Interim Chief Financial Officer — Marketplace Seller Funds

The mandate

Auditors found that seller payables, returns, promotional funding and logistics deductions could not be reconciled by order across several historic periods. The CFO resigned after the close was delayed, while seller complaints and reserve uncertainty now demand executive finance control.

The interim is required within two weeks for ten months, covering historic reconstruction, delayed audit and two current-quarter closes. The permanent CFO search begins after the liability baseline is approved, with extension possible for up to six weeks if audit sign-off moves.

Handover is complete when seller liabilities reconcile from order to cash, historic differences are settled or reserved, the delayed audit closes, two current quarters operate within exception tolerance, and the successor signs the first settlement-control attestation.

The interim may pause seller payouts where ownership is disputed, approve corrections within ₹2 crore per cohort and direct ₹8 crore of remediation spend. Aggregate seller redress above ₹15 crore, accounting restatement, permanent finance hires, changes to marketplace fee policy and financing above ₹100 crore require committee or board approval.

Merchandising, seller acquisition and logistics execution are outside scope. Finance must calculate and account for their transactions without absorbing ownership of commercial terms or delivery performance.

Why this seat is open

The delayed audit revealed that aggregate balances concealed order-level differences. Current leaders own separate settlement components and cannot independently establish the total seller obligation. The board needs a temporary CFO to rebuild the ledger truth before permanent succession.

What you will own

• Reconstruct seller liabilities by order, payment, return, promotion, fee, logistics deduction, tax and payout event.
• Decide the disposition of historic differences through correction, seller evidence, reserve, write-off or committee escalation.
• Establish payout holds and release controls with clear ownership, ageing and customer-impact thresholds.
• Reconcile platform subledgers, payment records, bank cash and general-ledger balances each settlement cycle.
• Approve reserve and audit positions through indexed source evidence and quantified uncertainty.
• Prove two current quarters of order-level settlement control within the agreed exception tolerance.
• Transfer seller exposures, accounting judgements, open disputes, control owners and the next close calendar to the permanent CFO.

Candidate qualifications

• Held CFO, controller or marketplace finance director authority in digital commerce, payments or high-volume platforms.
• Reconstructed large transaction liabilities from order-level operational and cash data.
• Closed a delayed audit involving subledger, settlement or customer-funds complexity.
• Made payout-hold and reserve decisions while managing seller or merchant consequence.
• Directed finance and technology remediation across millions of transaction events.
• Understands Indian marketplace taxation, seller settlement and revenue-accounting considerations.

Non-negotiables

• Can assume Bengaluru finance accountability within fourteen days.
• No relationship with the statutory auditor, payment provider or settlement-platform vendor.
• Will disclose material audit adjustments under prior signing authority.
• Must treat seller funds as a reconciled obligation, not a working-capital source.

1. 49 words maximum. Confirm availability and any audit, payments or marketplace conflict.
2. 49 words maximum. Describe a transaction liability you rebuilt and the smallest unit of reconciliation used.
3. 49 words maximum. When would you hold a seller payout despite a contractual due date?