Neeraj Chopra, Finance Head

Neeraj Chopra

Finance Head

DB Corp Ltd. (Dainik Bhaskar)

Location
Qatar - Doha
Education
Diploma, Project Management Professional
Experience
19 years, 6 months

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Work Experience

Total years of experience :19 years, 6 months

Finance Head at DB Corp Ltd. (Dainik Bhaskar)
  • India - Noida
  • December 2018 to August 2020

DB Corp is India’s biggest media group & World’s 4th largest-circulated daily newspaper.
Head Digital Division, for its financial planning, accounting, controlling and audit compliance; also have led its strategy planning & transformation projects.
@ Spearheaded initiatives in monetizing opportunities by over INR 55Mn. With intensive stakeholder engagements, contributed to operational effectiveness and to the bottom-line that improved by 15%
• Slashed costs by INR 4Mn while identifying gaps in contracts & in closure of business partner disputes
• Achieved INR 6Mn of cost savings by solutioning & finalizing deals with viable alternatives
• Spotted SEIS, “Service Exports from India Scheme”. Claimed scrips worth INR 40Mn from “The Government of India” on the Net Foreign Exchange
• INR 5Mn successfully negotiated from vendors related to prior years’ volume discounts
@ Owned the FP&A process - Presenting results to the leadership teams with utmost sanctity
@ Teamed-up with Analytics to get the best out of Big Data to create executive dashboards with KPIs
@ Approved the soundness/accuracy of internal audits and periodic deliverables. Ensured appropriate application of accounting, financial & operational controls. Reduced number of days to closing by 50%
@ Improved cash conversion by 25%. Introduced unified approach across units & taking calculated actions
@ Initiated & incorporated system enhancements like Cross-Company Code & Dunning processes on SAP
@ Championed cross-functional teams for higher delivery standards & positive business impacts
@ Directly engaged with the Promoters to implement business strategies in print circulation. Worked closely with the Branding team for enhancing the product quality and with marketing team in implementing high-stake schemes for readers & agencies

Finance Manager at Jaidah Energy LLC
  • Qatar - Doha
  • March 2015 to July 2017

JV of Jaidah Group (Qatar) and Zubair Corp (Oman), Jaidah Energy LLC has key associations to Qatar's dominant Oil & Gas Industry; offering extensive services in upstream & downstream.
@ Primarily facilitated the spin-off process from the Qatari owned company to a JV
• Was involved in a thorough Financial Modelling & Valuation process
• Meeting statutory needs & setting up banking facilities
• Data migration management & Inter-company settlements
• Principal-agency contract management
@ Directed the strategic and annual financial planning processes. Prepared periodic income, balance sheet & cash flow forecasts, to proactively highlight significant business risks and opportunities for senior management. Integrated closely periodic close processes & shared results with the stakeholders
@ Process optimization & promoting ERP to a more user-friendly setup
@ Established efficient workflows; eliminating complexities in inter-office transactions
@ Introduced Inventory Management System & check points that ensured Zero revenue leakages; Cash Flows & Margins got healthier by 10%
@ Improved the Cash Conversion Cycle by reducing the Days Sales Outstanding by 40%

Deputy General Manager (DGM) - Finance at Aptara Inc (Techbooks)
  • India - New Delhi
  • June 2009 to December 2014

Aptara provides content solutions to various large corporates and publishers.
Heading Business Finance, had managed Units’ complete Financial Accounting, Budgeting and Reporting processes (FP&A).
@ Achieved disciplined Stakeholders’ engagements - As a member of strategic leadership team, used financial analysis and business acumen to provide decision support, made tactical and strategic recommendations in a variety of financial and non-financial areas at the business unit level, such as sales & operations planning, headcount planning and business process improvements
@ Led FP&A team in periodic consolidations, variance analysis, forecasting & internal/external reporting
@ Persistently partnered with Business Heads to manage their resources & rationalizing activities to derive annually an average benefit of $0.6Mn on labor arbitrage
@ Executed Forward Rate Agreements with Banks & realized average gains of $0.5 Mn
@ Led a few wide-ranging Reverse Due Diligence initiatives along with the consultants
@ Designed pricing process to manage risk of top-line growth vs securing the bottom-line
@ Led the initiative of Project Module implementation on Peoplesoft

Finance Manager at Genpact India Ltd
  • India - Delhi
  • August 2007 to July 2009

Genpact is one of the pioneers in providing Business Transformation Solutions.

