Snehal (Sam) Lakhani FCCA

Location: Basingstoke, Hampshire

Contact Details: Mob: 077*-**-**-*** Email: acw7uz@r.postjobfree.com Profile

All-round strong, experienced, commercial FCCA with demonstrable experiences in operating as a senior finance professional within Private and Public Sector. With senior management experience working with Boards and Committees in setting strategic vision; financial planning, budget setting and providing finance and commercial advice to stakeholders. Highly experienced in managing Finance, HR and IT and corporate operational teams. Strong ethos to lead, motivate and develop teams to produce quality management information including P&L and margin review, balance sheet control, cash flow & treasury and capex management. Experienced in working with PMO to deliver project managed service reviews, annual and periodic forecasting and other projects. Good experience in developing financial KPI dashboard and risk management reporting. Good business partnering skills in providing analysis, decision support and establishing robust financial & operational service delivery targets. Excellent inter-personal skills with ability to relay financial information at all levels with gravitas to influence and negotiate. Recent experiences in change management and championing continuous improvement including service reviews, cost improvement and income generation. Problem solver with ability to develop overall business strategy through analysis and to work in detail and hands on to deliver objectives. Education, Qualifications & Training

Professional: FCCA – 2002; ACCA - Qualified 1997 Academic: London Metropolitan University- HND Accounting - Distinction SC Cleared with City of London Police -2020

Systems: SAP, SUN Vision, QuickBooks, Navision, MS Excel (advanced), PowerPoint (Intermediate), Word (advanced); systems and process improvements experiences

CPD Training: IFRS Update for Public Sector; Financial reporting updates - UK GAAP and US GAAP; Income recognition and L/T Contracts; UK Corporation tax; UK Company Law, Company Secretarial; UK Employment Law update; Government accounting, Police Funding; Managing Public Money, Medical regulatory reporting; Training for Fraud & Irregularity; Training for Equality & Diversity; Leadership in a Changing Environment; Risk Management in Public Agencies; Emotional Intelligent Manager; Project Management and Effective Presentation for Finance Leaders, Project Management Career History

Sept 2016 to date Dyslexia Action Interim Head of Finance Dyslexia Action is the national charity providing services and supporting to those who suffer with literacy and numeracy difficulties, dyslexia and learning difficulties.

Responsibilities:

o Working across a team of 5, produce the year end accounts and group consolidation. o Streamline process and control the production of monthly management accounts in line with policies and procedures o Redesign the monthly management pack to ensure up to date, accurate and timely financial information is produced to Management and Trustees

o Review the end to end processes and redesign to ensure credibility of the financial information o Work with Finance Director to produce budgets and cash flow forecast and commercial development and ensure all compliance and regulatory reporting

o Develop finance team into a strong value added performing team with a customer focus May 2016 to June 2016 Department for Transport Interim Consolidation Accountant The DfT is the government department responsible for the English national transport network with a budget of £5.5b. Responsibilities & Achievements:

o Working across a team of 4, rationalising the way core accounts are produced under FReM and IFRS o Working in both the production the year end accounts of the core department and group consolidation. Liaising with consolidated entities such as BTP and Network Rail, to ensure the accuracy and completeness of consolidation packs o Delivered a full balance sheet and income & expenditure analysis and reconciliation to support lead schedules for year-end audit o Detailed analysis of Balance Sheet, re-analysis of Reserves and Fixed Assets and correction of opening balances of ALBs of DfT such as Network Rail and BTP

Feb 2016 to Mar 2016 Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman Interim Statutory Accountant The PHSO is the national ombudsman to help look into complaints where an individual believes there has been injustice or hardship because an organisation has not acted properly or fairly or has given a poor service and not put things right. Responsibilities & Achievements:

o Reporting to Head of Finance to provide a professional financial service in preparation for the financial close and reporting of the organisation under FReM and IFRS

o Project planned and delivered a detailed year end close timetable with specific deadlines and responsibilities for finance team to achieve an accurate year end close and year-end audit file preparation, highlighting risks and dependencies with other departments o Produced a review of balance sheet control issues to FD, highlighting financial risks and impact to budget out-turn with credible solutions for resolution to ensure a clean audit

Dec 2015 to Jan 2016 British Transport Police Interim Statutory Accountant The British Transport Police is the national police force providing services to rail operators, their staff and passengers across the country.

