Flexmanager - Financial Controller, Trouble Shooter, Financial Analyst

Financial Controller, Trouble Shooter, Financial Analyst

Work Experience

CAREER HISTORY
Oct 02 – Apr 04 Chilli Fusion Limited, Crawley West Sussex
Director
Rahat launched this 120 seator, Multi Cuisine Restaurant business in October 2002.
· Rahat used his planning and execution skills to develop and launch a very exclusive Multi Cuisine Menu. He used his Business and Finance fluency to negotiate prices with various Food and Beverage suppliers to increase the company’s profit margins. He monitored and controlled all workforce actions relating to production, contractual, financial, debt collection and purchase ledger matters.
· He has trained his team to keep a close eye on the Health and Safety and Food & Hygiene standards when preparing and serving food. He has worked very hard on the restaurant website: chillifusion from planning to execution and follow up of the content management. This site now offers detailed information about the services, facilities, location of the restaurant and the recipes of the month.
April 03 – Jun 03 Macdonald Hotels (Contract on behalf of Hays Accountancy)
Financial Controller for The Crown Hotel and The White Horse Hotel (Contract)
· Preparation of management accounts, budgetary control, cash flow forecasting, Profit and Loss Analysis and general Financial Re-engineering. Re-structure financial control procedures by training the entire finance team and get involved in the collection of large commercial debts for the hotel
· Coach senior management on cost management ,forecasting, budgeting, manpower, and payroll as per the budgetary framework to manage their cost centres more cost effectively. Support the senior management on procurement actions and organisational resources.
Jul 02 – Oct 02 Aconflag Limited (Contract on behalf of Christopher Martin Associates)
Chief Accountant (Contract)
· Provide financial support, advice and expertise to the Chairman & Board of Directors and management teams within the group, with the aim of maximizing value. Prepare decentralised management accounts for the group of companies,
· Encourage a total of 960 properties to implement reporting that incorporates identification and measurements of key performance indicators by regular forecasting and budgeting, competitors' comparisons, benchmarking and use of the balanced scorecard.
· Take a lead role with the Chairman in business planning. Particular emphasis on investment projects to identify value opportunities, prepared cash flow models for banks to get further finance to acquire more properties.
· To support the senior managers and the chairman on procurement and resources of the co.
· Overseeing operational financial management aspects, and handling corporate accounting and reporting, including information needs of the Board and the company's bankers. Budgeting and forecasting are key aspects, as will be analysis and evaluation of existing assets and new opportunities
Mar 02 – Jun 02 Royal Moat House Nottingham (Contract on behalf of Hays Accountancy)
Financial Controller (Contract)
· Preparation of management accounts, budgetary control, cash flow forecasting and P& L Analysis, general Financial Re-engineering and TQC Analysis
· Re-structure financial control procedures by training the entire finance team and get involved in the collection of large commercial debts for the hotel. Carry out POS systems’ audit to rectify a higher long term deficit in stock control
· Coach senior management on cost management ,forecasting, budgeting, manpower and payroll as per the budgetary framework to manager their cost centres more cost effectively
Oct 01 – Dec 01 Norwich Union (Contract on behalf of Hays Accountancy)
Financial Analyst (Contract)
Rahat worked in “Business Solutions Finance” department at Norwich Union, Norwich supporting four teams within Finance. In this Contract assignment his main responsibilities included:
· Supporting Business Solutions Manager with ad hoc projects on IT, Finance, Time Management, Cost-Benefit Analysis, Value Chain and Cost of Quality Analysis
· Assisted the Integration Team to analyse the IT projects’ cost and savings to enable CGNU to move onto N201 and HUON systems instead of 200 systems used within the union before the mergers by Activity Base Costing models
· Worked with other teams on the head count and payroll expenses in various projects in the group and their cross charges and analysed direct costs and indirect costs
· Prepare presentations for Business Solutions Manager to train Cost Centre Controllers on the understanding & management of Budgets and Cost Control
July 00 – Dec 01 COMO Hotels & Resorts (Metropolitan Hotel) (Temp to Perm on behalf of Hays)
Accounting Co-ordinator (General Accountant)
Metropolitan Hotel is a landmark for Design Hotels worldwide and is subsidiary of COMO Holdings, which also boasts the ownership of brand names like Nobu and Ubon (Japanese Restaurants) and Giorgio Armani and Emporia Armani.
· Preparation of annual & statutory accounts, budgetary control, cash flow forecasting and balance sheet reconciliation
· Special projects management from proposal through project approval to analysis of options and implementation of effective business solutions. e.g., Supply Chain in stock control and Value Chain by providing online booking service and auctions
· Implemented major improvements to the cash flow system to reduce the time taken for payment reconciliation. This involved improving the processing of credit card transactions enabling daily processing of payments.
· Introduced a daily cash flow forecast cycle in place of the previous monthly cycle by re-engineering processes and eliminating time-consuming manual tasks.
· Lead a project to overhaul the daily Trial Balance processes, which were showing significant discrepancies. I audited the current processes and systems to improve system interfaces.
Sep 98 – Oct 99 I worked for the following companies on contractual assignments for further exposure
Euston Plaza Hotel (Contract on behalf of Hays Accountancy)
Financial Controller
· Preparation of decentralised monthly management accounts. Negotiated capital expenditure to replace outdated front office & point-of-sale systems. Assisted with implementation of automated voicemail system for administration & guests. Converted in-house TVs to modern TVs with Internet access.
· Implemented control systems & financial strategies to outperform budgetary income targets, while creating new value streams. I restyled credit policies and collected around £500,000 aged debt within couple of months.
· Provided technical service expertise to new system providers to tailor-make activity base management reporting & provided justification on capital projects, technical trends, new processes, procedures through Cost of Quality Analysis.
Capital Corporation (Contract on behalf of David Choley Associates)
Food & Beverage Controller
Capital Corporation owned Crockfords, Colony and Cromwell Mint, casinos.
· Produced daily revenue journals and assisted with management accounts and stock takes.Negotiated bulk-purchase of rare wines & spirits from global suppliers to satisfy discerning & discriminating clients. Implemented a visual cost monitoring system to ensure spend within agreed budgets & targets.
Tarahouse Management (Contract on behalf of David Choley Associates)
Financial Controller
A small but growing company which owned four 4 * hotels in the heart of London.
· Prepared management accounts for Harrington Hall & De Vere Park hotels.
· Suggested & implemented financial strategy and tighter financial controls, hence increasing profitability, enabling production of reliable cash-flow forecasts. Created financial awareness amongst senior management & introduced training in order to prepare regular business forecasts & annual departmental budgets.
· Restructured revenue control system to obtain real time ad-hoc financial reports, reduced the costs and misuse of privileges by the staff.
Jan 95 – Aug 98 London Mews Hilton
Assistant Financial Controller
A five star townhouse hotel owned by Hilton Group.
· Assisted in preparing historic monthly-centralized accounts. Upgraded old systems leading to a 90% time reduction in the production of financial reports & audits. Assisted in the changeover of front of house system from Champs to Fidelio.
· Helped set-up JIT operational procedures to reduce breakfast customer queuing by introducing packed breakfast for early risers, reducing customer complaints. Instrumental in the achievement of ‘Investor in People’ award
1994 – 1995 Commercial Textiles
Owner Manager
Created a business opportunity through the import & export of stylish but unusual clothes (very popular in young generation) between UK & Europe.
· Managed operations & directed functional departments.
· Developed pricing strategies & follow-through.
· Developed entrepreneurial & negotiation skills while staying a step ahead of the marketplace.
1990 – 1994 I have worked in several leading hotels in general management roles.