Managed offshored operations for external client - Wachovia - Wells Fargo a US bank.

Successfully handled the Solution Identification tollgate Stage-I of the Transition. Identified in-Scope opportunities by conducting deep dives & interviewing subject matter experts. Performing FMEA & process mapping for as-is & adapted activities.

Led operations on Record to Report & Reconciliations. Partnered with onsite process owners & peer groups in benchmarking processes, quality initiatives.

Evolved from building teams to process migration & reviewing pilot. Actively engaged in cross-functional & enterprise collaboration, integrating logistics & connecting interfaces.

Manager - Finance at Voith Siemens Hydro Pvt.Ltd
  • India - Delhi
  • December 2004 to August 2007

Siemens Hydro offers solutions for balance of plant electrical & mechanical auxiliaries and automation.
Functional Head for the Large & Small Hydro Projects. Had led the budgeting process. Reported monthly commercial results and analysis to the management. Handled periodic reporting in IFRS. Implemented MS Navision (ERP). Enhanced systematic reporting at WBS level. Automated Project Accounting as per Percentage of Completion. Monitored projects’ cash flows, committed cost & cost-to-come. Liaised with banks for Project Financing.

Finance - Team Leader at Fidelity Services, Agilent Technologies & Oracle India Ltd.
  • India - Delhi
  • July 1999 to September 2004

Was associated with Fidelity Information Services, Agilent Technologies & Oracle India Ltd. Progressively assumed various roles within the Finance domain from Assistant to Team Leader.

Education

Diploma, Project Management Professional
  • at PMI
  • February 2018
Master's degree, PMP, ACCA (Dip), CMA
  • at PMP, ACCA (Dip), CMA
  • February 2018
Diploma, (ACCA) International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)
  • at Association of Chartered Certified Accountants
  • December 2013

International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)

Diploma, Advanced Diploma in Management
  • at All India Management Association
  • July 2000

Advanced Diploma in Management

Master's degree, CMA
  • at The Institute of Cost & Works Accountants of India (ICWAI)
  • December 1997
Bachelor's degree, Commerce, Economics & Accounts
  • at Dayanand Anglo Vedic (DAV) College, Dehradun (India)
  • March 1996

Graduated as Bachelor of Commerce from Dayanand Anglo Vedic (DAV) College, Dehradun (India), in the year 1996.

High school or equivalent, Commerce, Economics & Accounts
  • at St.Joseph's Academy
  • March 1993

Completed schooling from St.Joseph's Academy, Dehradun. Passed Indian Certificate of Secondary Examination (10th) and Indian School Certificate Examinations (12th) in the year 1991 and 1993 respectively.

Specialties & Skills

Process Improvement
ERP Management
Financial Planning Accounting & Reporting
Project Management
FINANCIAL PLANNING
Project Management
P&L Management
Process Improvement
FINANCIAL PLANNING, ACCOUNTING, REPORTING
ERP Implementation
MS-Office (Excel, Word, PPT), Navision & GP Dynamics
SAP S4Hana, Oracle & PeopleSoft

Languages

English
Native Speaker
Hindi
Native Speaker

Memberships

The Institute of Cost Accountants of India
  • Associate Member of “The Institute of Cost Accountants of India” (ICAI)
  • July 2014
Project Management Institute - PMI - USA
  • 1821746
  • November 2017

Training and Certifications

Mergers and Acquisitions: Strategies and Execution (Certificate)
Date Attended:
August 2021
RPA Implementation Methodology Fundamentals (Certificate)
Date Attended:
February 2021
Forensic Accounting and Fraud Examination (Certificate)
Date Attended:
July 2021
Digital Marketing (Certificate)
Date Attended:
December 2020
Digital Transformation (Certificate)
Date Attended:
June 2021
Certified Application Associate for SAP S/4HANA Financial Accounting (Certificate)
Lean Six Sigma Black Belt (Certificate)
Date Attended:
May 2021
Transition Tool Kit (Training)
Training Institute:
Genpact India
Duration:
48 hours

Hobbies

  • Playing Squash, Cricket
    Have been associated with various cricket & squash clubs.