Capital Analyst

Reporting directly to the Director of Operations, the Capital Analyst holds a pivotal role in supporting and overseeing the end-to-end capital planning process across the entire Western Canada Region. This function is critical to ensuring the efficient and strategic allocation of capital funds. The Capital Analyst will be a key liaison, collaborating closely with operational and functional leaders throughout the company to gather comprehensive input, meticulously review proposed capital fund allocations, and ensure alignment with organizational objectives and financial prudence. Furthermore, this role is essential for the effective management of approved budgets, executing necessary transfers within the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, and maintaining detailed, accurate records of all active and historical capital expense projects. This position demands a highly organized, detail-oriented individual with strong analytical and communication skills, operating effectively within a fast-paced, high-pressure financial environment.
 

Key Responsibilities and Accountabilities:

• End-to-End Capital Expenditure Management: Play a supportive but active role in managing the entire capital expenditure planning process, spanning from the initial project inception and planning stages through to final fund disbursement. A core focus is ensuring the efficient, compliant, and strategic allocation of capital funds across all business units.

• Stakeholder Collaboration and Integration: Collaborate extensively with operational, functional, and business unit leaders to gather comprehensive inputs, justifications, and forecasts required for the annual and quarterly capital planning cycles. This function is vital for fostering effective finance integration and partnership within operational functions, ensuring capital plans support strategic business needs.

• ERP Budget Management and Control: Take ownership of managing approved capital budgets and executing necessary fund transfers, reallocations, and adjustments accurately and timely within the designated ERP system (e.g., Workday). This includes maintaining a comprehensive, up-to-date, and accessible list of all budgeted, approved, and in-progress capital expense projects.

• Request Review and Compliance: Meticulously review all capital expense requests submitted through the Workday approval workflow. The Analyst is responsible for ensuring strict adherence to pre-defined capital eligibility criteria, internal policies, and accounting standards , challenging any non-compliant or insufficiently justified requests.

• Process Improvement and Discrepancy Resolution: Actively monitor transactions and project records to identify and resolve any discrepancies, variances, or data inaccuracies proactively. Beyond resolution, the Analyst is expected to continuously evaluate current capital processes and proactively recommend and implement enhancements to improve efficiency, accuracy, and control.

• Reporting and Analytics Development: Provide essential support in the development, refinement, and execution of enhanced reporting mechanisms for capital expenses across the organization, including variance analysis, project status tracking, and actual-to-budget comparisons.

• Business Unit Support: Serve as a primary point of contact for Business Units, providing expert guidance, clarification, and resolution for inquiries related to capital requests, budget status, and future capital needs.

• Ad-hoc Reporting and Analysis: Undertake various ad-hoc reporting and analytics tasks as required to support organizational strategic objectives, investment decisions, and financial forecasting.

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, and Competencies:

• Education: A relevant post-secondary degree is preferred, ideally in Business Administration, Finance, or Accounting. A professional certification, such as a CPA designation, is considered a valuable asset but is not a prerequisite for the role.

• Experience: Work experience in a corporate finance environment is essential. Prior experience with fixed assets, capital planning, or general ledger accounting is highly preferred.

• Technical Accounting Proficiency: Requires a solid working knowledge of accounting procedures, particularly those related to the capitalization of assets.

• Data and Systems Acumen: Demonstrated ability to work effectively with complex data sets, understand intricate financial systems, and possess a strong grasp of data processing and reporting principles.

• Analytical and Problem-Solving Skills: Possesses sharp, analytical problem-solving skills with a proactive and eager approach to identifying, investigating, and resolving complex financial issues.

• Execution and Resilience: Must be capable of managing responsibilities and executing tasks efficiently and accurately within a high-volume, high-pressure, deadline-driven environment.

• Organizational Excellence: Highly organized, meticulous, and detail-oriented, with a proven ability to manage multiple priorities (multi-task) and prioritize competing demands effectively in a fast-paced setting.

• Communication and Teamwork: Excellent verbal and written communication skills are necessary, coupled with the ability to work effectively, collaboratively, and build strong professional relationships across different departments and with senior leadership.

• Systems Experience: Prior working experience with major ERP systems, specifically Great Plains and/or Workday Financials, is considered a significant asset.

• Work Flexibility: Must exhibit flexibility and willingness to work additional hours, particularly during peak planning, budgeting, and quarter/year-end cycles, as dictated by critical business needs.