Education

Qualifications
· 2001 MBA – Finance , University of Leicester:
· Final Dissertation: Relationship between Finance, Investment and Growth

Skills

Career Summary & Areas of Expertise
· Extensive experience in hospitality management encompassing operation, finance & administration for medium and large organisations, Experience in modern management tools like change facilitation, Real life experience of financial planning, forecasting, managing and delivering culture change, Working collaboratively with senior management and recommending process and procedures to deliver tangible results, Developing business strategies, Process analysis & transformation aimed at coherent operation management, Managing conflict & resistance to change

Languages

LANGUAGES

English, Swedish, Urdu, & Punjabi = Fluent
Gujrati, Hindko, Dutch and Persian = Basic

Other

IT KNOWLEDGE

Front of House Systems Used = IBM, Innsite, Champs, Datahost, Carahost, Brother, Logistics, IGS, Innsite Omega, Fidelio Front Office, Fidelio F& B and Fidelio Accounting Package.
Point of Sales Systems Used = Romanco & Micros
Accounting Packages Used = Solomon, Tetra 2000, SUN, SAP, Training on Oracle and Sage
Windows = Excel, Power Point and Word at Advance Level, Lotus Intermediate
Project Management = Systems Installation support to Installers for tailor made Financial Reporting, Systems’ Audit between Micros/Fidelio/PCeft to Trial Balance, Mapping for Interfacing for Fidelio and SUN, New Restaurant and Hotel openings and responsibility for installing of systems like telephone systems like, ISDN lines, PDQ terminals, EFT terminals, Preparation of Manuals for new openings of Hotels and Restaurants, Staff Financial Awareness Training needs, e.g., Credit Card Fraud etc. Pricing Strategies for Internet Auctions for Room in Hotels etc.