Regional Financial Controller
Majid Al Futtaim
Total years of experience :14 years, 10 Months
Lead the local financial control team and serve as the main point of contact between the global solution (accounting center) and headquarters.
• Drive timely month-end and year-end closings to meet deadlines.
• Ensure ownership of trial balance, verifying the accuracy of accounting entries, and ensuring compliance with accounting principles for the presentation of statutory financial statements.
• Collaborate and coordinate with central teams, including financial controls, firm tax, statutory reporting, financial planning & analysis, procurement, and treasury.
• Oversee and direct the preparation of budgets and financial forecasts, and provide reports on variances.
• Prepare monthly and quarterly performance reports with explanations for variances compared to the budget and previous year.
• Generate cash flow projection reports to assess the cash position, manage cash movements between banks, and ensure timely payment fulfillment.
• Ensure internal control compliance with all Group Policies and Procedures, and propose new controls as necessary.
• Works closely with managers across all departments of the organization, as well as external parties such as vendors and customers.
Achievements
• Conducted a thorough review of the balance sheet, payables, and receivables for the years 2019-2021, leading to the identification and reversal of SAR 19 million in overstated accruals.
• Negotiated a utility rate review with the landlord, resulting in savings of SAR 5 million.
• Reviewed contract conditions and successfully achieved savings of SAR 2 million in shared revenue rent.
• Successfully migrated to the Next ERP software by implementing the Inventory, Purchasing, and Selling modules, and initiated the setup of the HR module for interface purposes.
• Established a streamlined process for generating consolidated trial balances across all Opco's to facilitate decision-making.
• Led the transition from manual documentation to digital archiving for improved efficiency and accessibility.
• Managed operational and business finance activities, overseeing the financial control of commercial departments and providing relevant financial analysis support.
• Effectively managed inventory, including stock levels, stock processes, and stock depreciation.
• Prepared annual budgets and forecasts for the store, monitored OPEX and CAPEX to align with the budget, and provided explanations for any deviations.
• Developed tools to challenge operational team results and drive continuous improvement in KPIs.
Achievements
• Significantly reduced stock discrepancies by 30% compared to the budget in 2020 by addressing root causes through actions such as database clean-up, pricing model adjustments, and implementing control measures after each stock take.
• Lowered waste levels by 15% compared to the budget by implementing controls in fresh food ordering and display.
• Ensured compliance with contractual agreements and closely monitored return fees, resulting in better waste management and providing recommendations to the commercial team.
• Improved working capital by reducing stock-in-days by 2 days compared to historical levels through daily monitoring, clearance or return decisions, and effective control of slow-moving items.
• Conducted in-depth analysis of compensation policies, regulations, and prevailing rates to develop competitive compensation plans.
Ensured control over gross margin, closing stock, and shrinkage calculation, and created consolidated working sheets to ensure accuracy and enhance team productivity.
• Managed supplier agreement deductions, utilizing the SNA (supplier negotiation agreement) system to ensure timely deduction of all supplier fees.
• Established guidelines for the Call Center team to improve efficiency and foster departmental development.
• Ensured timely and accurate completion of reconciliations, including Cheques in Hand, landed cost calculation, provision account, purchases, and supplier reconciliations.
Achievements
• Resolved differences and claims in supplier's statement of accounts (SOA) by thoroughly reviewing inception-to-date SOAs, resulting in the resolution of $1 million with the support of relevant documents and interpretation of contract clauses.
• Optimized cash flow by factoring supplier payables through the issuance of advances with an interest outcome of $300, 000.
• Enhanced business partner experience by implementing an AP call center to address their requests and inquiries promptly.
• Implemented a systematic approach to enhance and review key performance indicators (KPIs) in order to meet targets
Ensured accurate month-end closing for all G/L accounts, overseeing the correct and timely booking of payments and provisions in accordance with agreements, internal policies, and procedures.
•Developed, implemented, and maintained systems, procedures, and policies within the assigned function to enhance departmental efficiency while strictly adhering to internal policies and procedures.
•Approved payroll-related deductions and transactions, ensuring timely disbursement of payments.
•Conducted monthly reviews of the P&L and Balance Sheet to ensure accounting standardization.
•Reviewed VAT and income tax declarations in compliance with Jordanian tax authority laws. Achievements
•Set Successfully restructured the accounting department from a centralized perspective to a functional one, resulting in increased productivity.
•Assembled a reliable finance team with strong educational backgrounds and a spirit of teamwork.
•Reviewed tax compliance rates for items that were previously undetectable, leading to the proper reclassification of items and reducing the tax cash-out by 1%