Aparna Mishra

Head of Finance | Driving Finance Transformation & Strategic Growth | Process Automation | Business Partnering | FP&A | SAP | Power BI | CSPO | SAFe POPM | Big 4 | EY | IIMC

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

About

I have spent my career across a global powerhouse, including a Big 4 firm ๐‘ฌ๐’€, pharma leader ๐‘ต๐’๐’—๐’ ๐‘ต๐’๐’“๐’…๐’Š๐’”๐’Œ, insurance giant ๐‘จ๐‘ฐ๐‘ฎ and tech pioneer ๐‘ฏ๐‘ท. The throughline has always been the same: turning finance from a reporting function into a decision-making engine. I lead finance operations and transformation for a multi-entity retail business, driving large-scale system integrations and process automation initiatives that deliver measurable impact: cost optimisation, cycle-time reduction, and decision-ready insights for senior leadership. My focus is on building the systems and governance that let leadership move faster. Before this, at EY, I designed Finance TOMs and PMO governance frameworks and steering committees on budget adherence and value realisation. Earlier roles at Novo Nordisk, AIG and HP grounded me in FP&A, process automation, and P2P & R2R. I hold CSPO and SAFe POPM certifications and an EPGM from IIM Calcutta, bridging finance, technology and business teams on complex, cross-functional programmes. The deployment of 50+ Power BI dashboards and Excel-based templates to surface real-time financial insights showcases my ability to leverage analytics for strategic decision-making. Business Experience: -๐—ฃ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€ ๐—ง๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜€๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป| Process Re-engineering, Finance Operating Model Transformation -๐—ฆ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ฆ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐˜€ & ๐—ง๐—ข๐—  | AS-IS Assessment, TO-BE Process Design, TOM Design, In-house, Hybrid & Outsourced Models, Hub-and-Spoke, CoE -๐—•๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€ ๐—ฃ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€ ๐—™๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐˜„๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ธ๐˜€ & ๐—ฆ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ๐˜€ | BPMN, APQC, FMA -๐—ข๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—˜๐˜…๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ | S2P: Vendor Onboarding, Procurement, Invoicing, Payments; O2C: Customer Master Data, Credit Management, Billing, Reporting - ๐—˜๐—ฅ๐—ฃ | Implementation, Optimization -๐——๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐˜‡๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป & ๐—”๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น๐˜†๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐˜€ | Celonis, SAP Signavio, Microsoft Visio, Tableau, Power BI, Looker Studio, Alteryx - ๐——๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฎ ๐— ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ & ๐—•๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜€ ๐—”๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น๐˜†๐˜€๐—ถ๐˜€ | Root Cause Analysis, Fit-Gap Analysis, Business Case Development, Benefits Realization -๐—ฃ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ท๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜ ๐— ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ | Risk Assessment, Stakeholder Engagement, Change Management, Roadmap Development -๐—–๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐— ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ | Client Presentations, RFP Responses, Proposal Development, Workshop Facilitation, Stakeholder Management -๐—ž๐—ฃ๐—œ & ๐—ฃ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐—œ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ | Working Capital: DPO, DSO, Payment Terms, Operational Efficiency: Cycle Time, OTIF, Compliance: PO vs. Non-PO Spend, 2-Way/3-Way Match, Duplicate Payments

Experience

  • Chief Accountant at Aswaar Consulting
    Jun 2025 - Present ยท 1 yr 2 mos

    Finance Head โ€“ End-to-End Ownership. Lead a team of high-performing individuals overseeing end-to-end financial operations, including budgeting, forecasting, and financial reporting across multiple regions. I drive process automation and spearhead the successful implementation of SAP, streamlining financial operations and enhancing reporting accuracy. โ€ข Lead finance transformation including SAP ERP integration, payment gateway rollout and corporate card programme implementation, improving financial control and transaction visibility. โ€ข Designed and developed executive BI dashboards in Power BI enabling real-time monitoring of financial performance and operational KPIs. โ€ข Lead finance operations and controllership across multiple GCC business units, ensuring strong governance over cash flow, working capital and financial statements. โ€ข Drive cash flow and liquidity strategy, optimizing funding structures to support business growth across entities. โ€ข Designed value-tracking frameworks and KPIs to measure transformation outcomes, monitoring cost efficiencies, benefit realization and programme milestones for steering committee reporting. โ€ข Develop and upskill a cross-functional finance team across FP&A, AP/AR, reporting and compliance, improving delivery timelines by 40% โ€ข Lead end-to-end finance operations across multi-entity structure, managing budgeting, forecasting, reporting, and compliance. โ€ข Drove finance automation initiatives, reducing reporting turnaround time and strengthening management visibility. โ€ข Built and led a finance team, establishing governance, controls, and performance accountability. โ€ข Delivered cost optimisation initiatives resulting in ~10% reduction in spend.

