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Angelo Berlingieri
  • Ownership under pressure
  • Revenue and margin
  • Prioritisation

From 4 contracts to 70+, when the team ran short

Role
Financial Analyst
Company
Baker Hughes
When
Sep 2021 to Jun 2024
Tools
Oracle, HFM, BlackLine, Excel
contracts
4 → 70+
a year
$200m+
per contract
$1m to $1bn+

Before

  • 4 contracts for one branch
  • A new joiner, still learning

After

  • 70+ contracts, the headquarters' whole active portfolio
  • $200m+ a year across Europe, Russia, Africa and the Middle East
  • Second most experienced analyst on a team of nine

01The problem

I joined Baker Hughes in November 2020 to look after four long-term service contracts for the Australian branch. These are agreements where Baker Hughes keeps an energy company's machines running for years, at gas plants, refineries and offshore sites, with maintenance, repairs, parts and engineers on hand. In September 2021, days before the quarter's books had to close, the team lost two of its most experienced people at once. A regional finance manager moved teams, and our most senior analyst, my mentor, began moving to the Americas.

Someone had to carry his work through the close.

02What I did

  • Stepped in straight away. I took on his work alongside my own, rather than waiting for the team to be reorganised.
  • Did the urgent things first. For that close I was doing two people's jobs, so I focused on what had to be right and parked the rest.
  • Learnt the portfolio properly. Over the next few months he trained me and handed over his contracts. By early 2022 they were formally mine.
  • Kept the managers ahead of surprises. I tracked the numbers daily with the regional finance managers, so they saw problems before the books closed, not after.
  • Owned the whole picture. Revenue, costs, margin and billing for every contract, across several companies and currencies, and the first contact for auditors.

03What changed

  • The quarter closed on time.
  • From early 2022, the bigger role was permanently mine: 70+ contracts and over $200m a year, the headquarters' whole active portfolio.
  • Second most experienced analyst on a team of nine.
“That expansion was earned rather than given.”
Andreas PandoulisSenior Finance Manager and Contractual Services COE Leader at Baker Hughes · my managerFrom his recommendation letter for my MBA
The hardest part wasn't the numbers. It was staying calm and focused while doing two people's jobs.