Umar Khattab

Group Profile: Ma'aden was formed by Royal decree in 1997 to facilitate the development of Saudi Arabia's mineral resources and was originally wholly owned by the Saudi Government before its shares were floated on the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) in 2008.
Ma'aden's activities are focused on exploration, mining, refining and production of Gold, Copper, Aluminum, Phosphate and several other projects to broaden the company's mineral portfolio.

Duties: My work includes more than 50% travelling to the Ma’aden sites (16 plus sites) across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. My duties include the following but not limited to;

• Maintain and update audit universe, three years rolling audit plan, annual audit plan and audit schedules;
• Plan and assign audit resources to planned audit projects;
• Conduct audit assignments based on approved audit plan and schedule ensuring completion within prescribed budget, time and scope;
• Finalization of Engagement Letter with audit objectives, scope, logistics and audit requirements;
• Develop and execute audit program for assigned process, department and function;
• Conduct field work within the deadlines, prepare working papers and resolve related review comments;
• Supervise work of internal auditors and review internal audit working papers and reports for adequacy of content and reasonableness of conclusions and recommendations;
• Walk through and document process under audit scope;
• Compile List of Issues (LOI) for discussion with the process owners to get factual confirmation on the identified issues;
• Develop draft audit reports for management response and final repose;
• Monthly and quarterly follow-ups on outstanding audit findings;
• Develop Audit Committee Presentation;
• We are handling extensive consultancy work on daily basis and providing professional opinion and clarification on different issues to process owners, management and audit committee;
• Special reviews and investigation requested by CEO.

Special Assignments:
• Reviewed updated IFRS compliant accounting policies and procedures on transition from SOCPA standards to IFRS.
• ‘Safety is First’ at Ma’aden and Ma’aden has invested heavily to improve Health, Safety, Security and Environment (HSSE) conditions. Ma’aden engaged world leaders in industry to develop HSSE standards for Ma’aden subsidiaries and affiliates. I have conducted Ma’aden wide audits to report current state and gaps with HSSE standards.
• Alignment of Enterprise Risk Management’s (ERM) ISO-31000 methodology with Internal Audit Department risk assessment methodology and linking of risk assessment results to develop risk based internal audit plans.
• Worked as ‘Optimization Lead and Champion’ for the optimization of all modules in TeamMate (an audit management software) to fully automate audit planning, fieldwork, reporting, tracking and follow-up of outstanding audit observations to better manage the department.
• Participated as an active team member in the External Quality Assessment (EQA) process of the internal audit department that was resulted in the successful achievement of the ‘Generally Conform’ ratings (highest rating) from the IIA’s EQA team.
• To develop Saudi youth, Ma’aden accepts fresh graduates from different universities under ‘Ma’aden Cooperation Training Program’ and I am assigned by company to Mentor these Saudi young graduates to inculcate and develop internal auditing skills.

Group Profile: Halwani Brothers is the pioneer and leading producer and distributor of middle-eastern foodstuffs such as Halawa, Tahina, Mamoul, Dairy products, Processed meat, Jam, Juices, etc, manufactured in state-of-the-art production facilities located in two countries - Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

Duties: I am performing following duties;
• Development of risk based annual and three years strategic Internal Audit Plans.
• Building work program for every engagement.
• Conducting planned and scheduled audits.
• Visits to company branches (total nine branches in KSA) as per Audit Plan and Schedule.
• Review of quarterly financial statements.
• Preparation of audit reports to communicate reportable observations and recommendations to improve conditions.
• Continuous follow up of critical audit recommendations requiring immediate remedial action.
• Follow-up on quarterly basis on pending observations with concerned departments.
• Time to time special assignments from CAE.

Special Assignments:

• Coordinated IT audit outsourced to one of the leading external auditors.
• Developed Risk Register focusing on Objectives, Risk and Control methodology.
• Updating Risk Register with emerging risks and controls.
• Working on provisions for doubtful debts, Raw Material and Finished Goods on quarterly bases.
• Upgrade of TeamMate (an audit management software) to latest versions.
• Trouble shooting for TeamMate and coordination with CCH (TeamMate technical support).

