A multinational industrial and engineering solutions business is strengthening its India finance function for its next stage of growth. element is managing this search on its behalf.
This is not a transaction-processing role. It is ownership of the finance function — accounting, compliance, controls, reporting, and the financial judgment that lets leadership see the business clearly.
The brief is simple to state and hard to do well: make the numbers reliable, the reports useful, the controls sound, and the decisions sharper.
THE BUSINESS
Our client operates across India and international markets in sectors where precision and reliability are not optional — manufacturing, infrastructure, marine, oil and gas, heavy engineering, logistics, and industrial services. It has built its position on technical depth, dependable service, and long customer relationships.
The India operation is entering a more structured phase. Finance is expected to move beyond accounting into governance, commercial control, and decision support — accurate, responsive, and close to the business.
WHAT THE ROLE OWNS
Seven areas of accountability
01 Accounting & month-end close
- Day-to-day accounting across sales, purchases, expenses, receipts, payments, and journals — each supported by documentation and a clean audit trail.
- Monthly, quarterly, and annual close; profit and loss, balance sheet schedules, and trial balance review.
- Correct treatment of revenue, provisions, depreciation, prepaids, and statutory liabilities.
- No long-pending unreconciled balances or unexplained entries.
02 Tax & statutory compliance
- GST — returns, reconciliations, input-credit review, e-invoicing, and e-way bills.
- TDS — deduction, challans, quarterly returns, and certificates.
- Income tax, advance tax, and tax audit; assessments and notices handled with proper documentation.
- Every deadline tracked and met; external consultants and auditors coordinated.
03 Audit, governance & controls
- Audit schedules, reconciliations, balance confirmations, and working papers are prepared ahead of time.
- Statutory, tax, and internal audits coordinated; queries answered; observations closed.
- Approval workflows, documentation standards, and the authority matrix were enforced and improved.
04 Cash flow & working capital
- Banking and bank reconciliations; cash flow statements and fund-requirement planning.
- Receivables — ageing, collection forecasts, and coordination with sales on overdue accounts.
- Payables — vendor verification, accurate liability booking, and disciplined payment against approval.
- Clear visibility on receivables, payables, inventory, and working-capital movement.
05 Costing, inventory & trade
- Inventory valuation, stock reconciliation, and ageing; slow-moving and obsolete stock flagged early.
- Product and landed costing — freight, duty, clearing, logistics — and margin analysis.
- Import and export accounting; forex, LC, BG, and trade finance with banks where required.
06 Reporting, planning & insight
- Monthly MIS — revenue, margin, cost, profitability, cash, working capital, and statutory liabilities.
- Performance read against budget, forecast, and prior periods, with variances explained.
- Annual budgets, forecasts, and scenarios; financial inputs for pricing, procurement, and investment.
- Reports that carry commercial meaning, not only data.
07 Team & function
- Lead and review the accounts team; allocate clearly and hold close, reconciliations, and filings to standard.
- Build the trackers, calendars, and checklists that make the function dependable.
- Strengthen coordination between finance and sales, procurement, logistics, warehouse, and operations.
- A professional accounting qualification: CA, CMA / ICWA, ACCA, CPA, or equivalent from a recognised institute. MBA Finance, M.Com, or B.Com alone will not be considered sufficient for this role.
- 8 to 15 years across accounts, finance, tax, compliance, audit, MIS, and business finance — in manufacturing, trading, distribution, industrial or engineering products, or project-based businesses. Prior experience in an MNC or professionally managed company with international exposure is preferred.
Technical capability
- Accounting standards and financial reporting; GST, TDS, income tax, and tax audit; monthly close and statement preparation; accounts payable and receivable, banking, and working-capital tracking; inventory, costing, and margin analysis; import and export accounting, where applicable. Strong on an ERP — Tally, SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics, or similar — and advanced Excel.
Disposition
- This role suits someone who takes ownership without being chased, who values clean books and clean documentation, who holds both compliance and commercial sense, and who can challenge a weak process respectfully without adding bureaucracy. It will not suit someone content to process accounts without understanding the business behind the numbers.