About Ascend
Ascend Bizcap is an RBI-registered NBFC and a pioneer in Electric Vehicle (EV) financing in India, with over 7 years of domain expertise. The company focuses on financial inclusion, providing access to credit for underserved customers in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.
Ascend Bizcap offers loans for the purchase of new commercial Electric Vehicles (L3 & L5) and is backed by marquee investors including Info Edge and Asha Ventures. As the organization enters its next phase of rapid growth, we are building a strong finance team to support scalable and compliant capital management.
Overview of the position
We are looking for a self-driven and ambitious Finance Associate who will work directly with the finance leadership across accounts, financial reporting, treasury, fund raising and regulatory compliance. The role is hands-on and covers the full finance function of the company. The associate will prepare the numbers, documents and analysis that management uses to run these functions, and will be the first point of coordination with auditors, lenders, tax consultants and other external stakeholders on day-to-day matters.
This is a role for someone who wants to learn how an NBFC keeps its books, raises capital and manages its money by doing the work, with close mentoring from the finance leadership and direct exposure to lenders, auditors and investors.
Key responsibilities
- Accounts and month close: Review day-to-day accounting entries, vendor payments, expense bookings and bank reconciliations. Prepare the monthly closing schedules, including provisions, accruals, fixed assets and interest cost, and ensure the books are closed on time each month.
- Taxation and statutory payments: Prepare data and working papers for GST, TDS and advance tax, ensure payments and returns are filed on time, and coordinate with the tax consultant on assessments and notices.
- Fund raising support: Prepare information memoranda, lender presentations, financial models and due diligence responses for debt raises from banks, NBFCs and other financial institutions. Maintain the data room and track the status of each lender proposal from first contact to disbursement.
- Lender reporting and covenant compliance: Prepare and submit the periodic MIS, portfolio data, utilisation certificates and covenant compliance certificates required by each lender. Maintain a covenant tracker and flag any potential breach to management in advance.
- Treasury operations: Track daily cash positions, drawdowns, repayment schedules and interest payments across all borrowings. Prepare the monthly funding calendar and cash flow forecast, and coordinate with banks on account operations, fixed deposits and surplus fund placement.
- Financial reporting: Prepare the monthly financial pack, ALM statements, ratio analysis and board MIS. Reconcile the loan book, borrowing schedules and interest costs with the books of accounts.
- Regulatory and statutory compliance: Prepare RBI returns, rating agency data requests and other regulatory submissions under the guidance of the finance leadership. Coordinate with the company secretary, statutory auditors and internal auditors on filings, audit schedules and audit queries.
- Investor reporting: Assist in preparing quarterly investor updates, board decks and responses to shareholder queries on financial performance.
- Budgeting and analysis: Assist in preparing the annual budget and monitor actuals against budget. Prepare variance analysis and cost trend reports for management review.
- Process and controls: Maintain documentation for accounts, treasury and finance processes, help implement finance systems and automation, and support internal control reviews including KYC and AML checks on lender and counterparty documentation.
Required qualifications and skills
- Chartered Accountant, CFA or MBA (Finance) with 0 to 3 years of post-qualification experience. Articleship or prior experience in an NBFC, MFI, bank or other financial institution is preferred.
- Strong working knowledge of Excel and financial modelling. Comfort with building and maintaining lender MIS, covenant trackers and cash flow forecasts.
- Sound understanding of accounting standards (Ind AS), GST and TDS, and basic familiarity with RBI regulations applicable to NBFCs. Exposure to lender, auditor or rating agency coordination is a plus.
- Exceptional attention to detail. Lender submissions and regulatory filings must be accurate and on time.
- Clear written and verbal communication, and the ability to deal professionally with bankers, auditors and other external stakeholders.
- A commercially astute mindset and a willingness to understand the business drivers behind the numbers.
- Comfortable in a young company and a fast-paced work environment, with a strong desire to learn on the go, perseverance and a solution-based approach to problems.