  • Senior Project Consultant at EY
    Mar 2023 - Jun 2025 ยท 2 yrs 4 mos

    โ€ข Led cross-functional Finance Transformation engagements, covering end-to-end design and implementation of Finance Target Operating Models, process optimization, and governance framework embedding. โ€ข Developed financial and operational models supporting transformation initiatives, enabling improved cost structures, profitability analysis and strategic planning for clients. โ€ข Established PMO financial governance structures including programme budgets, baseline tracking, and burn-rate monitoring, improving transformation budget adherence by 10โ€“15%. โ€ข Delivered executive-level performance insights at Transformation Steering Committees, MBRs and QBRs, guiding leadership on programme priorities and value realization. โ€ข Aligned client finance strategy, forecasting frameworks and operating plans with broader business transformation objectives in close collaboration with CFOs and business heads. โ€ข Executive Dashboard & MIS Transformation: Designed and deployed Power BI executive dashboards improving reporting accuracy by 30% and accelerating decision making cycles โ€ข Led finance transformation initiatives across FP&A, budgeting, forecasting, and management reporting for large, cross-functional programs. โ€ข Partnered with IT and business stakeholders to deliver automation, reporting dashboards, and system enhancements, improving decision-making and visibility. โ€ข Delivered executive-level variance analysis and performance insights, enabling senior leadership to drive corrective actions and strategic decisions. โ€ข Supported senior leadership in governance, planning, and investment prioritisation across multiple workstreams.

  • Novo Nordisk (Hybrid)
    • Associate Business Analyst
      Jun 2022 - Dec 2022 ยท 7 mos

      โ€ข Led FP&A, budgeting, and quarterly forecasting for multiple functions, partnering with IT, marketing, and operations to support business planning and performance management. โ€ข Developed financial models and cost optimisation frameworks, driving vendor spend optimisation and profitability improvements. โ€ข Delivered automated management reporting and executive dashboards, enabling variance analysis and decision-ready insights for senior leadership.

    • Senior Associate
      Sep 2019 - May 2022 ยท 2 yrs 9 mos

      โ€ข Drove process automation using Alteryx, significantly reducing manual effort and reporting turnaround time. โ€ข Managed Capex & Opex planning and investment governance, identifying risks and opportunities using advanced digital and PMO tools. โ€ข Supported end-to-end project governance, ensuring accurate financial reporting, compliance, and strong cross-functional coordination.

  • Process Developer at AIG Retirement Services
    Oct 2017 - Sep 2019 ยท 2 yrs

    โ€ข Delivered monthly and quarterly management reporting for senior stakeholders, highlighting financial performance, risks, and opportunities across business lines. โ€ข Performed forecasting, budgeting, and variance analysis, translating financial data into actionable insights for business leaders. โ€ข Designed and implemented an automated vendor expense planning model, enabling recovery of USD 2M in vendor costs โ€ข Maintained workforce and expense governance data, including headcount, open requisitions, and T&E reporting across business units. โ€ข Drove expense and procurement process optimisation, managing headcount, T&E, and vendor expenses using Concur. โ€ข Led invoice validation and procure-to-pay processes, improving accuracy through workflow standardisation and automated checks. โ€ข Improved invoice processing cycle time through process redesign and automation initiatives. โ€ข Partnered with internal teams and vendors to resolve discrepancies and strengthen operational controls.

  • Accounts Payable Analyst at Hewlett Packard Enterprise
    Apr 2017 - Oct 2017 ยท 7 mos

    โ€ข Executed month-end close activities, including accruals, journal entries, and reconciliations as part of the Record-to-Report (RTR) cycle. โ€ข Assisted with month-end close activities, including accruals, journal entries, and account reconciliations. โ€ข Forecasted payment schedules and supported cash flow management through timely processing of payments. โ€ข Collaborated with vendors and internal stakeholders to resolve discrepancies and ensure contractual compliance. โ€ข Identified and supported process improvement initiatives to reduce manual effort and improve efficiency. โ€ข Managed end-to-end procure-to-pay (PTP) cycle, including DMRs, purchase orders, GRNs, and vendor invoice validation and three-way matching (POโ€“GRNโ€“Invoice). โ€ข Processed and reviewed vendor invoices and payment run as part of the Order-to-Cash (OTC) and PTP workflow, ensuring accuracy, approval compliance and timely settlements. โ€ข Performed vendor reconciliations and resolved discrepancies to maintain accurate accounts payable balance within the PTP process.