Corporate Account Management

I reviewed 200 CA resumes at GT & PwC. 90% went straight to rejection. Here's exactly why, no gatekeeping. These weren't bad candidates. Most of them were hardworking, qualified & completely capable of doing the job. But the resume killed them before anyone could find that out. Here are the 5 mistakes I saw over & over again. (Part 1/2) MISTAKE 1: The Objective Statement Nobody Reads This is what 90% of resumes opened with: "To work in a dynamic organisation where I can utilise my skills and contribute to the growth of the company." I have read this sentence four hundred & seventy times. It tells me nothing about you. It tells me everything about how little thought went into this resume. The fix: Delete the objective. Replace it with a 2-line profile summary: "CA Final qualified | 3 years Big 4 articleship at [Firm] | Specialised in Statutory Audit & Ind AS. Handled clients across FMCG and Manufacturing with turnovers up to ₹500 Cr." Two lines. Specific. Immediate value. (Now I'm reading the next line) MISTAKE 2: "Responsible For..." This phrase is a resume killer. "Responsible for preparation of financial statements." "Responsible for handling client queries." "Responsible for audit procedures." Being responsible for something tells me your job description. It does not tell me what you actually did. Or how well you did it. Or what changed because you were there. The fix: Replace every "responsible for" with an action + outcome: ❌ "Responsible for preparation of financial statements" ✅ "Prepared standalone and consolidated financial statements for 4 manufacturing clients with combined turnover of ₹1,200 Cr, zero restatements in 2 years" Same job. Completely different story. MISTAKE 3: Not a Single Number Anywhere I would open resumes & read three full pages of text with no numbers. No turnover size of clients handled. No number of returns filed. No percentage of something improved. No team size managed. No audit hours logged. Numbers do two things on a resume: They make you specific. They make you credible. The fix: Go back through every bullet point. Ask: "Can I attach a number to this?" Almost always, you can: → Client turnover handled → Number of ITRs / GST returns filed → Team size during busy season → Reduction in queries/ errors You don't need impressive numbers. You need honest numbers. A ₹50 Cr client is still a ₹50 Cr client. Your resume is not your life story. It is a door. Build it well enough & someone will open it. Save this post before you close the app Then open your resume & fix these, today. Not this weekend. Not after your exam. Today. Tag one CA student below who needs to read this. 👊

𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝗻𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟭 in any good projection: calculate future Revenue. As accurate as possible. That's mandatory!! 𝗣𝗼𝗽𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗱𝘀 ✔️Historical Trend Analysis - Leveraging past performance to predict future trends. ✔️Market Analysis - Understanding market segments and potential impacts on revenue. ✔️Customer Segmentation - Analyzing different customer groups to tailor marketing and sales strategies. ✔️Sales Funnel Analysis - Monitoring progression through the sales funnel to anticipate revenue generation. ✔️Product Lifecycle Analysis - Assessing the stages of a product's life to forecast sales and revenue. ✔️Econometric Models - Using statistical methods to forecast revenue based on economic and market variables. 𝗢𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗱𝘀 ➡️ Driver-Based Forecasting: Focusing on key business drivers like unit sales, market share, or operational efficiency, this method provides a granular view of forecasted revenue, allowing for more targeted strategy adjustments. ➡️ Rolling Forecasts: Instead of static annual forecasts, rolling forecasts update throughout the year to reflect real-time market conditions and business outcomes, providing a more dynamic financial outlook. Curious to know how you all manage forecasting? What methods do you find most useful?