Responsibilities & Achievements:

o Reporting to Head of Finance to provide a professional financial service in preparation for the financial close and reporting of the Force under FReM and IFRS.

o Planned the P9 and year-end close in conjunction with Management, finance teams and in liaison with external auditors and British Transport Police Authority

o Conducted a full balance sheet control account analysis and reviewed reconciliations to identify material issues o Developed a plan and timetable to correct the issues from balance review to ensure accurate year-end financial statements with high level of integrity

Jan 15 to Dec 15 Satellite Solutions Worldwide Group plc Interim Group Head of Finance A pan-European AIM listed global communications company with strong plans for substantial growth. Responsibilities & Achievements:

o Reporting to CFO and leading a finance team of 6 providing quality strategic financial management information and advice o Developed financial information and due diligence database for the listing of the business to the Secondary AIM Market o Monthly group consolidated reporting, management accounting, KPI reporting, cash flow and debt collection o Prepared 3 years of statutory financial statements under IFRS for audit and due diligence o Strong supporting role to allow UK systems alignment inc. HR, payroll, CRM, Billing as well as a new FP&A system for planning, scenario modelling and project tracking - reducing the reliance on excel. o Integrated 3 international acquisitions into Group; developed processes for consolidated group reporting. Reviewing acquired business systems and finance process – realigning to UK Parent Company for reporting. Worked with local finance to develop appropriate cut- offs and ensure conversion to Group policies and processes and IFRS o Responsible for all Corporation Tax, PAYE/NI, VAT and HMRC regulatory matters and returns. o Managed FX forward purchases and hedging; developed a full banking process and account set up across Europe o Developed finance processes, policies and procedures, improving systems and coached finance team as the organisation goes through transformation change to report as Plc.

o Project managed the implementation of Navision; integrating with the CRM and developed business process improvements with integration of acquired businesses into parent company. o Reviewed finance processes and systems and reporting processes in UK; streamlined finance operations into single systems for accounting, expenses, purchase orders and a single chart of accounts. July 13 to Sept 14 City of London Police Finance Services Director The City of London Police Force is a specialist force for the world’s leading international and financial business centre with a revenue budget of over £60m.

Responsibilities:

o Reported to Director of Corporate Services and leading a finance team of 10 and providing high quality strategic financial management information and advice to the Chief Officers, Stakeholders and Committees o Preparation of reports and papers to Chief Officer Team, Audit & Risk Committee and Board members of the City of London Corporation and various governance Committees

o Board member of Strategic Management Board, Estates Board, Manpower Planning, Finance Review Board and Fraud Academy Steering Committee as well other committees

o Reported on monthly basis budget out-turn reports and financial KPIs and Risk to achieved agreed budget and forecasts Achievements:

o Business planned of Grant & Income funding to ensure Force is fully funded to deliver budgeted spend o Planned and delivered a 3 year Medium Term Financial Plan highlighting substantial budget deficit of £30m o Finance lead in project team to business plan and conduct a full service review including pay and non-pay costs to achieve cost savings to reduce budget deficit over a 3 year phase and deliver a 3 year detailed budget o Working closely with PMO to deliver financial planning of the Service Review to ensure costed and cashable savings are identified and risk are managed accordingly

o Managed various stakeholder including project managers, management and external stakeholders such Home Office to influence and manage expectations

o Delivered annual budgets on a balance budget basis to ensure Force is fully funded and monthly forecasting to ensure end of year Out-turn is within allocated funding

o Liaised with Departmental non-finance managers in reviewing budgets and business partnered the delivery of projects and business models and driving through operational cost savings and income generation o Delivered the 2013/14 audited financial statements with minimal audit issues under FReM; liaison with external and internal auditors o Reduced the month end closed process by 2 working days by bringing a faster close culture, stronger analysis and reconciliations o Coached finance team to operate as business partners to provide a forward looking service to assist budget managers to deliver services within set budgets and forecasts

May 12 – Apr 13 Trinity College London Financial Controller International charitable Educational Examining Board for Music, Drama and English Language catering for students in EMEA, Indian Sub–Continent, South East Asia and Americas with a worldwide income of £30m Responsibilities:

o Reported to International Finance Director for the provision of full transactional processing and financial & management reporting o Business planned and led the management team in the annual budget and periodic forecasting process o Liaised with non-finance managers in reviewing cost centres to agree targets and the delivery of projects and driving through operational cost savings

o Managed an efficient and effective operational finance team of 9 covering Payables, Receivables, Cashiering & Banking, Fixed Assets and General Ledger and Reporting

o Improved the Board Pack to include quality management information on timely and accurate basis including monthly management accounts, reconciliations, cash flows and cost analysis and commentary Achievements:

o Ensured the controls over FX transactions according to Treasury policies and management of FX bank accounts o Led the audit and statutory reporting of the Charity’s Annual Report; liaising with external and internal auditors; achieving a clean audit o Maintained strong internal finance governance and controls framework of the Charity ensuring the Charity is fully funded and cash is managed according to policies

o Reduced reporting days by 3 working days by employing a faster close and streamlining processes and reduce month end loading o Improved quality of reporting by including income and margin analysis by product & regions and stock with insightful charts and graphs.

