Zoha Kazmi, CPA (US)

adc3mf@r.postjobfree.com, +1-416-***-****

Professional Profile

Enthusiastic & energetic team leader with over 6 years of progressive consulting experience in manufacturing, financial services, telecommunications, FinTech, and public sectors. In-depth experiences in SOX/ICFR, Internal Audit, process improvement and controls assurance. Strong leadership skills; experience in supervising multi work streams with experience in reporting to the senior management, board and audit committees. Team player with strong problem-solving abilities, keen to further develop my technical understanding and take new challenges.

Career Achievements

Led projects in risk management and internal audit in financial services, telecommunications, FinTech and manufacturing sectors focusing on compliance reviews, internal controls over financial reporting and operational and financial audits.

Led projects in business process improvement, where conducted the as-is analysis with leading practices and highlighted the opportunities for improvement including control weaknesses.

Part of a core team involved a multi-territory engagement for a client of a global portfolio of more than 60 billion dollars by conducting multiple operational audits and reporting to the Group Internal Audit Director and Board of Directors.

Reviewed and analyzed the valuation model for one of the biggest retail outlets in the Middle East region by testing assumptions and performing scenario analysis and sensitivity analysis.

Work Experiences

KPMG Sept 2017 – Present

Senior Consultant, Risk Consulting Toronto

Created new set of controls for acquisition of loan pools for a major financial services orgnaisation, where assisted the organization in creation of financial controls for loan management and created a checklist of audit procedures for gaining comfort over completeness and accuracy of loan balances.

Led testing for internal controls over financial reporting (ICFR) for a major automotive manufacturer, where coordinated the testing efforts of multiple testing teams (managing a team of 5 testers) and reported to management on a weekly basis. Moreover coordinated the efforts for control rationalization, where suggested recommendations to improve the design of the controls and highlighted redundant controls.

Delivered ICFR advisory services for a major leading automotive systems and components manufacturers in the GTA region, whereby assisted the management with GAP assessment, documentation activties, and remediation efforts

Assisted management of a prominent Canadian telecom company with documentation and testing of internal controls over financial reporting. As part of the engagement performed walkthroughs with the process owners to document the revenue and financial reporting processes, performed test of design, test of effectiveness and presented the results of the testing to the senior management.

Assisted a client in the FinTech industry with ICOFR (NI 52-109) engagement, where conducted the walkthroughs with the control owners, created risk control matrices, identified control deficiencies and drafted action plans for all such deficiencies for in-scope functions (Revenue, Procurement, and Financial Reporting)

Worked on a SOX implementation project for a major manufacturing retail client, where tested the controls for design and implementation and operation effectiveness and drafted remediation plans for the controls that failed the design phase. Also assisted the management in drafting the letter to SEC highlighting material weaknesses and actions taken by management to reduce the impact of such deficiencies.

Facilitated meetings with all stakeholders in the engagement including management, external auditors, process owners and private consultants to ensure that the methodology is adhered to by the company.

Led engagements in the public sector for compliance reviews to review contract management and administrative processes, identifying opportunities for improvement and providing recommendations based on the industry best practices;

Performed data quality audit for a major health care institution in downtown Toronto, where tested the data for a couple of quality indicators and assessed the nature and quality of the data being reported to the regulators on a periodic basis.

Participated in business development activities for multi-stream proposals including liaising with the leadership of various streams to coordinate and a draft of proposals.

Delivered internal training on Internal Controls over Financial Reporting (ICFR) for new hires and created new content such as newsletter and slip-sheets for potential clients as a member of SOX Centre of Excellence (COE) committee’s initiatives.

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Sept 2013 – Aug 2017

Senior Associate, Risk Assurance Service Dubai & Qatar

Implemented business continuity framework for a major government organisation, where assisted the firm with conducting Business Impact Analysis (BIA), created framework and liaised with disaster recovery team to implement any gaps identified during the GAP analysis.

Managed assessment of internal controls using the COSO integrated framework and then reported on the design and operating effectiveness of their internal controls by undertaking interviews with relevant stakeholders in order to assess the extent to which control activities have been implemented and conducting extensive desktop reviews of existing documentation.

Supervised the delivery of multiple Internal Audit engagements ranging from Human Resources, Procurement and Finance department. Identified internal control design weaknesses, highlighted the risk and impact and suggested recommendations to add value to the overall control environment.

Managed internal audit engagement which included process understanding with the process owners, developing Risk Control Matrix specific for the industry and the client and then effectively executing the tests for the identified risks.

As part of the policy and procedure improvement engagements conducted the as-Is assessment based on interviews with stakeholders and desktop research on existing documentation. Prepared a gap report and actionable recommendations to standardize and streamline the policies and processes.

Led business development efforts including preparation and finalization of the technical and commercial proposals and resource management of the team in ensuring all team members are meeting the utilization targets.

Delivered client training and workshops as part of the Internal Audit consulting engagements and participated in campus recruitment and marketing events such as IIA conferences.

Education & Professional Designation

American Institute of CPA (AICPA) – Certified Public Accountant (CPA), CPA Alaska State Board of Accountancy, USA

Business Continuity Institute – Certificate of Business Continuity Institute - Merit

University of Toronto – Bachelors in Commerce (B.COMM) – Accounting Specialist

IT Skills and Software Proficiency

Microsoft Excel expert user – Macros, VBAs, V-lookups, and pivot tables.

Data Analytics Tools: IDEA ( Analysed data in one of the local projects for a manufacturing company where used IDEA to identify trends and highlight potential observations and control deficiencies)

GL / Reporting Tools: Oracle, SAP – basic operating skills.

Achievements

Impact award was given by an engagement partner for successfully executing an engagement with savings of more than 1 million dollars.

Recognition Award from PwC Middle East, for outstanding performance in the delivery of the projects in the year 2014.

Participated in a volunteering program throughout the year including blood bank drives, Nepal earthquake relief program and volunteering classes to local schools.

Led the social committee created on a regional level to organize social events for the team and voice any concerns during the monthly meetings.

Represented PwC in multiple sports tournaments throughout the year including cricket tournaments and boot camp fitness challenges.

Participated in the biggest business event at UTM Show Me the Green’ 2013, where I along with other team members developed a business case for sustainability which was acknowledged and highly appreciated by the judges.

Captain of UTM Eagles (Cricket Team) and have represented UTM for all the extramural events and inter-university competitions since 2009.

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