Neal Raithatha

100% Subsidiary of Octopus Energy (www.octopus.energy.com)

Sector : Telecom infrastructure provider rolling out fiber network with over 600 customers. No of employees 350+, Capex £90m+

Roles and Responsibilities

• Reporting to CFO
• Managing team of 6 out of total team of 9.
• Responsible for AR, AP, Cash, Fixed Assets and General Ledger

Key Tasks

• Preparing monthly management accounts within 5 working days of month end in line with UK GAAP.
• Preparing Monthly Board pack including full management accounts vs forecasts and KPIs.
• Preparing the year end accounts and overseeing the financial audit, ensuring they are published in a timely manner and respective deadlines are met.
• Proposed cost saving actions such as reduction in headcount which are currently being implemented, and will reduce costs by over £2m annually.
• Support sales and commercial department with pricing strategy for customers, including the renewal for a contract worth over £3m.
• Overhauled inventory warehouse system by implementing stock takes and performing reconciliation of stock (which was not done for 6 years) . Introduce use of SKU codes for items and ensuring all items had unit price and quantity, allowing us to accurately value inventory.
• Prepared Long term business plans/ financial models for Board of Directors; secured additional funding of £250m from parent company Octopus Energy.
• Supporting recent M&A opportunities, including business planning, rationalisation.
• Implemented new fixed asset register which correctly records and track Fiber Network assets. This involved collaborating with Warehouse and Build teams. to reconcile Fixed Register to built network and work in progress with Engineer and Warehouse teams
• Consolidated capital management, cash flow analysis, and reconciliations statements.
• Completed 1st year end statutory audit and regulatory reporting requirements within defined deadlines. Providing detail supporting documentation ensured smooth and efficient audit process.
• Working with external consultants to oversee successful ERP transition (Xero to Microsoft Dynamics), including use of Microsoft Purchase Order and Warehouse Management System
• Introduced PO system (prior to Dynamics transition) and process to generate and authorise PO which enable finance to correct account for costs, accuracy of accounts and control costs
• Aided HR with Payroll transition by bringing it in house, using HR payroll software (Staffology & Telleroo)
• Recruited 3 finance employees since joining and introduce continued training especially with transition from Xero to Dynamics
• Worked with Network, Sales, Procurement, HR, Fiber and other members of finance team

British Telecom (BT):

FTSE 100

Market Capitalisation £16 billion

IFRS and US GAAP

Key Responsibilities and Experience:

• 4-year assignment, starting as a junior and progressing to Assistant Manager (In-charge) of Consolidated Sales of £21.4bn consisting of Business, Consumer and Wholesales.
• Auditing of 9 different billing systems
• Consolidation and reconciliation of total sales including the elimination of intercompany transactions.
• Using data analytics to see the impact of subscriber numbers and average sales per customer to assess BT offering of BT sports package as well mobile offer following the acquisition of EE mobile.
• Review and analysis of BT Sports and their media rights for the Premier and Champions League, accounting treatment of costs and impact on BT profitability. Review of sales and costs per subscriber for approximately 2 million subscribers.
• Review and analysis of the impact of BT acquisition on newly acquired EE with 17.5 million direct customers and a further 12 million from wholesale channels.
• Impact on sales per subscribers between organic growth (customers, new products such as BT sport and mobile).
• Supervising associates across 6 Audit teams based in the UK and India.
• Working closely with the BT Finance teams in the corporate HQ , BT Global services and Consumer division including BT Sports and EE mobile.

Belron UK (Autoglass):

Sales of £197m, Employees>2k

Subsidiary of Belron Group, UK HQ, Operate in 34 Countries, Employees>25k

IFRS

Key Responsibilities and Experience:

• 4 Years on the audit, progressing to the in-charge role managing a team of 4 on the audit of the financial statement, reporting to the Audit Partner
• Impact of Covid-19 on the sales and costs, which factored in Government grants of approximately £4.4m in 2020.
• Review of salaries and associated costs which accounted for 40% of sales
• Organising and coordinating stock takes at branches across the UK, which involved liaising with regional KPMG offices and companies warehouses. Stock at cost was approx. £28m.

IKEA UK and Ireland:

Sales of £1.9 billion

23 Stores in the UK and Ireland

IFRS

Key Responsibilities and Experience:

• 3 years of audit covering Stock for resale, Bank Reconciliations and controls, Intercompany balances, and Operating Expense Reviews.

Other Engagements:

• International Experience - BHP FTSE 100 Company with Sales of $42.9 HQ in Houston.

• Chelsea FC, British Aerospace Engineering (BAE) Systems Group, CenturyLink, Kaz Minerals, Saga Plc, Senior Plc, Total Petrochemicals.

• Reviewed and reconciled consolidated income statements received from various platforms such as iTunes, Google, Amazon and Netflix to company accounting software Quickbooks.

• Performed and reconciled purchase invoices to proprietary access circuit inventory system known as Boss. Amend rates where appropriate and reclaimed credit notes.
• Promoted to Supervisor after 1 week.