prior to founding Streamline Government Contracts, she served as the Contracts Manager for Advanced Technologies and Laboratories International Inc., where she reviewed and negotiated subcontracts, reviewed and signed non-disclosure agreements, reviewed contractual monthly reports from a funding perspective, and acted as liaison between the accounting department and project managers. Prior to working for Advanced Technologies and Laboratories International Inc., she was the Sr. Contracts/Financial Analyst for Sabre Systems, Inc.

Ms. Long currently serves as a government contracting subject matter expert for Industry Newsletter. She earned a B.S. degree in Education from the University of Connecticut, an M.S. in Management on the Procurement and Contracts Management track, and an MBA from the University of Maryland University College. In addition, she is a Certified Federal Contracts Manager.

Contact us for more information on our RFS Solutions Provider Program.

 

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By Matthew Scroggs January 10, 2024
Issue 72 - Data Driven and AI Enablement Strategies for 2024
By Matthew Scroggs January 10, 2024
Recent findings from Pigment’s Office of the CFO 2024 survey highlight a critical issue for business leaders – the prevalent use of inaccurate data in their decision-making processes. The survey reveals that a staggering 89% of finance leaders are basing their decisions on incomplete or faulty data. The foundation of successful business strategies depends on the quality and accuracy of the decisions made. As businesses navigate expansion and heightened competition, the reliance on data-driven insights has become critical. Harnessing the transformative power of accurate, reliable data enables informed and effective decision-making. Businesses with financial clarity will outpace companies that struggle with flawed data. Financial visibility will help businesses avoid common pitfalls while shaping a future oriented strategic vision. Why Is Most Financial Data Flawed? Financial Data often ends up flawed due to several factors. Disparate systems and fragmented processes within an organization can cause increased inaccuracies over time. The lack of standardization of data within an organization introduces complexities and leads to inconsistencies in data handling. Nomenclature and connectivity issues further compound the problem, making it challenging to establish a framework for data organization. When these issues persist, they pave the way for flawed data, hindering accurate analysis and decision-making. Improving Financial Data with a “Single Source of Truth” Addressing the complexity of inaccurate financial data requires a strategic approach. Streamlining systems and processes and implementing standardized, data-oriented procedures across departments can mitigate inaccuracies stemming from disparate systems and fragmented processes. Moreover, establishing a unified nomenclature and resolving connectivity issues are pivotal to ensuring data integrity. By instituting a cohesive framework for data organization and management, businesses can tackle the root causes of flawed financial data. Establishing a single source of truth consolidates data into a single data structure. This allows for the streamlining of processes, reduction of complexity, standardization of nomenclature and improved connectivity. In essence, a single source of truth reduces errors by ensuring everyone in an organization refers to the same accurate information. This unified data hub speeds up decision making and lays the groundwork for integrating AI into future financial operations. Enter Easby, a system of engagement that standardizes financial activities and data while improving data integrity. As a CFO Co-Pilot, Easby streamlines data handling and reporting, allowing leaders to make better decision based on better information. Easby reduces administrative activity and promotes data-accuracy, improving decision-making and driving companies toward success in our competitive business environment. Easby connects with your accounting system of record to become a “single source of truth”, centralizing data and refining processes. By streamlining data collection and reporting, Easby empowers leaders to refocus their efforts on strategic growth initiatives. To discover how Easby can become your CFO Co-Pilot while fortifying the future of your organization, we invite you to schedule an introductory call with Rose Financial Solutions (ROSE). Schedule an Introductory Call
By Matthew Scroggs January 10, 2024
Technology, Data and Automation are transforming decision-making, especially with the democratization of Artificial Intelligence (AI). This transformation is especially pronounced within finance, where AI's emergence is influencing financial system strategies, placing a premium on structured data for AI-driven initiatives. However, the ability to utilize AI effectively heavily relies on data organization and security. Organizing data includes data consolidation, categorization, and tokenization. This organization can help establish the groundwork for your company to benefit from the full potential of a wide-range of AI-driven use-cases. Consolidating Diverse Data for Unified Insights Data consolidation includes merging and unifying diverse data sets from multiple sources into a single source of truth. Let’s consider a corporation that operates across various states. Each division might maintain financial and operational records, such as sales figures, payroll, operational expenses, and inventory in disparate systems. Data consolidation in this scenario involves merging these diverse datasets from different divisions into a singular, centralized system. For instance, combining sales data from different regions, integrating it with payroll and inventory records, and aligning financial reports across divisions creates a comprehensive overview of the company's overall performance. This consolidated data allows for better analysis of revenue streams, cost optimization strategies, and more accurate forecasting across the entire organization, aiding in strategic decision-making for the whole company. Enhancing AI Precision through Categorization Categorization involves sorting data into specific items or categories based on various parameters or attributes. It's about organizing and labeling data in a structured manner. For example, in accounting, data categorization refers to sorting expenses into a variety of dimensions, such as general ledger codes, department codes, project codes, etc. These codes are normally broken down into logical categories that help users and AI understand that certain vendors are related to travel and others are related to office supplies, or utilities. In AI-driven strategies, categorization is paramount for contextualizing and organizing information effectively. By classifying data into relevant categories or items, AI systems can understand the nuances of different data sets. This categorization allows for more precise analysis, facilitating the extraction of actionable insights and comparisons that are crucial for decision-making. Tokenization for Advanced Data Efficiency and Security Tokenization is the segmentation of complex data into smaller, more manageable units known as tokens, each representing individual pieces of data or information. This process primarily focuses on maintaining confidentiality when inputting data into AI systems. Its core objective is safeguarding sensitive data by substituting identifying information with distinct tokens or representations. By implementing tokenization, organizations create a protective barrier around sensitive information, like personal or financial data, thwarting AI from associating the data from a specific entity. Tokenization ensures that AI algorithms work with transformed data. For instance, tokenization involves converting sensitive data, like vendor names, into random tokens in financial transactions. This not only enhances security by safeguarding sensitive information but also streamlines data analysis by reducing the complexity of the dataset. In AI strategies, tokenization is a critical step. By segmenting data into tokens, AI algorithms can more effectively identify patterns, trends, and correlations within the information, ultimately enabling more accurate predictions and insights, all without providing the AI with sensitive information. Leveraging Integration Opportunities with AI Consider a company working to streamline its accounting processes. The organization creates a unified database through data consolidation and tokenization. The integration of AI technology allows for the use of machine learning to automate transaction coding, a move that significantly reduces manual workload while improving processing accuracy. Other examples of AI integration include automating graphic analysis and categorization creation. For instance, AI-driven tools can autonomously generate visual representations of complex datasets. Moreover, within categorization, AI systems excel at continuously refining and automating the sorting of diverse data sets into specific categories or segments, ensuring accuracy and efficiency in data handling. Finally, AI-driven tools leverage historical patterns to track and analyze financial behaviors. For instance, by examining past expenditures, these systems identify trends, anomalies, and potential cost-saving opportunities. This level of insight allows businesses to make more informed decisions regarding budget allocation, identifying areas for optimization and possible financial risks. Scaling Efficiently Through AI-Driven Strategies By merging AI-driven strategies with data management, businesses gain adaptability. This agility powers informed decisions, intelligent resource allocation, and proactive risk management. This approach isn't just about navigating competition; it's about efficient scaling and strategic growth, representing a shift towards growth while benefiting from financial clarity. This strategic combination empowers businesses to thrive, evolve, and seize opportunities in a constantly changing business environment. Schedule an introductory call with us today to explore how optimizing your data strategy can enhance your adaptability, drive informed decisions, and propel your business towards scalable growth. Schedule an Introductory Call
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