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Martin Seaton, CPA CA
National Head Enterprise Resource Planning
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About
Martin is an accomplished ERP & Finance executive with a track record of success in converting challenges to success.
Martin has over 25 years of experience in nationally-recognized organizations in the not-for-profit, retail and media sectors. He has built and managed finance, logistics and payroll teams to improve operations, accounting, financial reporting, and to ensure business transitions succeed. He drives organizations on how to make better use of technologies to optimize headcount and increase output effectiveness.
Martin's operational acumen and strong negotiation skills have provided him with the ability to identify opportunities to increase the bottom-line by $ millions.
Most recently he designed and implemented SAP for the Canadian Olympic Committee.
Martin is an accomplished ERP & Finance executive with a track record of success in converting challenges to success.
Martin has over 25 years of experience in nationally-recognized organizations in the not-for-profit, retail and media sectors. He has built and managed finance, logistics and payroll teams to improve operations, accounting, financial reporting, and to ensure business transitions succeed. He drives organizations on how to make better use of technologies to optimize headcount and increase output effectiveness.
Martin's operational acumen and strong negotiation skills have provided him with the ability to identify opportunities to increase the bottom-line by $ millions.
Most recently he designed and implemented SAP for the Canadian Olympic Committee.
Expertise
- ERP implementation & System integration
- SAP’s B1 ERP
- CFO/VP Finance experience
- Not-for-profit sector
- Retail sector
- Retail-specific HST opportunities
- Process improvement
Experience
Senior Financial & Business Advisor, Canadian Olympic Committee
2014 – 2020
The Canadian Olympic Committee advances Olympic values by sharing our athletes’ stories to inspire all Canadians through the power of sport: 24x7, 365 days a year.
Led a multi-year finance modernization project. Prioritized, planned and implemented recommendations in partnership with Deloitte Advisory
Leadership, Strategy & Stakeholder Relations
• Led the restructuring of the finance department by providing recommendations to the senior management team on the automation and streamlining of numerous processes, resulting in reduced reporting and audit timelines and improved staff morale
• Recovered high-profile program funding from all three levels of government, despite significant negative media attention surrounding the program, by re-establishing relations with funding partners
• Created a marketing strategy for retailing at future Olympic Games, encompassing long-term organizational objectives, minimizing risk and maximizing profits.
Business Transformation & Information Systems
• Drove the organization’s transformational design and implementation of SAP’s B1 ERP; ADP payroll & HR, and a budget & BI tool; reporting to board and management
• Directed development of a proprietary real-time, personalized reporting tool for 40 budget owners, which rivalled more expensive marketplace solutions and led senior executives to re-examine their decision to engage an external ERP provider
VP Finance, Town Shoes Limited
2001 – 2014
• Led and mentored a diverse and highly accomplished team through high standards, integrity, accountability and transparency to create a collaborative performance-based culture
• Helped guide revenue growth of 200% in a 10-year period and an EBITDA increase of over 300%
• Successfully integrated the finance, payroll and logistic operations with Sterling Shoes
• Improved decision-making, and significantly cut store wage costs by providing timely and accurate information to senior management
• Provided an evidence-based decision-making approach and convinced the board to merge warehouses rather than close stores, resulting in reduced costs and retaining store profits
Finance, Risk Management & Operations
• Led the finance team through preparation of due-diligence data in the sale of Town Shoes to a private equity consortium
• Increased efficiency at third-party warehouse, and reduced processing time by introducing vendor compliance guidelines and electronic submission of inbound freight records
• Spearheaded the opening of a new warehouse in western Canada, encompassing existing processes and by leveraging industry know-how and strong relationships
• Analyzed complex banking documents and created a cash-flow model to monitor and forecast compliance with critical short and long-term banking covenants, and strengthened the company’s successful compliance
• Discovered retail-specific tax credits by researching tax legislation, resulting in a one-time recovery in excess of $1M and an ongoing annual recovery of $0.4MM
• Developed and implemented critical business strategies with key partners by effective communication, collaboration, influencing and negotiation
Controller, Toronto Sun
1995 – 2001
• As part of the corporate team worked on the Annual Report, MD&A and consolidation of public financial statements
• Managed the finances of the largest division of Sun Media during a period of sustained change, assisting the general manager and publisher, corporate staff, board members and external investors in the design and implementation of a cost-cutting plan which, in addition to other savings, reduced overall staffing by a significant margin.
• Directed and assisted department heads on matters related, but not limited, to financial and human resource areas while leading and directing the day-to-day running of the Business Office (up to 38 staff), consisting of payroll, credit, billing, circulation billing and general accounting, performing these functions for three separate reporting entities, including the largest operating division of Sun Media.
