As the Controller at Beyond, Sharease Flores is one of Beyond’s go-to financial experts. In addition to leading the finance and accounting team at Beyond, she is responsible for managing all of Beyond’s financials across the US & Europe.
“I keep track of all accounting and financial processes, ensuring that we’re compliant with accounting standards, and ensuring all of our financials abroad are recorded and reconciled alongside the U.S. I also manage employees' expense reports and payroll. Basically, I help oversee all financial processes for the whole business,” said Sharease. “My biggest goal when I started at Beyond was to establish and optimize our accounting processes.”
When Sharease was deciding to apply to Beyond for her current position, Beyond’s five core values stood out to her: We Care, We're on the Same Team, We Inspire Trust, We go Beyond, and We Ship It. These values define what it means to work at Beyond, and Sharease felt that these values accurately reflected her own. We got a chance to talk with Sharease about what these values mean to her, and how they have impacted her time at Beyond so far.
How Did You Find Beyond and What Made You Decide to Apply?
I found the job posting for Beyond on LinkedIn. Before I even apply for a job, I always go to the company’s website and I also look up employee reviews. When I went to Beyond’s website and saw the core values highlighted on the careers page, it was the determining factor for deciding to apply for the role. The values, especially We Go Beyond and We Care, resonated with me. These values fit me in my personal life and that’s what led me to apply.
Why is it Important for a Company to Have Core Values?
Having core values defined sets the standard for how a company should function. It sets a standard for employees, it guides them about how to go about their role and how to interact with others. Core values also help define morale at a company, how a person should work at a company, and how a company should be viewed.
When I look at the core values of a company, it has to reflect my values and how I go about my life too. So I find core values really important to benchmark how I might feel working there.
What is Your Favorite Beyond Core Value?
My favorite value is We Care. It means that anything that you do, you have to find value in it for it to matter and for the work to be at its best. To me, this is a high-level benchmark for all of the other core values. In order to Go Beyond, to Ship it, Inspire Trust, and Be on the Same Team, you have the care first.
How Do You Incorporate Values into the Finance Team?
Inspiring Trust is a huge value that our team practices every day. On the finance team, we need to work in a way that inspires trust from others inside and outside the company. We are responsible for the company’s financials so we need the company and our stakeholders to trust that what we are doing is accurate. This value is huge in my day-to-day so it’s naturally how I lead the finance team.
When it comes to We Go Beyond, I typically make sure I am as available as I can be with employees so that everyone has what they need from a financial standpoint. I give them quick answers about their paychecks, expense reports, and other things. It’s really important to make sure that our employees receive quick responses to questions like that.
How do You Incorporate We’re on the Same Team?
We're on the Same Team means coming together for one common goal and supporting your colleagues when they need help. We come together as a team and help each other out so that we can meet our goals.
What Does We Ship It actually mean?
We Ship It means that we get done what needs to be done. To support customer needs and company needs best, we strive for quality and to do the best work we can do but we don’t let perfectionism get in the way. So for the finance team, this means that I put a lot of work into streamlining our month-end process. This was a big goal when I first started at Beyond. By putting in place a better process, I was able to bring it down from 14 days to 5. Now, it’s easier, quicker, and more accurate for our business leaders and stakeholders to make decisions based on our financials.
What Does the Future Hold For You at Beyond?
My time at Beyond has gone by so fast so far! I’m still in a big learning phase — I especially like that since Beyond is a global company, I’m learning how other countries operate from a financial standpoint. In the future, I would like to grow my career and expand my knowledge base. My biggest goal is to make sure I’m always growing and building on my expertise.
Our Going Beyond series aims to pull back the curtain and show what it’s really like to work at Beyond. Our five core values provide structure for our company decisions, interactions, and work: We Care, We Go Beyond, We Are On The Same Team, We Inspire Trust and We Ship It. If these values resonate with you, then you belong at Beyond too. Check out our careers page for more information and to see open positions: https://www.beyondpricing.com/about/careers
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