Head of Accounting and Reporting
Vopak Horizon Fujairah Limited
Total years of experience :21 years, 8 Months
Vopak Horizon Fujairah is a joint venture between Royal Vopak (listed on AMX index Euronext Amsterdam), Horizon Terminals Ltd (part of the ENOC Group of Dubai), the Government of Fujairah and Kuwait’s Independent Petroleum Group. Vopak Horizon Fujairah is the leading storage and handling service provider for petroleum products in Fujairah.
Functionally reporting to the Finance head (CFO) and a dotted line reporting to the General Manager (CEO), I am responsible for the following activities:
o Consolidation and reporting on a monthly, quarterly and annual basis
o Production of monthly reports to the Board and Senior management
o Ensure timely monthly close of accounts
o Responsible for financial planning and analysis
o Cash flow management
o Review operating budgets periodically to analyse trends affecting budget needs
o Prepare budget reports to interpret budget directives and monitor compliance in carrying out directives
o Follow trends by comparing actual results to budget and preparing rolling forecasts for current month and rest of fiscal year
o Full ownership of statutory reporting per IFRS and liaising various other audits
I was deployed from PwC to Petronor on secondment for a period of 7 months to perform the role of a CFO and provide financial advice to the Senior management and Board. Petronor is a privately owned company with headquarters in Dubai, UAE and provides office and accommodation rentals catering to the to the Oil and Gas companies in the Southern region of Iraq, Basra. The company was founded in 2001 to provide services to the oil and gas industry in the Middle East and Africa with a specific focus on Iraq.
During my assignment:
o Directed a finance team encompassing Controllership, Decision Support, Financial Planning and Analysis, Sales Reporting and Legal
o Designed and implemented MIS suitable to the Business and Industry; designed effective Process controls taking the Best Practices from the Big four experience
o Presentation of financials and internal controls recommendations to the Board of Directors during Board meetings
o Developed high performance finance team to drive disciplined growth and strengthen controls
o Involved in formulating the Employees Stock Option Plan to reward high performance employees
o Developed Share Valuation Models suitable for Company valuation
Accolade/ Honours - Impressed with my work and efforts during the secondment, I was honoured with a letter of appreciation and recommendation from the Chairman of the Group on behalf of the Board of Directors.
During my tenure with PwC, I have had the opportunity to manage some of the large multinational and Iconic Companies in the United Arab Emirates. My role as a manager primarily involved managing teams, liaising with Senior industry professionals, reporting to the Senior Partners and Directors of the PwC Energy practice.
As a Manager, I was entrusted with a portfolio of about 20 companies with fees of nearly USD 1 million. My roles and responsibilities included:
o Maintaining client relationships
o Debtors and WIP management, budgeting, complex consolidations, accounts finalisations and allied reporting
o Execution of complex assignments in highly challenging environments (Libya)
o Providing technical accounting solutions for complex business transactions
o Understand businesses and provide insight into the business risks, internal controls and their short term and term implications
o Conducting training workshops on IFRS and Audit methodologies
o Preparing presentations for Audit committee meetings
o Leading, mentoring and monitoring teams
Key clients and audit engagements managed till date includes:
o Dragon Oil Plc (Listed in the UK capital markets)
o Libyan Emirates Oil Refining Company
o ENOC Processing Company Limited
o Oilfields Supply Center Limited
o Drydocks World - a part of Dubai World
o Dubai Maritime City - a part of Dubai World
o Ericsson Hub Services
o Gunvor Middle East
Having qualified as a Chartered Accountant, I started my career with KPMG as an Executive and quickly progressed to the level of Assistant Manager. I have had the opportunity to audit a mix of very Large Multinational Companies and also Medium and Small sized Companies. This made me familiar with the typical accounting issues, complexities and business challenges across various industries.
My role and my employment with KPMG India have helped me gain the relevant soft skills essential for today’s multi-cultural and fast paced and challenging work environment. As an Assistant manager, I was managing a small portfolio of multinational clients along with the execution of audit assignments.
Key engagement executed during my tenure with KPMG India includes:
o Wipro Limited (Listed in the US capital markets)
o GE India Industrial Private Limited
o AstraZeneca Pharma (Listed Company)
o Wipro GE
o Henkel Loctite India
o Akzo Nobel India
o Aztec Software Limited (now a part of Mindtree Software) - (Listed Company)
-Statutory and Tax Audits of large and medium sized companies in the manufacturing and trading sectors (Larsen & Toubro group and Crompton Greaves being the major clients)
-Accounts outsourcing services
-Internal Audits for Godrej Appliances and Thomas Cook
-Tax Audits of individuals and partnership firms.
-Accounting and tax advisory services for individuals and partnership firms
Qualified as a Chartered Accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India