Sidra Kothawala - ACA, Finance Consultant

Sidra Kothawala - ACA

Finance Consultant

Freelance

Location
United Arab Emirates
Education
Master's degree, Chartered Accountant
Experience
14 years, 1 Months

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Work Experience

Total years of experience :14 years, 1 Months

Finance Consultant at Freelance
  • United Arab Emirates - Dubai
  • My current job since November 2015

Key Responsibilities
• Preparation of Budgets, Forecasts and Periodic Management/ Financial Reports.
(This includes Financial statements, Ratio Analysis, Variance Analysis, Responsibility Accounting, Performance Measurement and Investment Appraisals);
• Management of Daily Cash flows;
• Performance of Statutory Audits / Internal Audits /Agreed Upon Procedures.

Manager - Advisory (contract) at Qadi Accountants
  • United Arab Emirates - Dubai
  • July 2015 to November 2015

Qadi Accountant is a "Powerhouse of Knowledge" in Corporate Financial Advisory, Auditing/Assurance, Accounts outsourcing and other related areas in Finance.

Key Responsibilities
• Client management and reporting;
• Financial review and reporting;
• Plan and Execute Internal audit assignments;
• Prepare Business Plans/Feasibilities;
• Carrying out Business Valuation and with this respect meeting the Government and Private valuers;
• Budgeting and Forecasting; and
• Setting up Policies and Procedures for the Client's business.

Selected Achievements
• Lead on Business and Financial Advisory of one the top influential family businesses of the UAE.

Manager-Audit and Assurance (Audit Transformation and Big Data Analyst) at Ernst & Young MENA
  • United Arab Emirates - Dubai
  • January 2014 to February 2015

*Engagement planning based on understanding of the business processes, and underlying business/audit risks;
*Analysis of ‘Intelligent Data’ during interim/ final periods based on the information provided by the primary team/ available publicly;
*Perform overall analytical review at planning, and finalization stages of the audit;
*Perform Variance Analysis, Identify Hidden Patterns and unusual correlations, Ratios Analysis;
*Apply insights gained through the flow of journal entries particularly ‘Order to Cash’ and ‘Procure to Pay’ cycles and other key business processes;
*Challenge previously identified risks and identify additional risks from the insight provided by the analytical tools;
*Identify significant class of transactions and evaluate financial statement close process in order to identify unusual accounting relationships or journal entries;
*Deploy substantive analytical procedures at different stages of the audit using industry knowledge, management's forecast and/or last year’s available data;
*Plan and perform general audit procedures and ensure preparation of financial statements in accordance with applicable accounting framework including International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs)and local laws;
*Communicating important internal control matters and business improvements based on engagement findings;
*Provide approaches to the audit team in order to have effective team planning events.

Audit Senior at KPMG
  • Pakistan - Karachi
  • December 2009 to December 2013

I was associated with the Audit and Assurance Services group of the firm since December 2009 in the capacity of Audit Senior. I gained a diversified professional experience as an auditor and remained responsible for all facets of audit and assurance engagements assigned, from initial planning to the conclusion of examination and reporting thereon. A brief overview of major responsibilities is as follows:

*Review of compliance with International Financial Reporting Standards and local regulations by the companies being audited.
*Performing audit steps; examining and analyzing records, reports, documentations and operations.
*Performing substantive and analytical procedures for audit, so as to determine the reasonableness of the financial statements’ assertions.
*Identifying risks and evaluating internal controls by identifying areas of non-compliance; evaluating manual and automated organizational processes; identifying process weaknesses and inefficiencies; and suggesting improvements.
*Reviewing annual and limited scope financial statements for the purposes of statutory audits.
*Communicating audit progress and findings in status meetings, highlighting unresolved issues and preparing audit working papers.
*Applying KPMG Audit Methodology (KAM) on audit clients.
*Applying KPMG E-audit software on different clients.
*Review of compliance with the Best Practices of Code of Corporate Governance as implemented in Pakistan.
*Regulatory and other certifications.

Education

Master's degree, Chartered Accountant
  • at Institute Of Chartered Accountants Of Pakistan
  • May 2014
Bachelor's degree, Finance and Commerce
  • at University Of Karachi
  • January 2014

Specialties & Skills

Auditing
Corporate Law
Financial Data
Accounting Analysis
Taxation
Auditing Standard
Financial reporting
Interpersonal Skills
Communication and Presentation Skills

Languages

English
Expert
Urdu
Expert

Memberships

Chartered Accountant Students Association
  • Executive Committee Member
  • January 2011
Jaitpur Memon Association
  • member
  • January 2014
World Memon Organisation
  • Member
  • January 2015

Training and Certifications

IELTS (International English Language Testing System) (Certificate)
Date Attended:
December 2015
Valid Until:
December 2018
Human Rights (Training)
Training Institute:
Aga Khan Higher Secondary School
Advertisment (Training)
Training Institute:
Aga Khan Higher Secondary School

Hobbies

  • Gardening, Cleaning, Art and Craft, Sketching, Decoration, Reading, Gyming