Meraj Husain Khan Deshmukh
Dubai
Summary
Senior Finance & Accounts Leader with 24+ years' expertise across manufacturing, trading, oilfield chemicals, FMCG, and audit firms. Proven ability to manage AED 200M+ multi-bank facilities, streamline financial reporting under IFRS & IAS, and deliver measurable improvements in cash flow and compliance. Expert in treasury, audit, VAT, and team leadership, with a strong record of driving efficiency, reducing costs, and supporting organisational growth. Currently pursuing CMA (USA). Leads finance and accounts functions across reporting, treasury, audit and tax compliance, delivering accurate IFRS/IAS financials and disciplined control. Manages banking facilities, letters of credit and cash flow to protect liquidity, reduce financing costs and support working capital needs. Strengthens controls, improves reporting quality and guides teams through month-end close, audit coordination and regulatory obligations.
Overview
1
1
Language
1
1
Certification
28
28
years of professional experience
Work History
Manager Finance
Sebchem Middle East FZE
Dubai
08.2026 - Current
- 1. Financial reporting and accounting
- Oversee the general ledger, month-end and year-end close, and reconciliations (bank, intercompany, inventory, supplier statements).
- Prepare monthly management accounts, P&L by product, trade and customer, and statutory financials under IFRS.
- Coordinated annual external audit and JAFZA's audited accounts, ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements.
- 2. Trade finance and treasury
- Manage Letters of Credit (opening, amendments, document discrepancies), bank guarantees, bills and trust receipts.
- Managed bank relationships and credit lines, facilitating facility renewals and maintaining covenant compliance.
- Forecast daily and weekly cash flow and manage working capital, since chemical trading is margin-thin and capital-intensive.
- Arrange trade credit insurance and, where needed, supply chain or receivables finance.
- Managed FX exposure (USD, EUR, and others) and hedged risks. AED is pegged to USD, so non-USD exposure matters most.
- 3. Cost, margin and pricing control
- Calculate landed cost per shipment: purchase price, freight, insurance, demurrage, port and terminal charges, duties, storage and handling.
- Track deal-by-deal and product-wise gross margin, and flag margin leakage.
- Support commercial teams on pricing, quotations, and cost-plus or index-linked contracts.
- 4. Inventory and cost management
- Oversee inventory valuation (weighted average or FIFO), net realisable value and provisioning for obsolete, expired or off-spec stock.
- Reconcile physical stock at bonded or JAFZA warehouses and tank terminals against books, including third-party storage.
- 5. Receivables, payables and credit control
- Set customer credit limits and terms, and monitor ageing and overdue collections.
- Assess expected credit loss and bad debt provisioning (IFRS 9).
- Manage supplier payments, payment prioritisation and LC or TT settlements.
- Oversee counterparty risk checks and customer or supplier onboarding from a financial standpoint.
- 6. Tax and regulatory compliance (UAE and Free Zone)
- Corporate Tax: Determine the company's Free Zone Person status and whether it qualifies for the 0% rate on qualifying income. Trading in commodities with mainland or non-qualifying parties needs careful analysis. Handle registration, returns, transfer pricing documentation and related-party disclosures.
- VAT (5%): JAFZA is a Designated Zone, so the treatment of goods movement within and outside the zone, and the deemed import and export rules, must be applied correctly. Own the VAT returns, reverse charge, input tax recovery and FTA audits.
- Handle JAFZA licence renewals, audit submissions and any free zone reporting.
- 8. Risk management and internal controls
- Designed and monitored internal controls and approval matrices, strengthening fraud prevention and risk management.
- Prevent and detect fraud, especially around trade documents, payments and bank detail changes.
- Ensure insurance coverage (cargo, marine, stock, liability) is adequate.
- 9. Systems and process improvement
- Own the ERP and accounting system (SAP, Oracle, Dynamics, Tally or similar) and its integration with trading, logistics and bank platforms.
- Drive automation of reconciliations, invoicing and reporting.
- Document finance SOPs and policies.
- 10. Team leadership and stakeholder management
- Lead and develop accountants, AP/AR and trade finance staff, and manage payroll and WPS processes where the finance team handles them.
- Partner with trading, operations, logistics, legal and procurement teams.
- Liaise with auditors, bankers, tax advisors, insurers and JAFZA authorities.
- Report to the owners, and advise on financial strategy.
Manager Finance
Oren Hydrocarbons Middle East FZCO
Dubai
12.2022 - 07.2026
- Managed AED 200M multi-bank facilities, negotiated financing terms, and interacted with relationship managers for renewals.
- Delivered monthly, quarterly & annual financial reports with 100% IFRS/IAS compliance.
- Implemented stricter credit controls, reducing overdue receivables by 20% within the first year.
- Enhanced cash flow monitoring with weekly dashboards, improving liquidity forecasting accuracy.
- Optimized receivable/payable cycles, improving cash flow turnover by 10%.
- Strengthened audit readiness, enabling smooth annual audits with zero major observations.
- Oversaw VAT compliance by preparing and submitting monthly and quarterly filings., including monthly/quarterly VAT filings with the FTA (Federal Tax Authority).
