Essam Saif

Ben Laden Group in Egypt
Real Estate & Construction

Strategic Planning and new Business Development:
* Assist in formulating the company's future direction and supporting tactical initiatives.
* Monitor and direct the implementation of strategic business plans.
* Develop performance measures that support the company's strategic direction
* Lead the development of the Finance and Accounting Department's policies and procedures, ensuring that they promote leading practices and comply with laws and regulations: monitor the implementation.
* Provide recommendations to enhance financial performance and business opportunities.
* Participate in key decisions as a member of the executive management team.
* Establish and maintain strong relationships with senior executives so as to identify their needs and seek full range of business solutions.
Financial Control & Performance optimization:
Presenting and reporting accurate and timely historical financial information of the company.
* Report financial results to the board of directors and general assembly.
* Ensure that effective internal controls are in place and ensure compliance with IFRS.
* Report risk issues, maintain relations with and investigate the findings and recommendations of external auditors.
* Oversee the financial operations of subsidiary companies.
* Manage any third parties to which functions have been outsourced.
Accounting:
* Ensure accurate and timely record keeping & financial reporting in-line with best financial practices and auditors requirements.
* Monitor and direct the accounting system to ensure Preparing accurate
monthly financial statements and reports with proper presentations to top Management.
Budgeting:
* Lead the development of the company's budget; monitor revenues, costs and expenses against the budget to ensure minimum variances and the reasons.
Treasury duties:
* Monitor cash balances and cash forecasts.
* Decide with CEO how to invest the company's money, taking into consideration risk and liquidity.
* Oversees the capital structure of the company, determining the best mix of debt, equity and internal financing.
Tax Duties:
* Align the company's tax planning and operations with its overall business
strategy (Payroll tax, withholding tax, sales tax, income tax).
Feasibility Studies system:
* Develop the feasibility studies system and direct staff who prepare feasibility studies for all new projects.
Board meetings & General assembly:
* Participation in prepare draft of board meetings & general assembly minuets and related documents and analysis.
* Direct the staff who reviews and legalizes the board meetings and general assembly.

Al-Hassawi Group is a big group located in many countries (Kuwait, UAE, KSA, Qatar, Bahrain and Hong Kong) and is working in different activities (Real Estate, Construction, Hospitality, and Manufacturing).

• Review the policies and procedures, ensuring that they promote leading practices and comply with laws and regulations.
• Provide recommendations to enhance financial performance and business opportunities.
• Establish and maintain strong relationships with senior executives so as to identify their needs and seek full range of business solutions.
• Ensure that effective internal controls are in place and ensure compliance with IFRS.
• Report risk issues, maintain relations with and investigate the findings and recommendations of external auditors.
• Oversee the financial operations of subsidiary companies.
• Review the Group's budget; monitor revenues, costs and expenses against the budget to ensure minimum variances and the reasons.
• Review the feasibility studies for new projects as a member of the committee give the advice to Board of directors.
• Obtains, maintains, and directs an audit staff capable of accomplishing the internal audit function in many sectors for Group subsidiaries as follows:
 Participation in establishment of the department structure.
 Participation in recruitment of audit staff capable of accomplishing the internal audit function.
 Preparation of comprehensive long-range schedule of audit coverage for assigned locations.
 Identifying those activities subject to audit coverage, evaluates their significance, and assesses the degree of risk inherent in the activity in terms of cost, schedule and quality.
 Develop a system of cost and schedule control over audit projects.
 Assigning the audit arias, staff, and budget to supervisory auditors.
 Provide executive management within the assigned locations or operation with reports on audit coverage and the results of the audit activity.
 Establishing standards of performance and reviews performance according to those standards.
 Establishing and monitoring accomplishment of objectives directed toward increasing the internal audit activity’s ability to service management.
 Reviews and approves the purpose, scope, and audit approach of each audit project for assigned areas of audit.
 Counsels and guides auditors to see that the approved audit objectives are met.

