Accounting Process & Consolidation Subject Matter Expert

Aistra; Pune District; On-site; INR 900,000 - 1,700,000; Full time

Job summary

Aistra is seeking an Accounting Process & Consolidation SME to drive end-to-end accounting processes, close, consolidation, and financial reporting across multiple entities. The role combines accounting expertise with finance transformation, controls, and technology in a startup environment.

The candidate will work with clients, product teams, and developers to translate practical accounting requirements into scalable solutions, across P2P, O2C, R2R, GL, and intercompany activities.

Responsibilities

• Understand and map end-to-end accounting processes (P2P, O2C, GL, Intercompany, Consolidation) and identify automation opportunities.
• Support monthly closes, financial reporting, and consolidation activities across entities.
• Collaborate with product, development, and client teams to translate accounting needs into technology-enabled solutions.
• Assist with ICFR, internal controls, and governance aspects within finance transformation initiatives.

Job description

We are seeking an Accounting Process & Consolidation Subject Matter Expert (SME) with strong hands-on experience in end-to-end accounting processes, financial close, consolidation, and financial reporting.

The ideal candidate should have practical experience across key finance and accounting cycles such as Procure-to-Pay (P2P), Order-to-Cash (O2C), Record-to-Report (R2R), General Ledger (GL), Intercompany Accounting, Financial Close, Consolidation, and Financial Reporting, along with a working understanding of Internal Audit, ICFR, financial controls, and compliance requirements.

This role is designed for professionals who are interested in working at the intersection of Accounting, Finance Transformation, Controls, Process Improvement, and Technology. The candidate will work closely with clients, product teams, and developers to understand existing finance processes and translate practical accounting requirements into scalable technology-driven solutions.

The role requires a proactive and adaptable individual who is comfortable working in a dynamic startup environment and across multiple areas of accounting, finance, audit, controls, and technology.

Key Responsibilities

1. End-to-End Accounting Process Understanding

• Understand and analyze clients' end-to-end accounting and finance processes, including:
• Procure-to-Pay (P2P)
• Order-to-Cash (O2C)
• General Ledger Accounting
• Accounts Payable
• Accounts Receivable
• Fixed Assets
• Inventory Accounting
• Bank and Account Reconciliations
• Intercompany Accounting
• Consolidation
• Understand transaction flows from source documents and sub-ledgers through the General Ledger and ultimately into consolidated financial statements.
• Identify process gaps, accounting issues, manual activities, reconciliation challenges, control weaknesses, and opportunities for automation.
• Understand and contribute to monthly, quarterly, and annual financial close processes.
• Review and understand entity-level trial balances and consolidation requirements.
• Support processes relating to:
• Trial balance validation
• Period-end journal entries
• Accruals and provisions
• Prepayments
• Account reconciliations
• Intercompany reconciliations
• Intercompany eliminations
• Foreign currency translation
• Consolidation adjustments
• Top-side adjustments
• Consolidation of subsidiaries and reporting entities
• Preparation and review of consolidated financial statements
• Understand dependencies between operational accounting processes and the financial close and consolidation process.
• Apply practical knowledge of accounting principles and financial reporting requirements while designing accounting solutions.
• Understand accounting treatment and reporting implications of transactions across different finance processes.
• Analyze the impact of accounting transactions on the Balance Sheet, Income Statement, Cash Flow Statement, and related financial reporting.
• Support the design of accounting rules, journal-entry logic, reconciliation logic, and reporting requirements within finance technology solutions.
• Contribute to solutions involving automated accounting, financial close, consolidation, reconciliations, and financial reporting.

4. Finance Process Transformation & Documentation

• Understand clients' As-Is finance and accounting processes and identify opportunities for standardization, optimization, and automation.
• Design and document To-Be processes incorporating accounting requirements, controls, automation, and technology.
• Business Requirement Documents (BRDs)
• Functional Requirement Documents
• Process Flow Diagrams
• Accounting Workflows
• User Stories and Acceptance Criteria
• Business Rules
• Accounting Rules and Validation Logic
• Reconciliation and Exception-Handling Workflows
• Translate practical finance and accounting requirements into clear functional requirements for product and development teams.