- Ensured timely payment of corporate taxes, VAT, and other statutory obligations.
- Trained team on maintaining accurate records of tax-related documentation and correspondence, enhancing regulatory compliance.
- Advised management on tax implications of business transactions and strategic decisions.
- Handled year-end audit and prepare audit pack schedules.
- Lead a team of accountants across UAE, Iraq, Egypt & Saudi Arabia branches, improving reporting accuracy by 15%.
- Administered Letter of Credit operations, ensuring compliance with fees and commissions for portfolio of LCs issued under various credit facilities.
- Review Export Letters of Credit and negotiate appropriate discounting rates.
- Prepared fund forecasts detailing approved limits with banks, utilised and available limits, upcoming maturities, bank balances, and funds required to clear PDCs and bank liabilities.
- Review the payment plan daily and approve payments to suppliers, service providers and salaries as per funds available.
- Maintain credit facility documents (including Letters of Credit, Bank Guarantees etc.) and their records, reporting and compliance requirements.
- Introduced a cost-tracking system for insurance and VAT, reducing operational risks.
- Monitor intercompany transactions and educate the team to reconcile intercompany balances monthly and keep records on file.
- Handled year-end audit and prepare audit pack schedules.
Manager – Accounts & Finance
Oren Hydrocarbons Middle East FZCO
Dubai
08.2004 - 11.2022
- Negotiated and managed AED 200M banking facilities, ensuring uninterrupted working capital for operations.
- Prepared consolidated financial statements and variance analysis, enabling cost-saving initiatives of AED 5M annually.
- Directed the finance team, reducing the month-end closing cycle by 3 days through process automation.
- Acted as authorised bank signatory, managing LC, TR, invoice discounting and factoring operations.
- Liaised with external auditors, securing clean audit reports for 18 consecutive years.
Accountant
HLL Mumbai Vashi RS Point
01.2002 - 04.2004
- Managed financial operations with annual turnover of ?1.8 Crores, ensuring accurate reporting and compliance, contributing to financial integrity and stakeholder trust.
- Automated reconciliation processes, reducing reporting errors by 25%.
- Improved timeliness of financial reporting, cutting delays by 30%.
- Oversaw supply chain operations in FMCG sector, streamlining processes to enhance operational effectiveness.
Store Manager & Accounts Assistant
Mathew Associates
Mumbai
10.2000 - 12.2001
- Developed procurement strategies to enhance project delivery timelines by 10%.
- Managed payroll and vendor payments, minimising discrepancies by 15%.
- Managed day-to-day store operations, including stock levels, staff rotas, and customer service standards.
- Handled customer complaints, offering resolutions that maintained satisfaction and loyalty.
- Managed store budget, controlling expenses to ensure financial targets were met.
Audit Assistant
Fakhi & Co. Chartered Accountants
Mumbai
06.1998 - 09.2000
- Assisted in audits for SMEs, identifying process gaps leading to 5% savings in operational costs.
- Reviewed AR/AP ledgers and reconciliations, achieving 20% reduction in reporting variances.
- Worked closely with audit teams to meet tight deadlines, ensuring timely completion of audit assignments.
- Prepared audit findings reports, highlighting issues and recommending improvements to financial practices.
- Conducted inventory audits, verifying physical stock against recorded quantities to identify discrepancies.
Education
MBA - Finance
Mumbai, India01-2004
Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com) - Accounting and Auditing
Mumbai University
India01-2000
Skills
- Financial Reporting & Analysis (IFRS/IAS, MIS, Consolidation)
- Audit Coordination & Liaison Compliance (External, Internal, Risk Management)
- Treasury & Banking (LCs, TRs, Invoice Discounting, Factoring) Experience with treasury systems and banking online platforms
- Budgeting, Forecasting & Cost optimisation
- VAT, Corporate Taxation Implementation & Risk/Insurance Management
- ERP implementation & Systems: Tally ERP9, APT ERP, Focus ERP, QuickBooks, MS Office (Advancedd in MS Excel including PivotTables, VLOOKUP, XLOOKUP, INDEX/MATCH, Advance Conditional Formatting, Data Tables, Power Pivot etc)
- Leadership, Mentoring & Team Development
- Credit Control and Cash Management
- Accounts receivable Management
- Accounts Payable Management
- Financial reporting
- Treasury management
- Internal controls
- Tax compliance
- Audit coordination
- IFRS reporting
Personal Details
Languages: English, Hindi, Urdu, Marathi
Certification
CMA USA – Pursuing (Zabeel International Institute, UAE)
References
Available upon request
Timeline
Manager Finance
Sebchem Middle East FZE
08.2026 - Current
Manager Finance
Oren Hydrocarbons Middle East FZCO
12.2022 - 07.2026
Manager – Accounts & Finance
Oren Hydrocarbons Middle East FZCO
08.2004 - 11.2022
Accountant
HLL Mumbai Vashi RS Point
01.2002 - 04.2004
Store Manager & Accounts Assistant
Mathew Associates
10.2000 - 12.2001
Audit Assistant
Fakhi & Co. Chartered Accountants
06.1998 - 09.2000
MBA - Finance
Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com) - Accounting and Auditing
Mumbai University