Just a month into her new career at J2 Engineers, we asked our new CFO, Melissa Palmer, a few questions to learn more about her, her experience, and why she chose J2 Engineers.
Q: What drove you to choose to join J2 Engineers?
Melissa: What I initially heard about J2 instantly intrigued me. Previously I worked in an accounting and finance department at a large engineering and architecture firm, so the industry is familiar to me. Additionally, I liked that J2 was a smaller company as I worked with similarly sized clients at my last company. I also enjoyed talking to the principals and learning more about J2.
Q: How did you choose the finance field? What drew you to the profession?
Melissa: I took my first accounting class in high school, and it instantly clicked with me. I didn’t even realize then that several family members were also in accounting. Soon after, I went to Radford and got my bachelor’s in accounting. I worked as an outsourced accountant for nonprofits for a bit and then wanted something different, so I moved to a finance department in an engineering and architecture firm. I learned so much there and received my CPA license during this time. At this point, I realized I loved getting involved in process/system improvements and financial reporting. After my CPA license, I continued earning my master’s in accounting at Strayer.
Q: What are you most excited about joining the J2 team?
Melissa: I see great potential in this role, and I look forward to taking the finance department to another level, including optimizing systems, improving processes, financial reporting, and compliance. By bringing more finance activities into the department, we’ll be able to help with timely financial decisions. I am incredibly excited about implementing a new enterprise resource planning software (ERP) for J2 and already see great potential with the latest software.
Q: Special areas of interest in your field?
Melissa: I enjoy analyzing financials, working with leadership to understand financials, and improving processes and compliance. I love finding ways to improve upon current processes to make the finance department more efficient and effective. I also enjoy working with auditors, although most don’t, because they are here to help with compliance, and we can only learn from that.
Q: What types of projects have you worked on?
Melissa: My world before J2 was system implementation for six years – helping clients move from QuickBooks or a Deltek product to Unanet accounting software. I learned a ton about consulting and project management through this experience. I was excited to hear I could help J2 transition to Unanet AE and implement the new system.
I also worked on various system/process improvement projects with multiple companies. I built many relationships and saw how different companies did things differently.
Q: What are your most significant skillsets?
Melissa: Analysis, communication, process improvements.
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