Andrew Grigolyunovich, CFA, CFM
Finance Expert
Location
Riga, Latvia
Toptal Member Since
June 7, 2019
Andrew ranked fifth at the 2017 Financial Modeling World Championships. He served as CFO for Latvia’s leading retailer for seven years, navigating the firm through the global financial crisis and executing a turnaround that led to profitability and international expansion. He went on to freelance consulting, growing his client base to 250+ in 17 countries. Andrew joined Toptal to work with clients on FP&A, financial modeling, and M&A.
Andrew is available for hire
Hire AndrewCareer Highlights
Freelance Financial Consultant
Toptal Clients
Founder | CEO
AG Capital CFO Services
Financial Modeling Trainer
Financial Modeling Institute
Education
Master's Degree
The BA School of Business and Finance
Bachelor's Degree
Stockholm School of Economics in Riga
Select Certifications
Chartered Financial Modeler (CFM)
Financial Modeling Institute
Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA)
CFA Institute
Case Studies
Industry Expertise
Business ServicesCustom Software & IT ServicesConstructionEnergy, Utilities & WasteElectricity, Oil & GasFinanceBankingHealthcare ServicesOther Expertise
Budget ModelingCash Flow ModelingFinancial ModelingPricingSoftware as a Service (SaaS)Valuation ModelingWork Experience
2019 - PRESENT
Freelance Financial Consultant
Toptal Clients
- Created operational and investment models for a multi-industry UK-based holding company during a six-month engagement. The models ranged from operational models to a consolidated 3-statement financial model for the holding of over 70 companies.
- Created a state-of-the-art financial model for a 20 billion US-based company to support contract negotiations with their key accounts. The client's feedback was, "You have exceeded our expectations."
- Created a five-year three-statement operational model and loan portfolio model for a UK-based online lender. The model was created for the purpose of getting the license.
- Built an 18-month cash flow planning model for an IT training company with campuses in Europe, the US, and Latin America.
- Rehired by a client to prepare a detailed five-year operational model after completing a previous project.
- Developed a five-year 3-statement financial and operational model for a US-based SaaS startup. Researched and justified key assumptions and KPIs for the model. Rehired by the satisfied client to further improve the model.
Focus areas: Financial Services, Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), Financial Modeling
2010 - PRESENT
Founder | CEO
AG Capital CFO Services
- Managed a team of financial analysts and sales professionals to grow the client base from zero to 350+ companies in over 20 countries.
- Created a set of interconnected financial models for an investment firm, including a fund-level financial model for a $200 million investment fund and a firm-level model for the investment company managing four different investment funds.
- Managed a team of analysts that created an automated Excel-based budget planning and performance report system for a multinational company with sales of over $100 million in 16 countries and six different currencies.
- Assisted a wholesale company to increase its net profits by 102% by analyzing the product group's profitability and recommending changes to the product mix and employee motivation system.
- Created financial projections and a business plan for an ice-hall construction project and later raised 2.5 million EUR of long-term bank financing for the company.
- Organized a tender between commercial banks for a client, lowering an interest rate from 8% to 2.9% per annum and saving the client around $100,000 per year in interest payments.
- Created inventory forecast models for companies in industries such as medical wholesale, vet wholesale, agriculture, jewelry retail, and construction material wholesale.
- Led a team of analysts that developed financial models for SaaS companies. Recent examples that are successfully operating are GarageHive (GarageHive.co.uk) and Appotime (Appotime.com).
Focus areas: Financial Modeling, Budgeting, Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A)
2009 - PRESENT
Financial Modeling Trainer
Financial Modeling Institute
- Created exam cases and served as an exam grader for the Financial Modeling Institute, the governing body of the financial modeling industry (fminstitute.com).
- Acted as the chairman of the Financial Modeling World Cup, a monthly online financial modeling event, targeting competition and learning. Managed a team of three project managers to ensure the best quality of the event.
- Attracted a full house during a training session on financial modeling techniques in the corporate budgeting process during the Global Training Camp in New York, USA (December 2017).
- Organized training sessions in budget planning for members of the Latvian Chamber of Commerce every year. Usually, an additional session is required because the main event is sold out.
- Developed and presented a private, on-site training session on financial modeling for a client in Qatar.
Focus areas: Financial Training
2007 - 2009
CEO | CFO
Grenardi
- Led the group's management team located in three countries. The team had ten direct subordinates and 100+ indirect subordinates.
- Expanded the company’s operations from 12 to 24 stores, more than doubling sales from 2007 to 2009.
- Grew the company’s operations from the home country of Latvia to two other European countries (Estonia and Lithuania).
- Secured bank financing of 2.3 million EUR and equity injections of 1 million EUR to fuel the expansion.
- Developed a turnaround plan that included tough cost-cutting in response to the financial crisis of 2008. By August 2009, the company was profitable again. The company came out of the turbulence much stronger and became the #2 player on the market.
- Built a purchase order forecast financial model. The model categorized each store's inventory into 20-25 individual product groups and allowed calculating the required purchase volumes to optimize inventory.
Focus areas: Capital Raising, Financial Modeling, Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A)
2005 - 2007
Loan Officer (Large Corporates)
Swedbank
- Grew the loan portfolio from zero to over 60 million EUR and the client portfolio from zero to more than 40 companies.
- Performed a very thorough project evaluation and credit control, ensuring a 0% default rate for clients.
- Won an internal competition for up-selling the largest number (200+) of pension plans to clients.
- Analyzed, as a part of a larger team, the experience of other countries and potential risks, helping Swedbank to introduce a new credit product (long-term forest financing) to the industry that contributes as much as 5.2% of the country's GDP.
Focus areas: Bank Debt Raises
2002 - 2004
CFO
Latvian Mobile Telephone
- Promoted from a financial analyst role to the CFO role at the age of 21 after the company merged with its key competitor.
- Developed the company’s budget and controlled its performance, ensuring an annual profit of more than 1 million EUR.
- Led the company’s finance department consisting of five direct subordinates—managed a team of five accountants.
- Developed and launched a new personnel motivation system for 300+ salespeople in the company.
- Took an active part in organizing two M&A deals: coordinated the preparation of all necessary information for the deal modeling and due diligence processes; participated in negotiations with the sellers in one deal and the buyers in the other deal.
Focus areas: Budgeting, Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A)
Education
2002 - 2004
Master's Degree in Finance
The BA School of Business and Finance - Riga, Latvia
1999 - 2002
Bachelor's Degree in Finance
Stockholm School of Economics in Riga - Riga, Latvia
Certifications
JANUARY 2019 - PRESENT
Chartered Financial Modeler (CFM)
Financial Modeling Institute
DECEMBER 2017 - PRESENT
Advanced Financial Modeler (AFM)
Financial Modeling Institute
SEPTEMBER 2005 - PRESENT
Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA)
CFA Institute