Notable Achievements:
• Streamlined processes, resulting in the reduction of Business Office staff by a significant margin.
• Appointed by the chief operating officer to chair a corporate committee to review and make recommendations on all credit-related matters across the corporation; reduced bad debts by 10%, and reduced aging by 12%, in addition to other credit-related improvements.
• Integrated the Payroll department into the Business Office from human resources and, within six months, changed payroll processes sufficiently to reduce staffing.
Manager Special Projects, Cable TV
Rogers Communications
1992 – 1994
Coordinated and reported on expense and capital budgets for nine divisions and developed their revenue budgets; worked on other special projects.
Senior Financial & Business Advisor, Canadian Olympic Committee
2014 – 2020
The Canadian Olympic Committee advances Olympic values by sharing our athletes’ stories to inspire all Canadians through the power of sport: 24x7, 365 days a year.
Led a multi-year finance modernization project. Prioritized, planned and implemented recommendations in partnership with Deloitte Advisory
Leadership, Strategy & Stakeholder Relations
• Led the restructuring of the finance department by providing recommendations to the senior management team on the automation and streamlining of numerous processes, resulting in reduced reporting and audit timelines and improved staff morale
• Recovered high-profile program funding from all three levels of government, despite significant negative media attention surrounding the program, by re-establishing relations with funding partners
• Created a marketing strategy for retailing at future Olympic Games, encompassing long-term organizational objectives, minimizing risk and maximizing profits.
Business Transformation & Information Systems
• Drove the organization’s transformational design and implementation of SAP’s B1 ERP; ADP payroll & HR, and a budget & BI tool; reporting to board and management
• Directed development of a proprietary real-time, personalized reporting tool for 40 budget owners, which rivalled more expensive marketplace solutions and led senior executives to re-examine their decision to engage an external ERP provider
VP Finance, Town Shoes Limited
2001 – 2014
• Led and mentored a diverse and highly accomplished team through high standards, integrity, accountability and transparency to create a collaborative performance-based culture
• Helped guide revenue growth of 200% in a 10-year period and an EBITDA increase of over 300%
• Successfully integrated the finance, payroll and logistic operations with Sterling Shoes
• Improved decision-making, and significantly cut store wage costs by providing timely and accurate information to senior management
• Provided an evidence-based decision-making approach and convinced the board to merge warehouses rather than close stores, resulting in reduced costs and retaining store profits
Finance, Risk Management & Operations
• Led the finance team through preparation of due-diligence data in the sale of Town Shoes to a private equity consortium
• Increased efficiency at third-party warehouse, and reduced processing time by introducing vendor compliance guidelines and electronic submission of inbound freight records
• Spearheaded the opening of a new warehouse in western Canada, encompassing existing processes and by leveraging industry know-how and strong relationships
• Analyzed complex banking documents and created a cash-flow model to monitor and forecast compliance with critical short and long-term banking covenants, and strengthened the company’s successful compliance
• Discovered retail-specific tax credits by researching tax legislation, resulting in a one-time recovery in excess of $1M and an ongoing annual recovery of $0.4MM
• Developed and implemented critical business strategies with key partners by effective communication, collaboration, influencing and negotiation
Controller, Toronto Sun
1995 – 2001
• As part of the corporate team worked on the Annual Report, MD&A and consolidation of public financial statements
• Managed the finances of the largest division of Sun Media during a period of sustained change, assisting the general manager and publisher, corporate staff, board members and external investors in the design and implementation of a cost-cutting plan which, in addition to other savings, reduced overall staffing by a significant margin.
• Directed and assisted department heads on matters related, but not limited, to financial and human resource areas while leading and directing the day-to-day running of the Business Office (up to 38 staff), consisting of payroll, credit, billing, circulation billing and general accounting, performing these functions for three separate reporting entities, including the largest operating division of Sun Media.
Notable Achievements:
• Streamlined processes, resulting in the reduction of Business Office staff by a significant margin.
• Appointed by the chief operating officer to chair a corporate committee to review and make recommendations on all credit-related matters across the corporation; reduced bad debts by 10%, and reduced aging by 12%, in addition to other credit-related improvements.
• Integrated the Payroll department into the Business Office from human resources and, within six months, changed payroll processes sufficiently to reduce staffing.
Manager Special Projects, Cable TV
Rogers Communications
1992 – 1994
Coordinated and reported on expense and capital budgets for nine divisions and developed their revenue budgets; worked on other special projects.