Corporate Finance Manager
Kout Food Group
Total years of experience :10 years, 5 Months
Kout Food Group, Kuwait (Multinational Company majority owned by Al-Homaizi family operating in Kuwait, Iraq and UK, engage mainly in Restaurants business for franchise and non-franchise brands)
• Handled the Corporate Reporting, Treasury, Payroll and General accounting (which includes Month-end Closing of Books, Balance Sheet Reconciliations, Statutory Audit and Tax) function of the Company.
• Prepared monthly closing and reporting timetable with approval of CFO.
• Reviewed and approved month-end closing entries and closed the books as per the set timetable.
• Analysed and reviewed Financial Reports (i.e. Income Statement, Balance Sheet, Cash Flows, Revenue Analysis and Ageing Reports) for Management to ensure that they are making well-informed decisions to assure future stability, growth and profitability of the Company.
• Prepared variance analysis for P&L accounts in consolidated level.
• Consolidated reports of the whole group.
• Formulated templates for reporting (such as Month-end Report template, Budget template, Cash Flows template) as per Management requirement and in coordination with the team.
• Facilitated and supported the Forecasting activities and Budgeting Process and consolidated the Budget Report.
• Prepared Finance and Board Power Point presentations in coordination with the team.
• Approved daily payments to employees and suppliers.
• Reviewed Group Daily Bank Balances and Facility Utilization Report for cash flow requirements.
• Purchased foreign exchange currencies and investing excess cash in financial institution.
• Reviewed monthly payroll reconciliation before payroll release.
• Reviewed and approved employee advances, petty cash and employee final settlements.
• Reviewed balance sheet reconciliations.
• Interacted with other third party such as Banks, Auditors, and Tax Team for reporting requirements and other matters related to Finance.
Achievements:
Cleaned the book of accounts through balance sheet reconciliations.
Improved the monthly financial reporting excel templates.
Reduced the amount of time for month-end closing and reporting from 8 days to 5 days.
Introduced the Daily Bank Balances and Facility Utilization Report for cash reporting.
Successful conversion of POS machines in all our restaurants from one bank to another bank.
Supported in automation of bank reconciliation.
Reduced processing time for vacation payment.
Hoshan Holding Group, UAE (Multinational business owned by Hoshan family operating in Middle East, Africa and Levant, engage in Trading and Distribution, Real Estate Development, Facility Management, Retail, Manufacturing)
• Prepared, developed and analysed Monthly Financial Reports for Management.
• Formulated templates for reporting as per Management requirement.
• Provided a quality support service liaising with other colleagues for monthly reporting requirements and other matters related to Finance.
• Consolidated reports of the whole group.
• Projected monthly cash flows report for Treasury and Banking Manager.
• Generated Group Daily Bank Balances and Facility Utilization Report.
• Prepared Group Daily Collection Report.
• Involved in Budget preparation.
• Performed balance sheet reconciliations.
• Handled Special Assignments such as cleaning of book of accounts and projections.
Achievements:
Resolved accounting issues through balance sheet reconciliations for Lebanon and Jordan.
Fixed and customized the chart of accounts of Morocco, Tunisia, Lebanon and Jordan as per their country’s specific requirements.
Built the monthly excel reporting template from scratch. (Initially, from data or information required, structuring, formatting, fonts and colors to automating it with different excel functions or formulas with graphs.)
Reduced the amount of time of month-end reporting process from 6 days to 3 days.
Rectified the mapping of incorrect cost centers in the system through coordination with Business Unit Controllers and SAP experts.
Created templates for Daily Bank Balances and Facility Utilization Report, Daily Collection Report and Cash Flows Reports.
Shannon Trading & Contracting Co. WLL, Qatar (Construction Company)
• Reviewed invoices for appropriate documentation and approval prior to payment.
• Prepared vouchers and checks for payment including debit/credit notes for related party transactions.
• Obtained all signatures for checks and distributed the checks accordingly.
• Recorded payment vouchers in Summit Accounting System and Microsoft Access.
• Reconciled vendor statements, investigated and made corrections in case of any discrepancies.
• Handled petty cash fund.
• Authorized to access Company’s bank account for proper utilization and cash management.
• Facilitated distribution of salary to employees.
• Generated reports for Finance Manager whenever required.
Core Solutions Consultants, Inc., Philippines (Accounting Services Provider)
• Rendered wide range of account and finance services to almost 30 corporate clients. Coordinated and worked closely with them to better understand their requirements to provide quality service.
• Prepared and presented financial statements or reports viz. Income Statement, Balance Sheet etc.
• Analysed and reviewed financial statements and entries prepared by junior staffs.
• Conducted general accounting work including preparation of taxation returns (i.e. VAT, Corporate tax) and payroll computations.
• Maintained book of accounts both manually or through computerized accounting system.
• Generated reportorial reports for various governmental agencies: Bureau of Internal Revenue, Social Security System, Philippine Health Insurance Company and Home Development Mutual Fund.
• Ensured strict adherence with all government reports and statutory requirements.
Clients’ Industry: Pharmaceutical, Advertising, Restaurant, Retail (Beauty Products), Real Estate, Cookware
Alas, Oplas & Co., CPAs - RSM International, Philippines (Audit Firm)
• Performed annual financial statement audit as auditor in-charge for small and medium enterprises.
• Handled all phases of financial statement auditing from pre-planning up to completion and reporting including whole gamut of operations therewith.
• Conducted interviews with client to fully understand nature of their business. Accordingly performed preliminary analysis from the same.
• Computed materiality limit as basis of balance to be audited and prepared risk assessment.
• Devised plan of procedures to be performed during audit.
• Prepared audit working papers for review of audit manager.
• Developed and discussed findings and recommendations in the audited entities.
Clients’ Industry: Real Estate, Heavy Equipment, Automotive, Software Developer, Chemical Manufacturer & Distributor
Graduated with Honor (Cum Laude)