o Business-partnered non-finance budget holders to improve financial understanding and allow better preparation of budgets and forecasts to achieve outcomes

Sept 08 – Apr 12 National Policing Improvement Agency Strategic Financial Controller Government Agency with a budget of £400m and income of £100m; providing critical national IT services to support policing and public safety and developing training of Senior Police Responsibilities:

o Responsible for the provision of full financial & management accounting and reporting to Directors, Board and Managers and monthly reporting to Home Office

o Managed a multi-site operational finance team of 17 covering Payables, Receivables, Cashiering & Banking, Fixed Assets and General Ledger on a shared service basis

o Produced high quality management information including monthly management accounts, cost centre reporting and cost allocations using time recording systems and overhead recovery models, o Reported to Parliament annual audited Financial Statements under IFRS; liaising with external auditors and Home Office o Trained & developed teams by creating personal development plans, hold regular reviews and ensured staff are trained and skilled o Maintained strong internal finance governance and controls framework ensuring the Agency is fully funded and cash is managed according to Treasury guidelines

Achievements:

o Business planned and project managed the restructuring of finance team to ensure a culture of personal responsibility and professionalism to improve efficiencies and effectiveness of finance resulting in a reduction in reporting time, strong balance sheet reconciliations, integrity in underlying transactions o Worked closely with PMO to project plan the closure of Agency and transition and on-boarding of critical services; working with and managing different internal and external stakeholders whilst operating a BAU financial reporting team o Developed 3 year plan for NPIA in line with spending cuts and business partnered managers to deliver in-year £30m savings by negotiating pricing and T&Cs and identifying non business-critical project spend o Reduced overdue debt by £3m by review of outstanding debt and introducing stronger policies, T&Cs.; working with customers and establishing a more efficient billing and collection process o Developed a tool to measure the Risk of Financial Loss using the Treasury toolkit to ensure that NPIA has adequate internal control frameworks

o Influenced stakeholders and Police Forces to adopt to revised charging rates for Police College training courses to ensure NPIA recovers costs as required by law

o Chaired Resources working group with SAP IT, Procurement and HR to deliver systems and process improvements, automation and simplification resulting in P2P, Consolidated Invoices, Procurement Hubs and Digitisation of expense claims May 06 – Sep 08 Professional Interim Financial Controller – assignments with a number of clients across a range of sectors on an average contract length of 6-9 months. Clients include: Philips Electronics UK Ltd - Corporate Accountant reporting to UK FD

• Provided an efficient Corporate accounting service inc, shared service activities for Estate/Facilities, HR/Payroll, Finance & IT and SOX reporting

Archimedes Pharma Ltd - £20m Speciality Pan European Pharmaceutical - Financial Accounting Manager Lead the transition & integration of finance and operations processes of recently acquired Group in line with Group

• Recruited new team to transition acquired business; produce management results to Board and Management

• Documented business/finance processes of the acquired business and translated these into Group processes Serco Health (Part of Serco plc) - £60m business unit - Finance Controller reporting to Finance Director Recruited and managed a team of 4 to produce monthly and quarterly report on IFRS basis

• Produced the quarterly forecast of unit working with business managers in line with Corporate policies

• Assisted in building finance/cost models in bid applications for various contract between £10-25m Matrix Integration Ltd - £50m AIM listed virtual network operator subsidiary - Financial Controller

• Managed a finance team to deliver monthly reporting, balance sheet control and P&L review

• Prepared subsidiary for a trade sale by ensuring all balance sheet and major P&L accounts were reconciled Oct 05 – May 06 Q-Med UK Ltd - Director of Finance & Administration Sales & Distribution of medical devices into private health and NHS. Reported to EMEA Business Controller of £6m subsidiary of a Swedish Parent.

• Responsible for Finance, HR, Customer Services, Marketing and IT, leading a team of 8 people managing all financial & operational reporting, negotiating agreements and contracts and streamlining processes.

• Partnered UK Sales Directors in to develop the UK market for new product entry into NHS market Mar 02 – Oct 05 TallyGenicom Ltd - Financial & Operations Controller

£25m UK Subsidiary of International Manufacturer & Distributor of Industrial Printers

• Full responsibility for Finance, Operations and HR and to support to MD on business operations

• Responsible for monthly reporting to US with full commentary under US GAAP and UK GAAP

• Managed a team of 17 in finance, HR & admin, customer support and distribution Feb 94 – Mar 02 Professional Interim Accountant Various clients: AA; Ericsson; Cisco Systems Ltd; Jul 89 - Jan 94 Thorn EMI plc - various positions from accounts assistants to financial analyst Sep 88 - May 89 John Cummings & Partners, Chartered Accountants - Audit Senior Aug 85 - Aug 88 Sieff Davidson, Chartered Accountants - Audit Trainee/Semi Senior

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