Senior Financial Accountant

Senior Financial Accountant needed for India operations, focusing on AR/AP, tax, compliance, and team leadership. Requires CA qualification and 8-12 years of experience.

Role Overview

We are seeking an experienced Senior Financial Accountant to lead our India financial operations. This strategic role moves beyond simple execution; you will act as a controller and business partner, optimizing financial workflows, ensuring strict compliance, and managing cash flow health. You will serve as the primary advisor on tax matters and the key contact for statutory audits.

Key Responsibilities

1. Accounts Receivable Management (Order-to-Cash)

Local Invoicing & Compliance Oversight: Manage the end-to-end issuance of commercial and statutory tax invoices (E-Invoicing). Ensure strict timeline for IRN/QR code generation to ensure GST compliance.
Tax Advisory & Issue Resolution:
Serve as the Subject Matter Expert (SME) for Operations on tax logic. Advise on the correct application of SAC Codes, GST rates, and TDS applicability for complex or new service items.
Act as the primary point of contact for any tax disputes, customer queries regarding GST credits, or external tax audits related to revenue.
Collections & Local Communication:
Lead local follow-ups for collections, maintaining direct lines of communication with customers and the Operations team to resolve billing disputes quickly.
Manage the AR Group Email, ensuring all remittance advice is actioned immediately.
Reconciliation & Reporting:
Oversee daily reconciliation of bank receipts against open invoices in the system.
Provide weekly aging analysis and risk flags to regional leadership.

2. Accounts Payable Strategy (Procure-to-Pay)

Process Optimization & Efficiency:
Design and oversee a seamless "Procure-to-Pay" workflow to reduce friction and manual touchpoints.
Identify bottlenecks in the freight audit or invoice approval chains and implement solutions (automation or policy changes) to improve processing speed and accuracy.
Vendor Aging & Relationship Management:
Actively analyze Vendor Aging Reports to prevent backlogs and ensure no critical service disruptions.
Strategize payment prioritization to optimize working capital while maintaining healthy relationships with key partners.
Cash Flow Strategy:
Own the Local Cash Flow Forecast, projecting weekly outflows to ensure sufficient liquidity.
Partner with Treasury to optimize funding requests and manage currency exposure where applicable.

3. General Managerial & Strategic Responsibilities

Team Leadership: Mentor and manage the Finance Ops team (AR/AP executives), ensuring clear KRA setting, performance reviews, and continuous training on regulatory updates.
Statutory Compliance & Audit Lead:
Own the entire Compliance Calendar: Ensure timely filing of GSTR-1, GSTR-3B, TDS returns, and Advance Tax.
Lead the annual Statutory Audit (IGAAP) and Internal Audits, serving as the primary face to external auditors.
ERP & Process Governance:
Act as the custodian of financial data integrity. Ensure the ERP setup (whether Tally or Global ERP) complies with MCA Audit Trail requirements and Data Localization rules (Rule 3(5)).
Drive process improvements to reduce manual touchpoints in the billing and payment cycles.
Reporting: Deliver monthly financial management reports (MIS) including P&L analysis, balance sheet substantiation, and variance commentary to Global Headquarters.

Qualifications & Requirements

Education: Qualified Chartered Accountant (CA) is preferred
Experience: 8–12 years of post-qualification experience, with significant exposure to managing India finance operations in a multinational environment.
Technical Expertise:
Expert knowledge of GST, TDS, and Corporate Tax.
Strong understanding of Ind AS and Companies Act compliance.
Hands-on experience with banking portals and cash management.
Soft Skills:
Strong communication skills to effectively advise Operations teams on tax matters and handle local vendor/customer negotiations.
Strong strategic thinking, financial analysis, and leadership skills, with the ability to work independently in fast-changing environments
Excellent problem solving skills
Experience in the Freight Forwarding industry is preferred.

Role Overview

Key Responsibilities

1. Accounts Receivable Management (Order-to-Cash)

Local Invoicing & Compliance Oversight: Manage the end-to-end issuance of commercial and statutory tax invoices (E-Invoicing). Ensure strict timeline for IRN/QR code generation to ensure GST compliance.

Tax Advisory & Issue Resolution:

Serve as the Subject Matter Expert (SME) for Operations on tax logic. Advise on the correct application of SAC Codes, GST rates, and TDS applicability for complex or new service items.

Act as the primary point of contact for any tax disputes, customer queries regarding GST credits, or external tax audits related to revenue.

Collections & Local Communication:

Lead local follow-ups for collections, maintaining direct lines of communication with customers and the Operations team to resolve billing disputes quickly.

Manage the AR Group Email, ensuring all remittance advice is actioned immediately.

Reconciliation & Reporting:

Oversee daily reconciliation of bank receipts against open invoices in the system.

Provide weekly aging analysis and risk flags to regional leadership.

2. Accounts Payable Strategy (Procure-to-Pay)

Process Optimization & Efficiency:

Design and oversee a seamless "Procure-to-Pay" workflow to reduce friction and manual touchpoints.

Identify bottlenecks in the freight audit or invoice approval chains and implement solutions (automation or policy changes) to improve processing speed and accuracy.

Vendor Aging & Relationship Management:

Actively analyze Vendor Aging Reports to prevent backlogs and ensure no critical service disruptions.

Strategize payment prioritization to optimize working capital while maintaining healthy relationships with key partners.

Cash Flow Strategy:

Own the Local Cash Flow Forecast, projecting weekly outflows to ensure sufficient liquidity.

Partner with Treasury to optimize funding requests and manage currency exposure where applicable.

3. General Managerial & Strategic Responsibilities

Team Leadership: Mentor and manage the Finance Ops team (AR/AP executives), ensuring clear KRA setting, performance reviews, and continuous training on regulatory updates.

Statutory Compliance & Audit Lead:

Own the entire Compliance Calendar: Ensure timely filing of GSTR-1, GSTR-3B, TDS returns, and Advance Tax.

Lead the annual Statutory Audit (IGAAP) and Internal Audits, serving as the primary face to external auditors.

ERP & Process Governance:

Act as the custodian of financial data integrity. Ensure the ERP setup (whether Tally or Global ERP) complies with MCA Audit Trail requirements and Data Localization rules (Rule 3(5)).

Drive process improvements to reduce manual touchpoints in the billing and payment cycles.

Reporting: Deliver monthly financial management reports (MIS) including P&L analysis, balance sheet substantiation, and variance commentary to Global Headquarters.

Qualifications & Requirements

Education: Qualified Chartered Accountant (CA) is preferred

Experience: 8–12 years of post-qualification experience, with significant exposure to managing India finance operations in a multinational environment.

Technical Expertise:

Expert knowledge of GST, TDS, and Corporate Tax.

Strong understanding of Ind AS and Companies Act compliance.

Hands-on experience with banking portals and cash management.

Soft Skills:

Strong communication skills to effectively advise Operations teams on tax matters and handle local vendor/customer negotiations.

Strong strategic thinking, financial analysis, and leadership skills, with the ability to work independently in fast-changing environments

Excellent problem solving skills

Experience in the Freight Forwarding industry is preferred.