From billing schedules to capital choices

Mandate

Give directors a consistent account of contract economics, company cash and investment commitments.

Outcomes

• Repriced a proposal using 74,000 billable accounts rather than 90,000 operational records
• Removed ₹7.2 crore of client-owned balances from an internal cash view
• Recognised a ₹36 lakh service credit before forecasting the remaining collection
• Separated a ₹2.8 crore software cash envelope from its accounting assessment

Decisions in context

The CFO appointment coincided with the shift to employee-majority ownership. I had to explain capital choices to colleagues who now had both employment and investment interests in the company. My remit includes finance leadership and the quality of the decision papers presented to directors, while the board retains approval authority. I work through four managers covering control, planning, treasury and contract finance. The cases on this site occurred during this appointment and distinguish my recommendation from the board's decision. I attend the board and audit committee when invited; I am not a director or committee member. The role has made me more attentive to how a correct number can still answer the wrong question. I ask whether the amount describes billable work, company resources or a future assumption before allowing it to support a commitment.

Reason for the move

Current role; considering a limited external board contribution subject to approvals.

Mandate

Connect contract performance to company planning and explain changes before they became surprises.

Outcomes

• Introduced joint reviews of billing definitions and operating volumes
• Added separate cash and expense schedules to investment papers
• Developed finance managers able to challenge contract assumptions directly

Decisions in context

This appointment brought planning and treasury administration alongside financial control. I led a team that needed to explain why a contract's reported margin differed from its proposal and whether the difference would persist. Some changes reflected genuine scope growth; others arose because the original bid had omitted support work. I asked managers to establish that distinction before proposing a price increase or a cost reduction. I also worked with the CFO on cash forecasts that showed timing uncertainty rather than a single confident collection date. The expansion into another city increased the need for consistent records and local accountability. My contribution was to build a review process that managers could operate without waiting for me to inspect every line. The promotion followed that work and the board's assessment of the finance leadership needed for a different ownership structure.

Reason for the move

Promoted to CFO during the ownership transition.

Mandate

Make company financial reporting reliable without confusing client operational values with company assets or income.

Outcomes

• Reconciled billing schedules to approved service definitions
• Separated company bank reporting from client-account records
• Established a documented review of material billing adjustments

Decisions in context

Joining a business that served lenders changed the scale of the amounts visible to me without immediately changing the scale of our own revenue. A reconciliation report might concern a large client portfolio, while our entitlement was a service fee under a separate contract. I made that distinction explicit in management reporting. The team also checked that billing records reflected agreed definitions rather than whichever transaction count was easiest to extract. I learnt from operations how a record could remain active for servicing purposes after it stopped qualifying for a particular fee. Those conversations helped me challenge apparent differences without assuming that one team had made a careless error. I was responsible for the company ledger and control process, not for the client's lending decisions or accounts. Maintaining that boundary became a foundation for my later finance leadership.

Reason for the move

Promoted to head of finance as the business added planning and treasury capacity.

Mandate

Show the labour, supervision and rework behind proposed transaction prices.

Outcomes

• Added exception-work estimates to bid models
• Compared completed work with the volumes used for billing
• Introduced post-start reviews of material cost assumptions

Decisions in context

The costing role moved me from recording completed transactions to examining commitments before they were made. I worked with operating managers to estimate staffing and supervision for new contracts, including the work that did not fit a standard transaction. Sales colleagues wanted a simple price that clients could compare. I wanted the model behind that price to preserve the assumptions on which it depended. We did not always agree about how much uncertainty to carry in the bid. I learnt to present a range and identify the condition that would move the result, rather than treating a precise spreadsheet as proof. I had no authority to sign contracts and did not claim the eventual sale as my own result. The appointment gave me a practical basis for the broader control role I accepted at Mirelva.

Reason for the move

Joined Mirelva to take a wider financial-control role in services for financial institutions.

Mandate

Keep supporting records clear enough for managers to resolve billing and cost differences.

Outcomes

• Reconciled operating counts to client billing schedules
• Maintained unresolved items with named owners
• Took responsibility for a recurring client-account group

Decisions in context

I began by entering expenses and checking the records supporting supplier and client invoices. The work required patience with differences that looked small but could reveal a misunderstanding about the service being charged. I learnt to ask whether a count represented documents received, documents completed or items accepted by the client. My responsibility was to assemble the evidence and take unresolved questions to the accounts manager. It was not to decide commercial terms retrospectively. Over time I took ownership of a group of client schedules and coordinated two junior colleagues. I also became more comfortable leaving an item visibly unresolved when the evidence did not support closure. That was a modest beginning, but it developed the habit that still matters in my work: understand what the record means before using it to tell a financial story.

Reason for the move

Promoted into contract costing after developing a working understanding of service economics.