SHANAVAS ABDUL MAJEED

Role/Title – Manager, Trade Finance & Treasury – (Since 2016 Jan – Till date)

Responsibilities -

Module – TAX (VAT & CT)

Nonrecurring responsibilities

• Managing the registration process for entities and groups on the FTA portal under VAT and CT sections.
• Establishing a Tax Group with a designated representative member according to control criteria conditions.

Recurring responsibilities

• Classifying VAT 301 and VAT 201 sections.
• Gathering VAT files from all divisions for review, correction, and allocation, as well as submitting group VAT returns and allocating payments.
• A personalized checklist is kept to ensure adherence to Control Criteria and compliance with the arm's length principle as required by the FTA.
• Ratios of revenue to taxable supplies and VAT due are tracked for each division and the group, with a historical report maintained that includes graphical representations of revenue, taxable supplies, and VAT due/paid.
• An ethical annual tax audit is performed.
• Voluntary disclosures are made, and reconsideration requests are submitted if needed.
• Timely adjustments are made in areas such as the Reverse Charge Mechanism, sales returns, credit notes, and bad debts when necessary.
• Knowledge from FTA and MOF portals is regularly updated and augmented, with reference guides for each application section collected.
• The team is kept informed about the periodic release and updates of Federal Decree Laws.

Module – Working Capital Management – Trade Finance & Treasury

Responsibilities. Frequency – Annual

• Gathering and scrutinizing of reports required, such as in-house financial statements such as Income statement, Balance sheet and ageing of receivables, payables and inventory.
• Consolidating requirements bank wise, division wise, procedure wise.
• Conducting interim reviews to all credit lines offered by banks and maintaining check list of covenants adherence.
• Reporting to CFO if any breach in covenants spotted and working closely for solution and there by amending SOPs and or strategies developed. Alerting the same with related department leaders and ensuring strict adherence.
• Renewal process of FOLs with banks on respective due dates with complying above reports and along with audited finance of the preceding year.
• On successful submission of complied reports and issuance of FOLs for the current FYE, submitting to C level dignitaries signing the 12 month contract.
• Developing and implementing long-term business strategies to achieve goals and staying focused.
• Monitoring and analyzing business performance confronting to newly implemented economical/political/federal decisions, and to identify areas of improvement and timely reporting to C level Matrix of the organization.

· Responsibilities. Frequency - Monthly

• Preparation and maintenance of DIO (Days Inventories Outstanding), DSO (Days Sales Outstanding) and DPO (Days Payment Outstanding) reports which forms integral for performance analysis and effects of strategies developed.
• Preparation of monthly credit limit utilization and fund flow report (Bank calendar) aiding preparation of forecasting report.
• Holding regular meetups with procurement and accounts departments, aiding accuracy of forecast reports and exchanging instructions if any.
• Analyzing strength and weakness of cash flow report prepared by accounts department and allocating LBD (Local Bills Discounting) if required
• Reporting to CFO with SWOT analysis over CCC (Credit Conversion Cycle).
• Maintaining a healthy rapport with Financial Institutions and Federal Authorities.
• Setting various strategies to minimize finance costs such as focusing on improving credit score patron by AECB and paying attention to CBRB rating by avoiding any defaults.
• A clear agenda is maintained for clean track record related to OLEM status.
• Indulging on enhanced economic research methodology for updates to current covenants, if any, over domestic, International, regional, political and related governing bodies, enabling validation to planned trade decisions.
• Maintaining and scrutinizing self-developed “Consolidated Bank Calendar” report, to control fund flow and the accuracy attained were honored on several occasions by the leading banks of UAE.

· Responsibilities. Frequency - Daily

• Ensuring workflow is inline with forecast report (banks calendar)
• Reconciling trade limits usage with daily issues SOT (Statement of Trade) from banks.
• Following EIBOR from Central Bank of UAE which forms essential to interest rates and if any deviation with forecasted tolerance, relevant updates are made to the forecast report.
• Incessant forecasting and monitoring on spotlights if any, occurred due to breach notifications from counterparts (banks / federal authorities) and implementing spontaneous actions to mitigate the risk, be it re-audit of SOPs or rectifying erroneous declaration by the staffs, thereby avoiding huge penalties.
• As UAE is blessed with multi-cultural environment, maintaining an optimistic approach is essential. Debates and disputes are emerged in no time between respective department leaders, when usual procedural flow is affected as a result of spontaneous amendment to SOPs confronting above mentioned circumstances.
• Amicably solving such disputes through various approaches, (ex- macro management such as raising awareness among department heads that the ultimate aim is benefitting the revenue).
• Resolving strategic conflicts as well as intuitive conflicts, through commanding skills which is developed through leadership qualities such as active listening to concerns and finding appropriate middle ground.
• Confronting to bank calendar, usage of TF products to facilitate trade, such as LCs (irrevocable, confirmed, transferable, revolving, standby, b2b), LGs (APG and PB/Retention), IBC (Import Bills under collection), etc.
• Confronting to fund flow report, decision making on choosing products such as LAI (Loan against import), Bill of Exchange acceptance and tracking.

· Self set strategies, and achievements.

• Controlling costs to keep operating expense within budgeted figures through proactive approach in trade finance such as for-ex forecasting and negotiation (except USD), reducing finance costs through developing strategies and factoring imports.
• Was able to create a healthy rapport with relationship managers of corporate accounts from 7 major banks of UAE.
• Factoring of payables to support cash flow.
• Planned and budgeted accurately to provide business with resources needed to operate smoothly.
• Actively promoting succession planning by mentoring junior team members for career advancement and fostering a pipeline of future leaders within the organization.
• Streamlined workflows by identifying bottlenecks in existing systems and proactively addressing these challenges through appropriate solutions to the C level management.
• Reduced operational costs considerably through research methodology, sampling and case study, thereby implementing comprehensive process improvement and resource management.
• Ensured compliance with industry regulations and legal requirements by implementing comprehensive policies and training programs for related team members.
• Optimized resource allocation by conducting regular performance evaluations and providing personalized coaching if required.
• Established robust risk mitigation strategies to safeguard against potential operational challenges or disruptions.
• Meeting annual optimization targets and reporting to C level Matrix. If failed to check certain areas, a clearly rendered apology letter with reason and solution for future, was included during couple of occasions.
• Developed detailed and broad knowledge through closely associated working relation with various CFOs over span of 20 years of my career.
• Leveraged data and analytics to make informed decisions and drive business improvements.
• Collaborated cross-functionally with other departments such as finance, accounting, tax, legal, and procurement to ensure seamless integration of treasury-related activities
• Developed strong relationships with banking partners for improved service levels and competitive pricing negotiations
• Managed foreign exchange exposures by developing a comprehensive hedging strategy to minimize currency risks
• Improved financial risk management by establishing policies, procedures, and internal controls to mitigate potential risks
• Improved financial reporting by creating customized reports that provided actionable insights into cash positions, investment performance, and exposure levels
• Reduced bank fees by negotiating favorable banking terms and services agreements with multiple financial institutions
• Implemented robust cash forecasting models to accurately predict future cash needs and inform decision-making within the organization
• Safeguarded company assets from potential fraud incidents by implementing stringent security measures across all aspects of treasury operations
• Increased efficiency in debt issuance processes by collaborating with banks and credit rating agencies for optimal terms and conditions
• Contributed to annual budgeting processes by providing accurate projections of interest income, expenses, and capital expenditures related to treasury operations
• Provided valuable insights to senior management on matters related to cash, investments, and risk management for informed decision making.