Regional Finance Manager
Unilever - Turkey
Total years of experience :20 years, 7 Months
Appointed as Financial Manager for CCA + Central Asia region including Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kirgizstan, and Kazakhstan
Main tasks
1 Managed crisis situation due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine by rapidly changing sources and other activities, returning to normal business performance in 2022 H2
2 Reported, and analyzed monthly budget and variance analysis for various finance variables including turnover, gross margin, and operating margin
3 Analyzed profitability and growth across different products and countries in the region
4 Improved forecast quality by reducing preparation time and adding 10 years of currency-restated P&L history to the forecast
5 Built a reporting dashboard for stakeholders to view different KPIs across countries, product categories, and periods
6 Increased dividend payout ratio by 350bps through better cash management
7 Successfully closed 2022 with zero overdue accounts receivables
8 Worked as a Finance business partner to support sales, marketing, supply chain, and HR
I joined Unilever as a Financial Controller, leading a team of 37 people, including six direct reports:
a) Reporting assistant manager (RtR)
b) Account payable assistant manager (PtP)
c) Treasury and Payroll assistant manager
d) Tax assistant manager
e) The sales accountant assistant manager (BtC)
f) IA manager
and I reached out to the below achievements:
1 Helped the sales team establish a direct distribution model in three regions, which improved GM by 300 Bps
2 Restructured the finance department, reducing departmental costs by €50K in the first year
3 Established relationships with external stakeholders, such as banks, to obtain comparative interest rates on deposits, resulting in an increase in the average interest rate on total bank deposits from 18% to 22%
4 Conducted a capital increase in Iran to solve FX exposure and improve the debt/equity ratio
5 Invested extra cash to hedge against IRR deflation
6 Reduced internal control deficiencies and rectified 45 identified deficiencies out of 54 in one year, and initiated an ERP upgrade to address the remaining issues
7 Embedded internal control into the company culture
8 Led and handled various audits, including SSO audits, tax audits, sanction compliance audits, and financial audits, and received an unqualified audit opinion for all years
9 Decreased the ratio of paid tax to declared tax from 118% to 105%
10 Led the implementation of IFRS 9, 16, and 29
SayeSaman Co. is a leading food and beverage product distributor with a wide range of brands, including Sunich, Shiba, Nestle, and more. The company operates through 28 branches and warehouses across the country, utilizing a fleet of approximately 400 owned and rented trucks during peak seasons. With around 2, 400 employees, the company has achieved a remarkable turnover of around 350 million USD.
As the Head of Finance, I managed the entire finance function of the company, including accounting, reporting, cost and finance controlling, treasury, tax, internal controls, admin, and HR departments. Some of my key tasks and achievements include:
1 Managed the finance function of the company, including accounting, reporting, cost and finance controlling, treasury, tax, internal controls, admin, and HR department
2 Implemented SAP in branches (SD, MM, and FICO)
3 Improved working capital management, reducing the collection period from an average of 100 days to 60 days and increasing the payment period from an average of 73 days to 90 days
4 Improved control over bad debt accounts/customers, reducing the bad debt to sales ratio from 0.7% to 0.3%
5 Established better relationships with banks, reducing the number of active bank accounts from almost 220 to 18
6 Established a relationship with the bank to obtain customized reports and have auto-clearing of customer payments in the ERP
7 Conducted a reconciliation with Nestle (one of the main suppliers) resulting in a €300K saving
Marinasun is a leading manufacturer of cellulose products, including sanitary napkins, baby diapers, toilet paper, and facial tissue. With an annual turnover of over €400 million, I served as the Chief Financial Officer and oversaw the overall finance function of the company, including accounting, reporting, cost and finance controlling, treasury, tax, internal controls, admin, and HR departments. As a board member, I collaborated closely with other business functions, such as marketing, sales, and production, to ensure the success of the company.
