alison keener, CPA “Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” ~Theodore Roosevelt

When ONEOK, Inc. in Tulsa, Oklahoma, decided to change the way its Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) statistics were accessed, Alison Keener, CPA, a senior financial analyst with ONEOK, Inc., stepped up to the plate. “Management felt it would be helpful to

have all NGL statistics housed in one place that everyone could access,” Keener said. “Shortly after the project began, the team leader moved to another group in the company, and I took over the project.” Keener, who received her bachelor’s

and master’s degrees in accounting from the University of Tulsa, said, “I worked with information technology to implement the statistical hierarchy by setting up new accounts and creating roll-ups that made sense to the users.” “I created uploading templates for each

Alison’s Trail mix

My nickname is: El (short for Ellison, a Starbuck’s barista misspelling of my name)

Do you have any quirky talents? I taught myself to knit

What was your first job? I was a face painter at the St. Louis Zoo

If you could be on any game show, what would it be? Wheel of Fortune (I watch it almost every night)

March/April 2016 CPAFOCUS 21

of three groups, which had responsibilities to calculate and load monthly statistics,” Keener said. “I trained several people on how to load these statistics into the system each month, and we developed a monthly close line deadline for when statistics should be loaded into the software.” “Alison has created new models and

updated existing models to improve the way we forecast the business,” said Mary Spears, CPA, a director with ONEOK, Inc.

“This requires a strong focus on detail and advanced Excel and modeling skills, but more importantly, it requires a deep understanding of the underlying business.” Keener, an OSCPA member for one year,

is also the secretary of the Accounting & Financial Women’s Alliance Tulsa Chapter. Additionally, she volunteers with the Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma. Kala Sharp, CPA, CGMA, vice president and

controller with ONEOK, Inc., said, “Alison’s reputation precedes her and she is known as someone who doesn’t just do a job well, but as someone who makes the job better.” “Changing the way we do something

almost always results in some issues, but they have always been resolved and a solution has been put in place,” Keener said. “Overall, I believe the statistics project was a success and was an experience where I could learn about supervising a project from the idea to implementation.”