The COMPLETE guide to forecasting every account on your financial statements 👇 The financial forecast is your company's roadmap for success, but most forecasts I see miss crucial details in how they approach individual accounts. I want to share my methodology for forecasting the most critical accounts👇 ➡️ PROFIT & LOSS 📈 REVENUE FORECASTING 1️⃣ Renewals & Expansion → Renewal rate × renewal likelihood × Expansion % This is the foundation of your revenue forecast and typically the most predictable revenue stream For example, if you have $100,000 in current MRR, a 90% renewal rate, and 10% expansion from existing customers: $100,000 × 90% × 110% = $99,000 in monthly recurring revenue Common mistakes to avoid: - Using a flat renewal rate across all customer segments - Ignoring seasonal patterns in expansion - Not factoring in price increases 2️⃣ New Customer Acquisition → Break down by acquisition channel with specific metrics For Sales Reps: - Factor in ramp time (typically 3-6 months to full productivity) - Use realistic quota attainment (industry average is 60-70%) Real example with 3 new sales reps, each with a $500K quota and 60% attainment: - Q1: Minimal contribution - Q2: 25% of full productivity = $62,500 - Q3: 75% of full productivity = $187,500 - Q4: 100% of full productivity = $250,000 Total annual contribution: $500,000 (vs $1.5M if you ignored ramp time and attainment) ➡️ COST OF GOODS SOLD 💰 COGS → Calculate as a percentage of revenue for most businesses Perfect for software companies and service businesses where costs scale relatively linearly with revenue. Implementation tips: - Calculate your 12-month historical COGS percentage - Adjust for any known future changes in your cost structure - Create separate percentages for different product lines Example: If your SaaS platform has historically run at 22% COGS/Revenue, but you're investing in better infrastructure that will reduce costs by 2%, forecast at 20% going forward. ➡️ OPERATING EXPENSES 💼 Headcount-Based Expenses → Build position-by-position with specific hiring dates and fully-loaded costs Example for a Marketing Manager with $100,000 salary + 25% additional costs: - Annual cost: $125,000 - Q2-Q4 cost (9 months): $93,750 Contract-Based Expenses → Review existing contracts and renewal dates with expected increases === Creating a detailed financial forecast takes time, but the accuracy gained from using these account-specific methodologies will transform your company's financial planning. Funny enough, today my community kicks off the FP&A Season with Financial Modeling Fundamentals - perfect timing for this post! We'll be building on these concepts with dedicated sessions on Revenue Forecasting , P&L Forecasting, and Balance Sheet Forecasting. You can find more details about the community here: https://lnkd.in/eU4b8ARA What account do you find most challenging to forecast accurately? Share your thoughts in the comments below 👇

Despite having referrals from employees at Google, this resume got rejected multiple times. I'll tell you why. Even a solid referral can’t save a resume that doesn’t land the basics. Let’s break it down: 1. No clear impact Saying “built a dashboard” isn’t enough. → What changed because of it? Who benefited? What results did it drive? Hiring managers aren’t guessing; they’re scanning for outcomes. Fix: Add real numbers and results. Example: Built a dashboard using React that improved user engagement by 35%. 2. Tool overload A long list of technologies doesn’t prove depth; it shows noise. → Don’t list every tool you’ve touched. Focus on the ones you’ve mastered to solve real problems. Fix: Tie tools to context and outcomes: Used Docker to streamline deployment and cut app loading time by 25% 3. Weak structure, no flow Projects and roles are listed randomly, with no clear story or direction. → A resume should feel like a journey, not a dump of everything you’ve done. Fix: Start with a short summary. Group similar experience. Lead with relevance. 4. Soft skills without substance “Attention to detail” and “great communication” mean nothing if you don’t show them in action. Fix: Show, don’t tell. Example: Collaborated with 4 developers in agile sprints to ship all features on time with zero bugs reported. Referrals might get your resume looked at. But only a strong, impact-driven resume gets you called back. If your resume isn’t getting interviews, the problem isn’t the job market; it’s the message. Need help creating a resume that actually lands interviews? DM me. I’ve helped 400+ people craft resumes that tell their story, show their value, and get results.

𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗳𝘁𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻 𝗠𝗕𝗔! From Vasai to Bangalore and from Audits to FP&A As part of my decentralized (PR free) success stories series, Meet Dickson Dabre, one of my earliest followers and now a solid FP&A professional in a global role at Hitachi Energy Dickson hails from small town Vasai in Mumbai, like all commerce students he started on the CA route, cleared inter & started articleship in Tax & Audits. While prepping for finals, an unsuccessful attempt nudged him to consider alternatives and coincidently he received an offer in General Accounting (R2R) - involving relocation to Bangalore. It was uncertain path but he took the leap and moved across the states. Accounting was never his end goal - it felt clerical, repetitive, even boring at times. But Dickson didn’t complain. He showed up, did the job! #patience And quietly kept upskilling himself in Excel, Power BI, and business finance - being ready for the opportunity if it arises in future. He gradually pivoted into Cost Accounting, Data Roles, and SAP reporting. But he never lost his curiosity: 👉 “Where does this come from?” 👉 “Why are we showing this trend?” 👉 “Who is ultimately responsible for the numbers?” That mindset introduced him to the world of FP&A - budgeting, forecasting, variance analysis, and presenting real business insights to leadership. He had no formal training, no CFA or MBA tag. But he self-learned everything from scratch: 📘 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗛𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱: • Budgeting & Forecasting: Top-down, bottom-up, zero-based, rolling forecasts • Variance Analysis: Revenue vs. price/mix/volume, cost drivers • Financial Reporting – Segment-wise P&L, cost centers, cash flow, working capital, KPIs • Storytelling with Numbers – Executive-ready reporting, simplifying the unstructured data Today, he handles finance transformation projects with a global footprint, helping leadership drive visibility, efficiency, and impact. 💡 𝗛𝗶𝘀 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗔𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗙𝗣&𝗔 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘀: 🎯 Target the role – Start with a GCC or directly in business. GCCs are a great FP&A launchpad. 📊 Master concepts – Budgeting (Top-down, Bottom-up, Zero-based), cost allocation, Variance Analysis, Story Telling, Reporting - all matter. 🧠 Learn the tools – Master Excel/Power BI and also slice, dice, and drive business insight from them. 💻 Bonus edge – Learn ERP (Oracle/SAP) or Anaplan. 🤝 Business partnering – Talk to stakeholders. Understand the story behind the numbers. 📚 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 𝗛𝗲 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀: 1. Financial planning & Analysis and performance management by Jack Alexander 2. All about FP&A by Asif Masani. This is what growth looks like. No Tier-1 MBA. No CFA. Just consistent intent and compounding curiosity. Dickson - proud of your journey, brother. You’re what I call a decentralised success story. Let’s bring more of these stories out  🙌 #ChinmayaAmteExcel #FP&A #SuccessWithoutMBA