Some of my key accomplishments include:
1 Spearheaded the overall finance function of the company, including accounting, reporting, cost and finance controlling, treasury, tax, internal controls, Admin, and HR departments
2 Reorganized the finance team, reducing the number of people from 16 to 12 persons and improving their efficiency
3 Implemented a new budgeting and reporting system, resulting in more accurate financial statements and monthly budget variances
4 Reduced the cost of production by analyzing full-cost behavior, resulting in a 500 basis point improvement in gross margin
5 Reduced financial costs by managing work-in-capital, and reducing inventory days from 90 days to 65 days
6 Successfully finalized all open tax files and obtained an 80% tax-exempt approval for four years from the tax office
7 Started the rolling forecast as a pilot in Marinasun to spread later on to holding
As a Financial Controller, I led a team of three managers, including the financial accounting manager, planning and reporting manager, and tax and treasury manager. My key achievements include:
1 Led a team of three managers, including the financial accounting manager, planning and reporting manager, and tax and treasury manager
2 Finalized tax files for 2004, 2005, and 2007, with only 5% extra payment over declared tax
3 Reviewed the current system to join GSP (globalization of systems and procedures) to harmonize all systems and procedures of BAT across all branches
4 Successfully localized Iran GAAP reporting, resulting in a reduced tax payout ratio, unqualified audit reports, and saving of GBP 80K per year
5 Changed the Iran accounting system from Sage Line500 to Microsoft AX and improved budget templates and procedures
6 Won the VAT case, resulting in savings of GBP 1.5M every year in tax expenses
7 Successfully won one tax file for the amount of GBP 1M for the year 2007
8 Ensured all indicated internal controls were implemented and procedures were formalized to protect the company assets, especially for inventories, fixed assets, and cash
9 Managed the asset counting project to reconcile long-term assets of the company
At Nokia Siemens, I was responsible for finance in two main projects as accounting shared services for the development of networks and BTSs in Iran with two main operators, while Nokia had a cell phone business. The finance function was a shared servicing Department between the two separate business entities.
During my tenure, I achieved the following:
1 Established new internal controls to avoid double payments and other control risks and be more SOX compliance
2 Cleared almost 2600 open items with a total value of almost € 60M in the accounts
3 Arranged to audit all three registered companies for 2005 and 2006 and make a plan for on-time auditing for 2007
4 Successfully localized bookkeeping and accounting, resulting in saving € 100K yearly
5 Implemented the Asset module in SAP for Iran to meet the local requirement for asset recognition and depreciation according to Iran tax standards, and reconcile IFRS figures with Iranian standards
6 Established a Farsi accounting system for tax requirements, and reduced the ratio of tax paid to declared tax
7 Prepared account analysis and defined about 40 reports to be prepared by the accounting department on a monthly/quarterly/yearly basis
8 Merged accounting data and information of Nokia and Siemens in the network section as they merged legally
9 Followed up on legal entity margin, OP level, and Transfer pricing
10 Kept updated the Company Register (changes in board members, filing statutory financial statements)
11 Maintained SOX Control documentation according to the SOX catalog
At Hoerbiger, a leading manufacturer of compressor components, I served as a Financial Controller in the newly established branch of the Austrian company in Iran. My key responsibilities and achievements during this tenure were:
1 Successfully managed the monthly closing of accounts and reported monthly financial statements to the Financial Manager of the holding company.
2 Coordinated with sales and other departments to prepare mid-range plans and yearly budgets.
3 Successfully implemented SAP (FI-CO modules) in the company's financial system.
4 Managed the administration and HR functions of the company.
5 Obtained governmental approval for custom exemption on a value-added basis, resulting in an 80% custom fee exemption on importation.
6 Prepared yearly financial statements and cooperated with the company's auditor.
7 Recruited and managed the accounting team.
8 Built finance and other local accounting procedures and manuals from scratch as the company had just started its activities in Iran.
9 Overall, my efforts played a crucial role in establishing a solid financial foundation for the company in Iran.
MA. In accountancy. I had taken first rank in Iranian entrance examination for MA degree in accounting field. I was top student among all my colleagues
I was top student among all my colleagues
I was top student among all my classmates.