A stock total changed the question I asked

The stock schedule showed ₹42 crore. The shelves and warehouse records supported the physical count, but the figure was entering a preliminary borrowing discussion as though every book belonged to us. ₹11.8 crore represented supplier-owned consignment stock. I had reviewed the numerical reconciliation without insisting that ownership was equally visible. Correcting the pack meant a smaller financing request and five weeks of further work. It also reminded me that a well-reconciled total can still answer the wrong question.

I grew up in Margao and completed an accounting-focused commerce degree at the fictional Rovzani Commerce College in June 1994. The following month I joined Bravqeli Office Supplies as an accounts assistant. The business had 170 employees and ₹28 crore revenue in the year ending March 1995. I worked with eight accounting colleagues, without direct reports or spending authority. I learned to ask what a record represented before trying to clear it: a delivered order, an unsettled supplier account, cash received for a future obligation or a difference somebody still needed to explain.

In January 2001 I became treasury controller. Bravqeli then employed 310 people and recorded ₹76 crore revenue for the year ending March 2002. Twelve colleagues worked through two supervisors, supporting payment planning and a ₹9 crore seasonal liquidity schedule. I could prepare and monitor that schedule, but borrowing decisions remained with authorised management. The work made timing tangible. A company could have enough resources over a period and still need money on a day when it was tied up elsewhere. I became interested in the assumptions that made a funding plan look comfortable.

I joined Lunqeri as financial controller in July 2008. It had seventeen shops, 420 employees and ₹116 crore revenue for the year ending March 2009. I led twenty-one colleagues through three managers with ₹2.4 crore annual finance-function expense. A part-time treasury-management diploma at Calveri Finance Institute, completed that November, overlapped the move with my employer's knowledge. Retail introduced more varied stock arrangements and a different rhythm of customer demand. Some goods were bought outright, others held under supplier agreements, and their presence in the same building did not give the business the same rights over each.

The head-of-finance appointment in September 2014 added planning and transaction support. Lunqeri had twenty-seven shops, 650 employees and ₹224 crore revenue for the financial year ending March 2015. Thirty-two finance colleagues worked through four managers within ₹4.3 crore annual function expense. I spent more time with operating leaders before a proposal reached approval. A seller's earnings account, a store manager's purchasing plan and a treasury quote each had a legitimate purpose, but none alone described the enterprise choice. My title was an executive management role, not a statutory directorship.

I became CFO in May 2020. Today forty-three colleagues and five managers support the function within ₹6.9 crore annual expense. The company has thirty-eight shops and 870 employees, with ₹362 crore revenue and ₹21.6 crore operating profit for the year ending March 2026. Working-manager shareholders hold 74% and other employees 26%. My 0.6% holding is within the manager group. CEO Neel Tazvori owns executive recommendations, and I present the financial account to the board chaired by Rekha Delqani without a director's vote.

The consignment review cost ₹29 lakh and led us to revise an ₹18 crore proposed facility request to ₹11 crore; the lender ultimately approved ₹10.5 crore on its own terms. In a separate three-outlet acquisition, we challenged ₹70 lakh of seller add-backs because management and occupancy costs would continue for us. A treasury decision divided an ₹18 crore balance between staggered maturities and demand cash rather than commit all of it for twelve months. Each decision reduced the appeal of an initial headline while leaving a practical choice for the authorised decision-makers.

The shareholder distribution discussion in July 2026 brought the personal dimension into focus. A proposed ₹4.8 crore payout would have given me ₹2.88 lakh gross at my 0.6% holding. The approved ₹1.8 crore distribution implied ₹1.08 lakh, with ₹3 crore retained for the planned liquidity requirement. I disclosed the difference while presenting the recommendation and had no board vote. The decision followed the relevant profit and approval review; cash availability alone was not treated as permission to distribute. I registered in the IICA independent directors databank in July 2026, but assessment preparation remains unfinished and I claim no exemption. Twenty-four days is a provisional allowance for one first outside role. I would bring finance experience that makes the rights, costs and timing behind a number available for collective judgement, together with a clear account of my own interests.

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