Nisha Balan
Northampton
Summary
Finance Operations professional with over 10 years' experience delivering Accounts Payable, Shared Services, Travel & Expense and Finance Transformation support within global organisations. Experienced in SAP Concur, SAP S/4HANA, UAT, financial controls, process optimisation and operational excellence, with a strong track record of improving finance processes, enhancing compliance and collaborating with global stakeholders to deliver business transformation and continuous improvement. Recently completed an MSc in Project Management, bringing expertise in project governance, Agile delivery and stakeholder management.
Overview
1
1
Certification
16
16
years of professional experience
Work history
Assistant Operations Manager
Toru Digital
Northampton
2025.04 - 2025.05
- Supported digital transformation and operational improvement initiatives, producing UAT documentation, process maps, operational workflows and project documentation while collaborating with cross-functional teams to deliver client solutions.
Finance Process Specialist
Maersk
Mumbai
2018.05 - 2024.08
- Supported global Finance Shared Services operations across APAC, specialising in Accounts Payable, Travel & Expense, Corporate Card Administration and Finance Operations within a high-volume, SLA-driven environment. Acted as a trusted business partner across Finance, Procurement, HR, Technology and Banking teams, ensuring operational excellence, financial control and continuous process improvement.
- Managed end-to-end Travel & Expense (T&E) operations through SAP Concur, processing over 1,500 employee expense claims per month across multiple legal entities while consistently meeting SLA targets and ensuring compliance with global travel policies and financial controls.
- Served as the APAC regional point of contact for Travel & Expense operations, supporting Finance Operations across 10+ APAC countries and collaborating with Finance, HR, Procurement, Technology and external banking partners to resolve complex payment, policy and system-related issues.
- Administered 3000+ Citi and American Express corporate card accounts across APAC, managing new card issuance, account maintenance, credit limit amendments, delinquency monitoring, hidden transaction releases and dispute resolution.
- Reviewed and audited employee expense claims, identifying policy exceptions, missing documentation and high-risk transactions to ensure compliance with company policies, governance standards and audit requirements.
- Processed supplier invoices, credit notes and Accounts Payable transactions using SAP ERP and SAP Concur, maintaining 98–99% processing accuracy within agreed service levels.
- Performed supplier statement reconciliations, invoice validation, payment investigations and Purchase-to-Pay (P2P) support, collaborating with Procurement teams to resolve purchase order, invoice matching and payment discrepancies.
- Managed multiple APAC and EMEA shared service inboxes, prioritising high-volume finance requests, leading stakeholder review meetings, presenting ageing reports and conducting root cause analysis (RCA) to reduce outstanding transactions.
- Investigated and resolved employee, supplier and finance system queries through ServiceNow, achieving 95%+ SLA compliance while delivering excellent customer service and improving stakeholder satisfaction.
- Supported month-end close activities, including reconciliations, journal validation, ageing analysis, balance sheet reviews and financial reporting to ensure timely and accurate period-end close.
- Produced KPI dashboards, ageing reports and management information using Advanced Microsoft Excel, enabling data-driven decision making and continuous operational improvement.
- Authored Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), process documentation, user guidance and knowledge articles, improving process consistency, strengthening controls and reducing operational risk.
- Delivered 25+ SAP Concur training sessions and knowledge-sharing workshops for global employees, improving policy awareness, first-time submission accuracy and reducing policy exceptions by 20%.
- Led User Acceptance Testing (UAT), business validation and defect management for SAP Concur enhancements and SAP S/4HANA Finance Transformation initiatives, supporting successful system implementation and business readiness.
Senior Finance Executive
CMA-CGM Private Ltd
Mumbai
2015.08 - 2017.02
- Supported the Cost Controlling and Finance Operations team within a global shipping and logistics organisation, delivering financial reporting, budget monitoring, Accounts Payable support and business performance analysis. Partnered with cross-functional stakeholders to strengthen financial controls, improve reporting accuracy and support strategic business decision-making.
- Analysed Cost Controlling and Finance Operations operational costs, monitoring expenditure and contributed to budget management across multiple business functions.
- Prepared monthly Actual vs Budget variance analysis for tariff-related costs, identifying key variances and providing financial insights to support cost control and management reporting.
- Assisted with financial forecasting, budgeting and management reporting, supporting accurate financial planning and business performance reviews.
- Delivered accurate Actual vs Budget variance reports, supporting management in monitoring operational costs and improving financial visibility.
- Supported forecasting and budgeting activities that contributed to effective financial planning and cost control.
- Improved the accuracy and timeliness of financial reporting through enhanced reconciliation and validation processes.
- Built strong working relationships with Finance and operational stakeholders, enabling faster resolution of finance-related queries and improved collaboration.
Finance Trainee
Maersk Line India
Mumbai
2014.09 - 2015.04
- Built a strong foundation in finance operations by supporting invoice processing, expense management, reconciliations, and cross-functional coordination within a global shared services environment.
Senior Executive
CRISIL Ltd
Mumbai
2009.06 - 2014.08
- Worked within the ratings operations team, managing financial and operational data, preparing MIS reports, and supporting business processes to ensure accuracy, efficiency, and timely service delivery.
Education
MSc - Project Management
University of Northampton
UKB. Com - Accounting Finance
University of Mumbai
MumbaiSkills
- SAP Concur Expense Management
- Employee Expense Administration
- UAT Testing
- Corporate Card Administration
- Variance Analysis
- Process Mapping
- Finance Transformation
- Business Process Automation
- Cross-functional Collaboration
- Supplier Management
- Stakeholder Management
- Month End Reporting
- Finance Operations
- Invoice Processing
- SAP ERP & SAP S/4 Hana
- ServiceNow
- Power Automate
- Workday
- Microsoft Excel (Advanced)
- Power BI
- Microsoft Office 365
- SharePoint
Certification
- Certified Scrum Master (CSM) – Scrum Alliance
- Lean Six Sigma Green Belt – EY
- Power BI Essential Training
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Eligible to work Full time in the UK.
Timeline
Assistant Operations Manager
Toru Digital
2025.04 - 2025.05
Finance Process Specialist
Maersk
2018.05 - 2024.08
Senior Finance Executive
CMA-CGM Private Ltd
2015.08 - 2017.02
Finance Trainee
Maersk Line India
2014.09 - 2015.04
Senior Executive
CRISIL Ltd
2009.06 - 2014.08
MSc - Project Management
University of Northampton
B. Com - Accounting Finance
University of Mumbai