Group Profile: Lakson is one of the leading and renowned groups of companies in Pakistan. The Lakson Group was founded in 1954. Its Product Portfolio - centering around consumer goods and services - consists of detergents & soaps, toothpaste, food products, fast food restaurants, insurance, Internet services, software, paper & board, printing, powdered beverages and tea, packaging, surgical instruments, textiles, Printing, Publications and broadcasting.

Duties: I was responsible for performing routine audit of five companies that were operating at twelve (12) offices across the country. These companies are engaged in Printing, Publication, and Circulation of a leading Newspaper.

Major responsibilities include but were not limited to:

Auditing:
• Establishment of Audit Universe and maintenance of the same to include new auditable areas, keeping in view expectations of Senior Management.
• Preparation of risk based Internal Audit Plan and conducting audit engagements at sub-offices according to plan.
• Visits to company sub-offices on quarterly basis as per Audit Schedule.
• Periodic evaluation of Pro-forma Audit Program to update auditing tools and techniques commensurate with changing conditions.
• Developed and organized internal controls to make sure that proper controls exist to manage entity’s risk exposures & to protect organization's assets.
• Preparation of audit reports to communicate reportable observations, opinions, and recommendations to improve prevailing conditions.
• Review of Audit Reports prepared by audit teams.
• Evaluation of adequacy and effectiveness of Management Response on Audit observations.
• Continuous follow-up of critical audit recommendations requiring immediate remedial action.
• Management of engagement working papers, audit reports and management responses.
• Pointed out misappropriation/embezzlement of cash, detected frauds and performed fraud investigations.


Special Assignments:

• I have been imparting training to the new hiring/replacements in Accounts Department at all stations and have been managing Accounts Department as and when required at stations.
• Reconciliation of Billing Software with Station MIS to reflect correct receivables.
• In order to calculate accurate opening balances and assign a reasonable fresh Petty Cash limits to Station Accountants, I reconciled Station’s MIS with General Ledger maintained at Head Office.
• Developed a format “Cash Flow Statement” to make management better able to plan cash requirements and cope with uncertainties.
• Developed SOPs to hire and manage more than 700 representatives throughout the country..
• To evaluate competencies and socioeconomic status, conducted one-on-one interviews of more than 700 representatives at 11 stations across the country.

Company Profile: Fauji Fertilizer Bin Qasim Limited is a modern Granular Urea and Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) fertilizers manufacturing complex.


Duties: Major responsibilities include but were not limited to:

• Scheduling and planning of Audit of different departments of the company, e.g. Accounts, Human Resource, Cash Reconciliation, Insurance, L/C, IT and payroll etc.
• Thorough audit of the said departments in accordance with work program prepared with consultation of audit department Head.
• Review of routine transaction vouchers.
• Periodic review of ledgers and analysis of quarterly financial statements.
• Reporting of audit observations to audit department head and follow-up of the same.

Company Profile: NJMI is an Audit firm working under by-laws of Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan.

Duties: During my training, I assisted/supervised different audits and gained an insight of business processes of industrial sectors such as Telecommunication, FMCG, Brokerage House, Media, NGOs, Textile and Construction.

I was trained in following areas:
• Formulate audit approach and tailor appropriate audit programs.
• Understand and apply concepts of materiality and audit risk, appropriate to particular clients.
• Preparation of working papers that meet objectives, indexed, cross-referenced for easily understanding and explanation.
• Providing timely, high quality client service that meets or exceeds client expectations.
• Preparing all necessary financial statements and related disclosures, with an eye on quality, thoroughness and accuracy.
• Keeping lines of communication open with staff and clients.

The nature of assignments performed include:
• Internal and External Audits, Book Keeping, Tax Return and Consultancy.
• Control Evaluation Services and Preparation of Accounting and Procedural Manuals.
• Special Nature Assignments e.g. (Inventory and Fixed Assets Verification, Performance Reviews).

The above assignments were conducted on the following major clients:
• World Call Group.
• First Capital Equities Ltd.
• First Capital Investment Ltd.
• First Capital Investment Advisor (Pvt.) Ltd.
• Pace Pakistan Ltd.
• Shafi Group.
• Union Communications