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Gartner Expert
Hilary S Richards
VP Analyst
Hilary Richards serves as Vice President Advisory in Gartner's Finance Practice. In this role, Ms. Richards advises Controllers and other senior finance executives on critical issues facing their organizations, and assists them in translating best demonstrated practices into action in their respective organizations.
Areas of specialty include accounting close, internal controls, accounting department productivity, and accounting department structure. She also facilitates meetings for senior Accounting, Tax, and Shared Services executives across a variety of settings and topics.
Previous experience
In previous roles at CEB/Gartner, Ms. Richards was a Project Manager/Research Manager and co-authored more than 35 major best practices and benchmarking reports on topics selected by members to help senior finance executives improve effectiveness and productivity of management reporting, accounting processes, organizational design, tax risk management, and tax planning and provision processes.
She also presented and conducted live training engagements for corporate members across diverse sectors, including Autodesk, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), Charles Schwab & Company, Health Net, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Microsoft, Morgan Stanley, Office Max, PepsiCo., PPL Services Corp., Qualcomm, Tokio Marine HCC, and Vistaprint.
Areas of coverage
Internal Control, Tax and Investor Relations
Accounting and Transactional Finance Processes
Education
Master of Business Administration, Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society, George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
Bachelor of Arts, Princeton University, Princeton, N.J., Magna Cum Laude
Top Issues That I Help Clients Address
1Streamline the Accounting Close
2Reduce Effort in Accounting Processes
3Improve Accounting Department Productivity
4Protect Employee Mental Energy through Change
5Improve the Effectiveness of Internal Controls