Kalki Kumar

Chartered Accountant with 8+ years of progressive Finance experience across FP&A, Financial Controllership, Commercial Finance, Profitability analysis, costing and operational/plant finance. Experienced in business planning, rolling forecasts, Latest Estimates, P&L and variance analysis, pricing and profitability, financial modelling, cost optimization and cross-functional business partnering, with a strong controllership foundation and hands-on business performance orientation.

Current Role • Commercial Finance | FP&A | Controllership | Profitability & Performance Management

COMMERCIAL FINANCE & BUSINESS PARTNERING

• Partner with senior management and cross-functional leaders to translate business and operational performance into actionable financial insights, challenging assumptions and identifying value drivers, risks, opportunities and profitability levers across a ~USD 60M annual P&L.
• Analyze Price-Volume-Mix (PVM) variances, quantifying the financial impact of pricing, volume and mix movements and partnering with business teams to evaluate volume/mix actions for margin recovery.
• Drive Customer / Product / SKU profitability and Unit Economics analysis, supporting pricing decisions and identifying mix, margin and cost-optimisation opportunities.
• Develop financial models, Business Cases and Investment Appraisals for strategic initiatives, new SKU pricing and CapEx proposals, evaluating profitability, ROI, payback and alternative scenarios.
• Provided financial analysis and performance insights supporting business initiatives that contributed to >400 bps improvement in Gross and Contribution Margins and increase in Net Profit (FY24 vs FY25).
• Evaluated a USD 1.2M CapEx proposal using investment appraisal and payback analysis, indicating a 1.5-year payback with ~70% of the investment recovered within Year 1.

FINANCIAL PLANNING, BUDGETING & FORECASTING

• Lead Division-wise Annual Operating Plans and Activity-Based Budgets for a ~USD 60M budget / USD 35M cost base, spanning 3 Business Units and 4 Divisions / Product Categories across 2 Plants.
• Implemented monthly Rolling Forecasts, maintaining Gross Profit forecast variance within 0.8% at its highest deviation since Jan-2025 through disciplined assumption validation and continuous performance monitoring.
• Reduced reforecast cycle time to 1 day for YTD Actual + YTG Estimate comparisons against Budget, Latest Estimates and Rolling Forecasts, improving management visibility and decision agility.
• Lead Base, Best-Case and Worst-Case Scenario Modelling, including Promo vs Non-Promo simulations, evaluating volume, mix and margin implications to support management decisions.
• Partner with 6 cross-functional functions and 5 senior stakeholders, including Production, Quality Control and Plant Maintenance, to validate operational drivers, challenge assumptions and align financial forecasts with business priorities.

FINANCIAL CONTROLLERSHIP & MANAGEMENT REPORTING

• Lead Finance & Controlling review of performance against Budget, Forecast and Latest Estimates, using variance bridges, KPI driver analysis and management analytics to identify root causes and translate gaps into corrective actions.
• Manage month-end closure through team guidance across revenue recognition, expense/provision reviews, working-capital management and related closing activities, supporting accurate and timely P&L reporting.
• Review expense ledgers, periodic reports and month-end financials to validate accruals, identify trends, analyse cost-centre/accounthead movements and highlight areas requiring operational attention.
• Provide action-oriented monthly P&L analysis and profitability bridges to business heads, linking financial performance to operational drivers and identifying margin, efficiency and cost-improvement opportunities.
• Support management policies, internal controls, Group requirements, audits and financial reporting, maintaining controllership discipline while enabling forward-looking performance management.

COSTING, SUPPLY CHAIN & PLANT FINANCE

• Improved Standard Cost accuracy to 98% through strengthened Material / Activity Cost validation and systematic review of costing inputs.
• Enabled and implemented substitution of a key imported raw material with a locally sourced alternative at ~60% lower landed cost, delivering substantial procurement savings and supporting product-cost optimisation.
• Optimised working capital through an inventory initiative, reducing holding levels to 60 days for imported materials and 15 days for local procurement versus prior year, releasing ~USD 1M in cash.
• Lead plant finance oversight across 2 Plants, linking product costing, material requirements, inventory, maintenance cost centres and operating drivers to P&L and forecast implications.

FINANCE SYSTEMS & PROCESS TRANSFORMATION

• Drive automation and process-improvement initiatives to enhance reporting accuracy and strengthen tools supporting forecasting, budgeting and management analytics.
• Streamlined recurring FP&A reporting and reforecast comparisons, contributing to the 1-day reforecast cycle and improving management access to timely performance insights.
• Identify opportunities to improve process efficiency, standardisation and review preparedness through more robust Finance processes, reporting and analytical workflows.

Chartered Accountancy

Bachelors of Commerce