Naflan Abdul Lathief

Professional Summary:
As the Finance Manager at Credence Global & Sister Companies, I hold a pivotal role in financial management and strategic planning. My responsibilities encompass overseeing the financial well-being of the organization, conducting comprehensive business valuations, facilitating feasibility studies for new branch openings, implementing capital restructuring initiatives, and ensuring the accuracy and timeliness of financial reporting. My leadership is centred around optimizing financial operations, ensuring compliance with financial regulations, and driving overall profitability.

Key Achievements and Responsibilities:
Financial Strategy: Developed and executed financial strategies in alignment with the organization's growth objectives.
Conducted thorough assessments of business opportunities and contributed to comprehensive business valuations, guiding strategic decision-making.
Capital Restructuring: Led initiatives to restructure capital investments, resulting in optimized resource allocation and increased returns on investments, furthering the company's financial stability.
Financial Reporting: Ensured the accuracy, timeliness, and transparency of monthly financial reporting processes, encompassing income statements, balance sheets, and cash flow statements.
Policy and Procedure Enhancement: Streamlined and improved financial policies and procedures to enhance operational efficiency, promote regulatory compliance, and bolster financial controls.
Team Leadership: Successfully managed and led the finance team, including cost controllers, procurement managers, and storekeepers. Provided guidance, mentorship, and support, fostering a high-performance team environment.
Cost Control: Collaborated with cost controllers to identify and implement cost-saving opportunities, meticulously monitored expenses, and implemented effective cost control measures.
Procurement Oversight: Worked closely with the procurement manager to optimize procurement processes, negotiate contracts, and maintain strong supplier relationships, ultimately improving cost efficiency.
Financial Analysis: Conducted in-depth financial analysis, providing valuable insights to support data-driven decision-making. Monitored and reported on key financial metrics and KPIs, facilitating informed strategic decisions.

Weekly Progress Reporting: Prepared and distributed weekly progress reports on ongoing projects and financial performance. Highlighted areas for improvement and attention, enabling proactive measures to be taken.
Review Tender Documents: Skilfully reviewed tender documents, ensuring accuracy, compliance, and financial viability.
Feasibility Studies: Conducted comprehensive feasibility studies on the financials of clients, enabling informed decision-making and strategic planning.
As the Finance Manager at Credence Global & Sister Companies, I remain committed to driving financial excellence and contributing to the overall success and profitability of the organization.

Directed property pricing across sales and leasing activities, generated monthly financial analyses, conducted key financial project analyses, risk management, and prepared financial proposals and budgets. Spearheaded full business operation automation process encompassing strategic planning, budgeting, forecasting, costing, internal controls, and administration. Led project financing planning, capital budgeting, capex monitoring, term loan financing, closing, and audit operations. Conducted feasibility studies on contracts, new investments, and capital budgeting. Directed credit control, debtors’ valuation, credit limit, and credit term approval process while providing head office with portfolio management support. Consolidated sales, logistics, and inventories to books of accounts, ensuring integrated reporting for multiple users/departments.
● Secured significant financial performance improvements by designing and implementing new organizational reporting structure and operational profile—ensuring a more effective/consolidated reporting-to-decision making process.
● Expanded organization-wide ERP implementation by introducing systematic budgeting process based on new comprehensive business model.
● Secured smooth liquidation, boosted interest savings, improved quality of assets, and minimized adverse debt by implementing systematic follow-up, collection process, and daily cash flow reporting.
● Revised all HR and IT related procedures to observe local requirements; defined benefits, penalties, performance appraisal process, commission scheme, and HR user manual. IT: Soft filing procedures, access level, authority matrix, and more.
● Restructured, identified, and drafted new cost drivers including policies and procedures.

Oversaw monthly financial preparation and reporting, supervised returns, consolidations, and managed forecasting, cash allocation, budget, and analysis including year-end and variance. Facilitated all internal, statutory, and government audits. Designed and implemented internal operations systems, policies, and procedures for facilitating internal financial and process controls as well as cost management. Designed efficient accounting systems encompassing preparation of Cash Book, Petty Cash Book, Prime Entry Books, General Ledger, Journal Ledger, Inventory Records, and Fixed Asset Register maintenance. Trained Finance Team on accounting system/software overhaul (JDE Edward).
● Generated an additional $20M QAR in working capital/funds by utilizing an active collection process, streamlining billing process, renegotiating payment terms, and regularly reviewing cash flow.
● Saved 52 hours per week by automating 13 reports by implementing the use of Excel.
● Formed recommendations for senior management team on ratio analyses concerning financial viability of AJ Green and AJ Swimming pool businesses/operations. Resulted in successfully identifying and defining big-picture business performance, liquidity, and financial risk; forming strong solution for non-performing assets and investment diversion.
● Directed project manager on financial impact of project coding; PFS and KPI.

● Analyzed and amended existing financial model in order to form new model tailored to unique business.

● Streamlined monthly reconciliation process from 10 to 5-day operation by implementing direct, raw data input into MS Excel analysis process.

● Determined and consulted senior management across financial viability of select enterprises such as F&B distributor businesses and operations.

Highlights:
Merit of receiving appreciation letter for Best Employee for the Year for 2001 from Deloitte
Knowledge of Oracle Finance, Dynamics -ERP System, MS Office (Word, Excel and PowerPoint) and other Internet Applications
Suggested improvement in internal control and implemented proper delegation of authority for various clients
Got appreciation letter from AAT of Sri Lanka for successful investigation of cost of AAT building; which helped in cost savings and implementation of better approach for price escalation