Bob Severi, Lead Partner in Penn Valley Group CFO Services, brings to our clients more than 28 years of experience in accounting, treasury and taxation with signature strength of thinking and acting in the owner’s best interest. He maximizes cash flow, drives enterprise value and consistently meets the needs of key stakeholders.
Bob leads the finance function and improves financial performance for Penn Valley clients on an interim or part-time basis:
- controlling costs and increasing bottom line results,
- managing working capital and accelerating cash flow,
- forecasting cash flow,
- ensuring compliance with lenders’ covenants resulting in sound banking relationships,
- establishing key business metrics,
- improving processes, developing strategic plans,
- developing operating plans and budgets,
- analyzing operating results and proposed transactions,
- performing merger and acquisition due diligence and integration,
- arranging competitive financing.
Prior to joining Penn Valley Group, Bob held CFO, treasury and tax roles in small to mid-sized companies in both private (family controlled and private equity backed) and publicly held settings. His diverse experience includes manufacturing, utility construction, financial services, technology, software development, traffic safety and consumer products.
Bob has served as CFO of RoadSafe ($115 million private equity backed traffic safety company), CFO Partner of Tatum (largest financial management services firm), and CFO of American Meter Company, ($275 million international manufacturer of natural gas measurement devices) also serving on the Board of Directors. Bob has consulted for a $350 million public international consumer products company. He was Senior Director of Finance and acting CFO at Henkels & McCoy, Inc. ($750 million privately-held international infrastructure services company) also serving on the Board of Directors. Bob started and grew the in-house tax department for SEI Investments, a public company, during a period of rapid growth (revenue grew from $30 to $130 million). Earlier in his career, he held positions in both the audit and tax staffs of the public accounting firm, Ernst and Young.
He has successfully:
- created a unique working capital metric and improved a company’s working capital 40%, from $50 to $30 million, to near world class levels,
- restructured one firm’s financing of capital expenditures and debt payments during a previous recession, to create $9 million of extra operating flexibility while ensuring compliance with bank financial covenants,
- performed process improvement analysis resulting in a 20% reduction in headquarters financial staff without sacrificing service levels,
- arranged a three bank “club deal” revolving credit facility of $40 million, later raised to $70 million during a period of rapid growth,
- participated in private equity due diligence for a $2 billion deal.
Bob earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Ursinus College, a Master of Business Administration in Financial Management from Drexel University and a Master of Taxation from Villanova University. He is a Certified Public Accountant in the state of Pennsylvania and a member of the American and Pennsylvania Institutes of Certified Public Accountants and Financial Executives International.