Chartered accountant and company secretary with 16+ years of experience in Nielsen, IBM and GE Healthcare in various leadership roles

Strategic Financial Planning and Analysis
P&L Ownership and Management
Budgeting, Forecasting & Ad hoc Analysis
Organisation Re-engineering
Company setup and liquidation experience
Pricing and Commercial Contracts Review

ERP and Other Financial Tools Implementation
Finance Policies , Process Design and Execution
Talent Selection, Development & Retention
Merger & Acquisition Integration Experience
Finance Center of Excellence Setup
Compliance and Risk Management

Finance operations leader - Africa and the Middle East

Dubai | United Arab Emirates | Since 2012

Current responsibilities : Since 2017

Deliver and drive efficiency in continuous finance processes in Accounting, Financial Consolidation, and Payables across the region
Provide continuous finance services to the markets within the geography in the form of operational controlling, statutory and tax accounting and audit leadership, and financial reporting and consolidation
Lead team comprising onshore and shared service centre resources and ensure the delivery of all onshore and hub activities throughout the region
Ensure financial consolidation and central support functions (banking, intercompany, and fixed assets) execute efficiently and effectively and deliver on expectations, with special focus on the month end closing and account reconciliation processes
Manage SSC service quality levels through service level agreements, performance metrics and continuous governance rhythm
Work with the Global COE, Group Controlling and Business Finance teams to maintain or implement best-in-class policies for finance and accounting and manage risk
Develop and implement procedures and operational ways of work in a standardized, efficient and effective manner for all markets in the region in the realm of Controlling, Accounting and Payables under the umbrella of the Global COE
Ensure regional statutory compliance; monitor and provide guidance on statutory and tax accounting, reporting, and audit
Maintain internal controls in the region; ensure Acct Reconciliation and SOX compliance
Maintain an appropriate system configuration and IT environment to ensure effective and efficient execution of continuous finance processes
Lead and execute on initiatives and ways of work to continually evolve the finance function under the umbrella of the Global COE
Legal entity management and rationalization
Ensure compliance with local laws and regulations in partnership with global taxation and legal teams

Past responsibilities : Financial Planning and Analysis leader for Africa and The Middle East | 2012 to 2016

Provide robust modeling and reporting to facilitate executive-level decision making.
Strong analytical skills; support operations through analysis of key performance indicators and trends.
Consensus-driven communicator; liaise across various business units and promote organizational success.
Annual budget planning exercise and finalization of executable yearly budget.
Drive weekly pulse calls with the business teams to closely monitor the performance, manage risk and provide financial guidance wherever required.
Weekly , Monthly and Quarterly forecast of various financial KPI's like Revenue, EBITDA, Collection, Cash Flow etc.
Drive various ad hoc projects to drive profitability, efficiency and cost optimization
Be trusted finance adviser to the commercial teams and help them in winning in the market place
Implement best in class systems and processes to continuously drive efficiency in finance reporting , forecasting and budgeting processes.

Consolidation manager - India / SA (Last position)

Bangalore|India |From 2007 to 2012

Consolidation manager - Global Business Services, India /South Asia | From 2010 to 2012

Project financial management to ensure proper financial accounting and drive project profitability.
Financial forecasting and analysis.
Drive compliance of GBS processes with respect to project financial management, expense management etc.
Track cost pools spends and assist in driving margin enhancement through CTO initiatives.
Cost rates development in line with business requirement and market competitiveness.
Budgeting and Quarterly Capacity plan to meet revenue objective.

Pricing manager - Transaction pricing, India /South Asia | From 2007 to 2010

Pricing Manager for a Hardware and Software business of IBM India generating over $400M revenue p.a, leading a team of 7 pricers.
Manage Pricing Process efficiently and effectively to enhance revenue, profitable growth and gain market share.
Drive various corporate initiatives and strategies with respect to pricing.
Perform lead consultant role to IBM business community on complex bid management.
Ensure continued strong & healthy business control posture.
Provide valuable MIS to the top management regarding pricing and customer buying trends, which would be a precursor to the actual numbers

OTR leader - India / SA ( Last position )

Bangalore|India |From 2003 to 2007

OTR Leader - Ultrasound business, India /South Asia | From 2006 to 2007

Responsible for entire process from order till collection.
Production, Sales and Inventory forecasting.
Revenue recognition and risk management.
Coordination with factories globally to import medical equipment's, custom clearance and invoicing to the clients.
Inventory management with minimum levels of inventory , higher inventory turnover and lower obsolescence.
Costing of demo equipment and pricing approval with respect to margin.

Cash Leader - Ultrasound business, India /South Asia | From 2004 to 2005

Receivable management - Driving collection and reducing past dues.
Analysis and reporting with respect to ageing, provision, target setting, collections, sales, cheque bouncing etc.
Credit approval for the orders, credit limit setting for the dealers, Letter of credit approval.
Dealer commission and sales incentive payout as per the schemes.
Liasoning with Bank for letter of credit, Bank letter and its execution.

GRASIM INDUSTRIES LIMITED

Audit Manager - Management Audit

Harihar|Karnataka |2003

Heading the Management Audit Department for two of the Grasim Units.
Preparation of the annual and periodic audit program.
Ensuring audit execution as per plan, preparation of audit reports and discussion with functional head at the Unit.
Implementing Corporate Management Audit Division’s policies and Guidelines.
Leading the audit team to ensure maximum possible audit coverage.

BIRLA CORPORATION LIMITED

Management Audit

Kolkata|India | 2002

Audit of various units of the company as per the annual audit plan aimed at saving generation and process improvement.

UshaComm India Private Limited

Industrial Trainee 2000 to 2001

Recognition and awards

Nielsen

Platinum award for improving the compliance posture in Qatar.
Gold Award for building a detailed and actionable Operating plan for 2015

IBM

Received Fast Award 2009 for excellent contribution in every Client's success in 2008.
Best performer for 2009-10, with promotion to Deputy General Manager in Dec 2009.

GE Healthcare

Recd Management award in Q4 06, Q1 07 & Q3 07 for top line support & risk management.
Recd. Asia Award in Q3 05 for best receivable performance in Asia.
Recd. Management Award for initiatives taken in receivables management.

Academics

Chartered Accountant from The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India - May 2002
Company Secretary from The Institute of Company Secretaries of India - Dec 2001
Cost Management Accountant Intermediate from The Institute of Cost Accountants of India - June 2000
Bachelor of Commerce from The Sambalpur University - Jul 1998

Academic achievements

All India 14th Rank in intermediate examination of Institute of Cost Accountants of India.
3rd Rank is the University in Bachelor of Commerce

professional achievements

Setting up new companies in Saudi,United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Jordan
VAT implementation in Saudi and United Arab Emirates
Setting up Finance center of excellence model in Africa and the Middle East
ERP implementation across Africa and the Middle East.
Concur Implementation across Africa and the Middle East.
Corporate card program setup in multiple countries across AME.
Liquidation of entities in Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Oman and Qatar.
Treasury initiatives like Host to Host setup, MT940 setup, Trade facilities setup.
Development of SOP for pricing.
Various initiatives to improve the legal compliance posture across AME.

pERSONAL DETAILS

Email : ca.ashishagrawal@gmail.com

Mobile : + 971 558792157

DOB : 17th June 1978

Google Sites

Report abuse