Your first 90 days with a customer can make or break the entire relationship. I've seen it happen too many times: - Great sales process - Solid product demo - Strong contract value - Excited stakeholders Then onboarding happens. And everything falls apart. Why? Most companies treat onboarding like a checklist: - Setup call ✓ - Product training ✓ - Technical integration ✓ - Documentation shared ✓ But here's the truth about onboarding: It's not about your process. It's about their success. After managing hundreds of onboarding sessions, here's what I've learned: The best onboarding isn't standard. It's personalized. Think about it: - Every customer has different goals - Every team has different challenges - Every organization has different paces - Every stakeholder has different priorities Your onboarding needs to reflect this. Here's what works: 1. Start with clear expectations - Define success metrics upfront - Set realistic timelines - Map out key milestones - Align on responsibilities 2. Build a dedicated team - Assign specialists who understand their industry - Create cross-functional support - Have clear escalation paths - Enable quick problem-solving 3. Monitor health signals - Track early usage patterns - Watch engagement levels - Note stakeholder participation - Measure progress velocity 4. Automate the right things - Regular check-in reminders - Progress updates - Resource sharing - Usage alerts But here's where most companies fail: They don't plan for challenges: - Low customer engagement - Complex technical integrations - Unclear success metrics - Resource constraints - Scalability issues The solution? Build feedback loops: - Collect input at every stage - Adjust plans based on signals - Iterate on materials - Improve processes continuously Remember: Onboarding isn't about getting customers to use your product. It's about helping them achieve their goals through your product. The first 90 days set the tone for everything that follows. Make them count. What's your approach to customer onboarding? What challenges have you faced? ------------------ ▶️ Want to see more content like this and also connect with other CS & SaaS enthusiasts? You should join Tidbits. We do short round-ups a few times a week to help you learn what it takes to be a top-notch customer success professional. Join 1993+ community members! 💥 [link in the comments section]

Targeted revenue provides stretch goals for sales teams. But it's also vital for strategic planning. Here's how targeted revenue works and why it matters for FP&A. 1) Start with known and knowable sales This is the core of a sales forecast. Every company should maintain sales activity in a CRM. This may be broken down by customer, channel, product category, SKU, or a combination of all. Customers are known, the stage of the sales process is clear, and the amount of the deals are quantified. If a company is planning using driver-based forecasting, the sales outlook may omit this level of detail since the figures won't tie directly to customer accounts. 2) Layer in a stretch target. Many companies don't know which specific customers will generate revenue a year from now. Even if they do, there’s uncertainty in the amounts. But this shouldn’t stop setting the targets. Revenue targets can be based on forecasts within a sector or revenue channel where sales managers believe there's untapped opportunity, rather than with a specific customer. This brings about a focus on sales strategy, marketing, and other sales initiatives to make inroads in those channels. 3) Quantify the opportunities A vital, but challenging task, is for the sales team to put numbers to those opportunities: • Which channels are most promising? • What the potential deal size? This provides FP&A with a foundation for all-in revenue planning. 4) Cascade the impact Once a revenue target is set, it doesn't stop at the sales forecast. It drives the operating assumptions further down the P&L, for capex, and for financing: • Direct costs • Gross margins • Headcount planning • Compensation • Marketing • Facilities • Debt 5) Build in timing assumptions It's rare for revenue to be forecast in neat, even increments. FP&A needs to decide: • Smooth it evenly throughout the year • Front-load, if sales are aggressive • Back-load, if sales are conservative • Weight it, if seasonality is in play The choice of FP&A or a Controller is not just for revenue recognition. It impacts hiring plans, marketing, cash flow, and especially working capital needs. 6) Apply conservatism discounts Targeted revenue is aspirational and hardly guaranteed. Because of this, the financial model benefits from conservatism or scoring adjustments upon which scenarios can be run. A sale may be all-or-nothing, where it's either won or it's not. Weighted confidence levels can allow for scenario triggers so forecasts adjust dynamically. This helps FP&A and sales create what I call "tiers of planning" -- high, mid, and low confidence. Tiered planning sets optimistic and conservative sales thresholds. 7) Apply the plan With sales targets at various thresholds, FP&A can better plan for the rest of the FP&A and set performance milestones.