5. Audit, ICFR & Controls

• Apply a working understanding of Internal Audit, ICFR, financial controls, and risk assessment while designing accounting processes and solutions.
• Identify key financial reporting risks and relevant controls within processes such as P2P, O2C, R2R, financial close, and consolidation.
• Understand concepts including:
• Risk and Control Matrices (RCMs)
• Process-Level Controls
• Entity-Level Controls
• Preventive and Detective Controls
• Manual and Automated Controls
• Segregation of Duties
• Management Review Controls
• Support the design of accounting solutions that maintain appropriate audit trails, approvals, evidence, access controls, and financial reporting controls.
• Collaborate with audit and compliance teams where accounting processes or product functionality impact ICFR or financial reporting controls.
• Act as a bridge between Accounting/Finance teams and Product/Technology teams.
• Translate complex accounting and finance requirements into functional requirements that can be understood and implemented by developers.
• Collaborate with Product Managers, Business Analysts, Developers, QA teams, and client stakeholders throughout the product lifecycle.
• Contribute accounting expertise to the design of AI-driven and automation-based finance solutions.
• Participate in solution design discussions and validate whether proposed functionality appropriately addresses accounting and business requirements.

7. Product Testing & UAT

• Develop accounting and business scenarios for product testing.
• Perform functional testing and User Acceptance Testing (UAT) of accounting and finance solutions.
• Validate:
• Accounting calculations
• Journal entries
• Posting logic
• Matching logic
• Financial reporting outputs
• Identify functional gaps and work with development teams to resolve issues before deployment.

8. Client Implementation & Support

• Participate in client discussions to understand existing finance processes, systems, accounting requirements, and pain points.
• Support deployment and implementation of accounting and finance solutions within client environments.
• Assist with process mapping, configuration requirements, testing, data validation, and implementation.
• Provide user training and functional guidance to finance and accounting teams.
• Support post-deployment activities and identify opportunities for continuous process and product improvement.

Candidate Profile

Qualifications

• Chartered Accountant (CA) preferred.
• MBA Finance, CMA, CPA, ACCA, or equivalent finance/accounting qualifications may also be considered depending on relevant experience.
• Additional certifications in Finance Transformation, ERP, Internal Audit, CISA, or related areas are an advantage.
• Big 4, consulting, shared services, Global Capability Center (GCC), or large corporate finance experience is preferred.

Experience

• 4+ years of hands-on experience in Accounting, Financial Reporting, Financial Close, Consolidation, Finance Transformation, or related finance functions.
• Practical exposure to one or more end-to-end finance processes such as:
• P2P
• O2C
• R2R
• Intercompany Accounting
• Consolidation
• Experience in month-end, quarter-end, and/or year-end close activities is preferred.
• Exposure to Internal Audit, Statutory Audit, ICFR/SOX, or financial controls is an added advantage.
• Experience working with finance technology, ERP systems, automation, or finance transformation projects is preferred.

Skills Required

Accounting & Finance

• Strong understanding of double-entry accounting, General Ledger, Trial Balance, and financial statements.
• Strong understanding of end-to-end accounting cycles and their impact on financial reporting.
• Practical knowledge of financial close, account reconciliations, intercompany accounting, consolidation, and reporting.
• Understanding of accounting standards such as Ind AS, IFRS, and/or US GAAP is preferred.

Process Knowledge

• Ability to understand and document complete finance processes from transaction initiation through accounting, reconciliation, close, consolidation, and reporting.
• Ability to identify process inefficiencies, accounting risks, control gaps, and automation opportunities.
• Experience creating As-Is and To-Be process flows and detailed accounting workflows.

Audit & Controls

• Working knowledge of Internal Audit, ICFR/SOX, risk assessment, financial controls, and control testing.
• Ability to understand how accounting processes, controls, and system functionality collectively support reliable financial reporting.
• Experience preparing BRDs, functional requirements, process documentation, user stories, workflows, and UAT scenarios.
• Exposure to ERP systems such as SAP, Oracle, NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics, Workday, or similar platforms is preferred.
• Exposure to financial close, consolidation, reconciliation, workflow automation, RPA, analytics, or AI-based finance solutions is an advantage.
• Ability to translate accounting requirements into clear functional requirements for technology teams.

Analytical & Stakeholder Management

• Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities.
• Ability to analyze complex accounting and process scenarios and convert them into structured solutions.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to communicate effectively with CFO teams, Controllers, Finance Managers, Accountants, Auditors, Product Managers, and Developers.
• Strong stakeholder management and presentation skills.
• Comfortable working in a dynamic startup environment with evolving responsibilities.
• Willingness to work across accounting, audit, controls, finance transformation, product development, testing, and implementation activities.
• Strong ownership mindset and ability to independently drive requirements from business problem identification through solution design, testing, and implementation.
• Interest in leveraging AI, automation, and emerging technologies to transform traditional finance and accounting processes.