Syed Muhammad Raza Naqvi

• Formulate and execute regional financial strategies for Middle East operations, managing reginal budget and directing a team of nine professionals.
• Lead financial planning and analysis (FP&A) to provide data-driven insights for executive decision-making.
• Support business development and operational strategy execution across the Middle East.
• Ensure optimal liquidity, working capital efficiency, and robust cash flow management.
• Take complete ownership of financial statements and highlight critical business KPIs via reporting dashboards.
• Ensure full legal, statutory, and contractual compliance across all Middle East business functions.
• Manage corporate relationships with customers, suppliers, financial institutions, auditors, lawyers, and government entities.
• Lead the comprehensive selection and implementation of financial and operational ERP systems.
• Establish market-competitive pricing strategies to successfully increase corporate gross margins.
• Drive key overhead analysis and cost-reduction initiatives to substantially improve Net Profit After Tax (NPAT) margins.
• Cultivate and maintain strategic commercial relationships with commercial distributors across the GCC region.
• Evaluate potential business locations, prepare financial feasibility studies, and manage corporate footprints for new branch openings.

• Directed group financial reporting and streamlined cross-border finance functions to align with regional standards across geographies.
• Managed Tax and VAT implementation, compliance, and reporting frameworks for operations in KSA, UAE, and Bahrain.
• Drove effective business planning, corporate budgeting, and operational forecasting via advanced financial modeling.
• Led the successful end to end financial feasibility in sale of hybrid business model.
• Supervised corporate cash flow management to ensure optimal liquidity and funding availability.
• Facilitated and improved corporate revenue management strategies.
• Initiated cost-containment measures to systematically reduce business expenses and increase variable margins.
• Presented critical financial and operational performance metrics to the Managing Director to deliver actionable strategy recommendations.
• Led the successful end-to-end implementation of the SAP S4/HANA ERP platform.

1- Lead the implementation of ERP all modules (Sage 300)
2- Prepare Group Consolidated Financial Statement
3- Prepare standalone and Group Consolidated Budget
4- Deal with bank for treasury operations
5- Liaise with external and internal auditors and ensures all External and Internal audit recommendations are implemented within agreed time frames.
6- Lead the overall and revised amendments implementation of the Standard accounting procedure for lodging industry & International financial reporting standard all over the group.
7- Prepare monthly analysis of the group performance (Hotels, Restaurant & Leisure facility)
8- Lead the verification and correction of hotels & restaurant’s accounting for monthly expenses.
9- Prepare various proposal for the betterment of the business -e.g. Negotiating better rates with credit card merchant, Financial Integrity audit.
10- Deal with the insurance matters of the group. (Preparing request for proposal for the new insurance policies, securitizing the draft policy to check the coverage of all expected risk)
11- Perform the daily accounting of Corporate & Group Companies - RAK Hospitality Holding LLC (Corporate Company), RAK National hotels & RAK Asset Management Company & RAK Hospitality logistics.

• Ensured highly accurate and timely Record-to-Report (R2R) financial accounting closures.
• Managed group financial reporting workflows and acted as the primary liaison for internal and external auditors.
• Served as a core implementation team member for the deployment of the Oracle R12 ERP system.
• Acted as an internal advisory team member managing complex IFRS compliance issues.
• Contributed to the development and implementation of standard operating procedures (SOPs) across the finance department.

During mandatory period of Articleship, I have been involved in the following tasks:
Reviewing accounting and internal control system
Assessment of control risk and performance of test of controls
System documentation of new engagements
Supervising of staff engaged in audit assignment
Prepare detailed reports on audit findings and make recommendations to improve establishment’s accounting and management practices, control and system.
Assisting clients in preparing Financial Statements and other statutory reporting including foreign reporting
Applying Deloitte audit methodology on each audit client.