Trust must exist between the CEO, CFO, and CRO to be aligned on the company budget and forecast. How can this be achieved? 1️⃣ All three must agree on the data and assumptions used for the 1, 3, and 5-year plans. Data will guide what can happen based on past performance. While assumptions can be used for goals that are above and beyond historical performance. (More on assumptions later) 2️⃣ The CRO needs the company goals far in advance of their planning. The longer the hiring time & rep ramp-up time to revenue, the more warning they need to ensure they have the coverage necessary to achieve those goals. 3️⃣ The CFO and CRO must agree on how deals are forecasted. Ideally, they will have created this forecast together, even shared high, medium, and low ranges, and then take that to the CEO as a joint document. 4️⃣ The CEO must give the CFO the Board's expectations on growth, investment, and where the growth should come from, and then update the team regularly on changes to these. The CEO should also guide the Board on how quickly the team can adjust to meet changes to their expectations. 5️⃣ The annual budgeting process usually starts with the CFO doing a top-down version that is created with the Board and CEO. While, or before this, the CRO should be doing their bottom-up revenue forecast too. These two versions rarely are the same - so the assumptions in each analysis now become critical. What I have seen work well is when the CRO and the CFO use the same assumptions data for the budget. Then the gaps between the top-down and bottom-up versions can be addressed with these assumptions. As the year goes on and results get posted, the results based on assumptions can be shared back with the Board to show them where there are gaps or overperformance. If these three senior leaders are aligned and have hard discussions together, it is much easier for the company to execute. If trust does not exist, or if each leader operates in a silo, the entire company's goals will most assuredly be at risk. What process have you seen work for how these three leaders agree on "the plan?"

CEO: Our margins are getting tighter. FP&A: Let’s cut costs. CEO: We’re missing revenue targets. FP&A: Let’s reforecast. CEO: Our cash flow is unpredictable. FP&A: Let’s track it closer. CEO: We’re losing market share. FP&A: Let’s adjust assumptions. This is how finance becomes a back-office function. And it’s why most FP&A teams get ignored in strategy meetings. Instead, try this: 1. Turn data into decisions, not just reports CEOs don’t need more charts. They need answers. If your reports don’t drive action, they’re just noise. FP&A teams that translate numbers into clear next steps get a seat at the table. 2. Make forecasting dynamic, not static Annual budgets are already outdated by Q2. Winning teams run rolling forecasts that adapt in real-time, using leading indicators to predict what’s next, before the business feels the impact. 3. Use capital as a competitive advantage The best companies don’t just cut costs, they allocate capital better. Instead of reacting to margin pressure with blanket cuts, double down on high-ROI opportunities and phase out low-value spending. 4. Speak the language of business Finance gets ignored when it talks in numbers, not outcomes. Saying, “Gross margin fell by 2%” misses the mark. Saying, “Optimizing pricing can recover $5M in profit next quarter” gets action. 5. Don’t wait for leadership to ask The best FP&A teams don’t wait. They anticipate challenges, model different scenarios, and push strategic moves before the company is forced to react. Influence happens when finance drives the conversation, not follows it. The FP&A teams winning in 2025 aren’t managing costs. They’re out-executing their competitors. FP&A sees what’s coming first. Follow Erik Lidman for FP&A insights.

🔍 Corporate KYC Onboarding – A Strategic Process Behind Every Business Account Unlike individual onboarding, corporate customer onboarding involves multiple layers of checks to manage risk and ensure compliance. Why? Because legal entities come with complex structures, high-value transactions, and potential exposure to financial crime. Here’s a simplified look at what goes into corporate onboarding: ✅ Initial Engagement – Relationship manager/KYC analyst initiates onboarding. 📄 Data Collection – Business name, structure, location, nature, TIN/VAT. 🗂️ Documents – MOA, trade license, UBO info, proof of address, financials. 🔎 Verification & Screening – IDs, business registry, sanctions/PEP/media checks. 📊 Risk Assessment – Based on business model, sector, country, and UBO profiles. ✔️ Compliance Review – Internal approval and account creation. 🔁 Ongoing Monitoring – Periodic KYC refresh, trigger-based reviews, and alerts. 🛡️ It’s not just about ticking boxes—it’s about building a trusted and compliant relationship with every corporate client. #KYC #CorporateOnboarding #AML #Compliance #RiskManagement #Fintech #Banking #CustomerDueDiligence #FinancialInstitutions #UBO #SanctionsScreening #BusinessBanking #LinkedInLearning