Directing and coordinating activities of all Sections under my supervision:-
• Plan, direct and supervise the implementation of a fully integrated system.
• Establishes, develops, monitors, and controls financial management system.
 Developing financials policies & controls and ensuring compliance with these policies:-
 Ensure Financial Controls are followed and all gaps identified and closed efficiently.
 Daily General Ledger accounts review and controls.
 Prepare proofs and reconciliation of balance sheet accounts on a regular basis.
 Monitor the number, age and nature of outstanding items in suspense and sundry accounts and ensure that they are cleared promptly.
 Ensure financial controls maintained over Projects are adequate and in accordance with FCP.
 Establishes and monitors a system of preparation monthly, quarterly and annual Financial Statement (Income Statement, Balance sheet, Cash flow) under IFRS and local regulations.
 Establishes and monitors a system of preparation the yearly financial budget (Capital, cash and expenses budget) and making the monthly analysis for variances and deviations and its reasons.
 Managing treasury activities with the banks.
 Establishes and monitors of daily, monthly, quarterly and annual financial reports.
 Analyze financial data to ensure efficient use of resources.
 Ensure compliance with laws and general regulations and restrictions.
 Analyzes financial data and extracts and defines relevant information;
 Interpret data for the purpose of determining past financial performance and to project a financial probability.
 Ensuring overall quality of accounting information.
 Administering the yearend audit and Financial Statement preparation.
 Monitoring the performance of the department and evaluate performance of team.
 Provide financial analysis to enable business heads and cost centre managers understand their costs.

Through my work in PWC I had the experience of planning, supervising, following up & evaluating different systems of internal control.
As part of my job as a Supervisor in PWC, I undertake the following tasks:-
Auditing in different sectors for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the financial statements as like:-
Obtain an understanding of the client’s business
Identify business risk, internal control risk and issue a report called a Management Letter. This report includes our observations, which identify the weakness of the internal controls system, the risks, and our recommendation to rectify them as well as our recommendations to improve the implemented control system.
Participation in designing audit strategies and preparing audit plans.
Understanding and Documenting Internal Control Structure.
Designing test of controls and substantive audit programs.
Preparing the chart of Accounts for new companies.
Preparation of tax return (according to Egyptian Law) for audited companies.
Performing agreed upon procedures.
Financial analysis& financial statement projection
Preparation of Financial Statements for clients every three months.

I have a wide range of experience with many companies in many fields with PWC as the following:-

Banks and investments:
Kuwait Fund For Arab Economic Development (Kuwait).
Global Funds (Kuwait);
Burgan Funds (Kuwait); and
Markz Funds (Kuwait);
Construction:
Shaheen AlGhanim Roads & Bridges Cont. Co. (Kuwait);
Trading:-
D&H Group (Kuwait); and
Al Bustan Al Khaleeji Company (Kuwait)

Through my work in KPMG I had the experience of planning, supervising, following up & evaluating different systems of internal control.
As part of my job as a Supervisor in KPMG Hazem Hassan & Supervisor in PWC, I undertake the following tasks:-
Auditing in different sectors for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the financial statements as like:-
Obtain an understanding of the client’s business
Identify business risk, internal control risk and issue a report called a Management Letter. This report includes our observations, which identify the weakness of the internal controls system, the risks, and our recommendation to rectify them as well as our recommendations to improve the implemented control system.
Participation in designing audit strategies and preparing audit plans.
Understanding and Documenting Internal Control Structure.
Designing test of controls and substantive audit programs.
Preparing the chart of Accounts for new companies.
Preparation of tax return (according to Egyptian Law) for audited companies.
Performing agreed upon procedures.
Financial analysis& financial statement projection
Preparation of Financial Statements for clients every three months.


I have a wide range of audit experience with many companies in many fields with KPMG as the following:-

Banks and investments:
HSBC Bank (Egypt);
Crédit Agricole Bank (Egypt);
Ahli Pakistani Bank (Egyptian Branch);
Orient Funds (Egypt);
Concord International Investments Group (Egypt);
Dynamic Securities company (Egypt).
Construction:
Aster Group (Italian Group Located in Egypt);
Trading:-
Nile Trading & Engineering Co. (Toyota & Honda Egypt);
AL-Futtaim Co. (Honda Egypt);
Carrefour (Egypt).
Educational:-
British International School (Egypt).

- basics of accounting and tax.
- Prepare asset, liability, and capital account entries.