Sue Sondergelt is the creator of the innovative new "Lean Beans" program on Lean Accounting, and owner of Lean Beans LLC, an education and consulting group in Lean Accounting. She has delivered her highly respected seminar, "Lean Thinking for Accountants: Sustaining Corporate Growth" for over three years and in 30 major US cities, to assist CPA's in fulfilling their continuing education requirements. Sue learned Lean Accounting "hands-on" while employed by The Wiremold Company during its Lean Change Management initiative.
Sue has 18 years of Lean financial experience in industries ranging from healthcare to aerospace to consumer products. Prior to starting her own consulting firm, Sue worked with the consulting group Lean Advisors, Inc., of Canada where she wrote and facilitated Lean Accounting webinars for international clients. She also has Lean financial experience with United Technologies, both Pratt & Whitney and Otis Elevator, where she was Manager of FP&A, Cost & Pricing. Her first experiences in, and knowledge of, Lean Accounting came while she was employed by, and a member of, the accounting group at The Wiremold Company -- a textbook case in Lean and Lean Accounting. She has also held positions at KPMG Peat Marwick, Black & Decker, and PepsiCo.
"Accounting is a mystery to most people, a complex web of debits and credits, and is kept a secret from folks in Operations. Accountants seem to fear change, while the rest of the world embraces change. Accountants must look less at transactions and more at processes. Financial statements and P&L�s must be in a format that non-financial people can understand. We accountants must learn to be business partners, and learn to be value-added to our businesses. 'Lean Beans' can help us make that transition."
In 2003, Sue addressed a Financial Executives Conference in Philadelphia, and was a keynote speaker on Lean Accounting at the IMA (Institute of Management Accountants) National Conventions in Chicago in June 2004 and in Las Vegas in June of 2006. Sue taught "Advanced Cost" as well as "Change Management Leadership" for four years in the MBA Program at the University of Phoenix. She has been an Adjunct Instructor in Accounting at Northern Michigan University. While at NMU, Sue created a "Hot Topic" course in Lean Accounting for students, faculty, and the community. Sue states:
"Lean Accounting will never become a valid, well utilized Management Cost system until we begin to teach this in our accounting texts and curriculum at our colleges and universities."
In all of her corporate positions, Sue has worked in Financial Operations. She holds a BA in Mathematics/Statistics from Indiana University, and a MS in Accountancy from the University of Hartford. Her thesis area for her MS was in the utilization of the principles of Lean to improve cash flow in a hospital. Sue is a CMA (Certified Management Accountant,) Lean Certified by the University of Michigan, College of Engineering, and a Six Sigma Greenbelt.
Ms. Sondergelt's new book, "THE CONTROLLER as LEAN LEADER," is a compilation of all of her Lean experiences, and includes the good, the bad, the ugly...and the humorous! She plans to kick-off the Lean Controllers Conference with a passionate topic: "Redefining the Roles of Finance for the Lean Controller." In her opening remarks, she will challenge us to take on the "Four Faces" of a Lean Controller. Watch for the opening of Registration for the conference coming soon!
