My contribution to a board
I would help a board examine whether the financial account preserves the conditions that make a proposal supportable. My experience includes accepted-output measures, dated currency commitments, inventory ownership, rebate thresholds and internal cost interpretation. These are practical ways in which an apparently precise number can carry an assumption that changes the decision. I can contribute questions about the source, unit and contractual right while keeping detailed operating and professional responsibilities with management and appropriate specialists. I have presented financial matters to a board but have not served as a statutory director. A first appointment would require learning the whole receiving enterprise, not only the parts that resemble a component factory. My contribution would be strongest alongside complementary expertise and a chair who expects directors to challenge their own interpretations as well as management's account.
Judgement in practice
01Recognising that a reconciled calculation answered the wrong question
My 2018 proposal used ₹24 crore of operating-planning spend and 600,000 starts to show ₹400 per start, while 480,000 accepted sets implied ₹500 on the accepted-output basis. I withdrew the interpretation before price approval and supported separate process work. For a board, I would ask which event a key measure represents and whether it matches the decision being sought. Correct arithmetic is insufficient if the label changes the meaning. Technical acceptance remained outside finance's preference for a favourable cost, and the planning division was not asserted as a statutory inventory valuation. The case demonstrates my own error and the need to reopen the conclusion, rather than simply changing a note while retaining a proposal the corrected account no longer supports.
02Making the interval visible before cash was committed twice
US$4 million of June receipts and US$2.5 million of December payments yielded a US$1.5 million annual net amount but left a six-month interval to manage. The approved plan retained the later payment amount from the June proceeds, which reduced flexibility for other uses. I would ask a board whether management's resource account carries the dates and reservations relevant to the decision. The annual net remained correct but incomplete for that purpose. Holding cash was not an additional expense, and the case claimed neither an exchange gain nor a universal treasury method. My contribution is to connect the commitment with the period in which resources must remain available, so directors can assess other proposals without silently relying on the same money for incompatible uses.
03Reducing draft facility headroom to the amount its conditions supported
A custody total of ₹14 crore included ₹5 crore of customer property. Under the invented facility's 70% advance condition for the reviewed eligible company-owned stock, the amount was ₹6.3 crore rather than ₹9.8 crore. We corrected the submission before borrowing. For a board, I would ask how management connects a financing claim with ownership and the actual agreement, rather than assuming a reconciled warehouse total establishes entitlement. The ₹3.5 crore reduction removed unsupported draft headroom; it was not a write-off or a default. The case illustrates scrutiny of a source record's purpose and the financial use made of it, while retaining the distinction between operating custody responsibility and a company's right to rely on property as a financing basis.
My first year on a board
I would begin by understanding the receiving company's sources of value, funding commitments and professional responsibilities. Through the chair's induction process, I would follow several important proposals from the operating evidence to the board account: which measures were selected, which conditions mattered and what changed before approval. I would also learn the people, sector obligations and non-financial risks that a finance background can too easily leave at the edge of its attention. My questions should help directors understand the enterprise without creating a parallel finance department or asking management to answer only in the terms I already know. I would seek feedback on the proportion and usefulness of my interventions, and observe how colleagues handle uncertainty and disagreement. A successful first year would broaden my judgement beyond component manufacturing while making my financial contribution more relevant to the whole board.
Conflicts and their management
Before a prospective board shared confidential papers, I would disclose my trust-beneficiary interest, current executive role and relevant relationships through Merqavi's parent, customers, suppliers, lenders and advisers. The receiving company would need qualified review of the particular appointment, independence requirements and applicable company-law or listing obligations, including relevant committee and directorship limits. I would also obtain employer consent and examine whether exclusions needed to manage conflicts would still leave a useful contribution. No statutory seat or direct personal shares does not mean no material relationship. Confidential prices, technical material and financing terms from my present work would not be carried into another company's discussion. Disclosure and assessment would need to continue when relationships changed. I would decline a role if its practical restrictions or time demands prevented me from contributing with the attention and judgement the board required.
My independence statement
My employee-trust beneficiary position and relationships through the overseas parent, OEM customers, suppliers and finance providers require assessment for any proposed seat. I hold no direct personal equity or statutory directorship, but neither fact establishes independence.
Committee contribution
Chair and member readiness| Capacity | Committees |
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| Ready to join | Audit committee examining the meaning and support of financial information · Risk committee considering funding and contractual resource constraints |
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Capacity and preferences
- Time available
- 26 days per year
- Current directorships
- 0
- Sectors
- Specialised manufacturing supply chains · Component businesses serving healthcare equipment · Industrial enterprises with customer-owned material or cross-currency commitments
- Company type
- A specialist manufacturer willing to examine the conditions behind its financial proposals
- Company stage
- Strengthening cost interpretation, funding discipline or governance
The seat I am pursuing
I am considering one first outside board appointment in a specialist manufacturing or service-dependent industrial enterprise. Audit or risk committee membership could be relevant after the company assessed the contribution and applicable requirements. I do not claim committee-chair readiness from being a CFO or presenting to a board. The invented IICA registration and September assessment pass are preparation steps, with no exemption and no automatic conclusion about eligibility for a particular seat. Twenty-six days is provisional and must include induction, reading, travel, meetings and exceptional demands alongside my executive responsibilities. I would want a clear learning agenda, complementary expertise and a chair who encourages thoughtful challenge. The role should fit an actual need in the board's collective work and conditions under which I can meet it, rather than adding a title whose relationships or workload have not been properly examined.
Board and committee exposure
Presented to the Board or a committee
Merqavi Ophthalmic Components
Finance and funding presentations through the CEO; no statutory appointment
February 2022 onward
Explains operating-planning economics, treasury timing, facility conditions and contractual assumptions while approval remains with the relevant company authorities.
Governance learning and readiness
IICA Independent Directors’ Databank: Proficiency assessment passed
The fictional record includes IICA registration in March 2026 and a September 2026 proficiency-assessment pass, without an exemption. The proposed company's applicable eligibility, independence, committee and directorship requirements need separate qualified assessment.
- Develop non-executive judgement beyond financial presentation experience
- Learn the receiving enterprise's sector and whole-company responsibilities
- Practise collective challenge without becoming a second executive finance function