Nihala Hussain Email & Phone Number

Dubai, Ae

United Arab Emirates

• Managed the preparation and analysis of monthly P&L, balance sheets, and cash flow reports for the MENA region, ensuring accurate performance tracking against budgets and LBEs.• Directed the forecasting process and development of Annual Budget & LBEs, collaborating closely with Sales, Commercial, Marketing, Supply Chain, and HR teams to align financial plans with business objectives.• Delivered consistent and timely weekly and monthly reports to the EMEA region, adhering to Group reporting standards.• Providing strategic financial guidance to top management by simplifying large datasets into easy-to-read dashboards.• Developed scenario analyses and comprehensive business review presentations for top management, incorporating current trends and business conditions.• Analyzed actual sales versus targets for monthly and quarterly business reviews, overseeing sales team incentive calculations.• Led regional compliance efforts, including quarterly VAT filings, corporate tax adherence, and facilitation of internal and external audits, while strengthening internal controls as per local & global SOPs.• Responsible for developing, implementing, and training the team on key finance Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).• Demonstrated a passion for automation by streamlining financial processes, implementing new systems (Power-BI) and reducing manual tasks to drive efficiency and accuracy.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

• Preparing event budgets & forecast for all Therapeutic Areas across MENA region.• Managing, tracking, reporting all events & project spend using Power BI for providing insights to Budget Owners.• Led the monitoring of overall budget consumption, ensuring alignment of spending with quarterly budgets for each product, and providing timely reporting to ensure financial accuracy.• Ensured all planned events adhered to Merck’s global brand objectives, standards, and design guidelines, maintaining consistency with corporate branding.• Managed the reconciliation of payments and transactions with distribution agents, including Free of Charge (FOC) goods, bonus goods, demurrage, and regulatory/legalization costs.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

• Posting of Journal Entries & invoices on SAP.• Managed month-end closing postings, including accruals, petty cash, HR entries, prepayments, fixed asset tracking, depreciation, reclassifications, bank clearing, foreign exchange valuation, and IFRS compliance.• Achieved DSO and DPO targets vs Budget.• General Ledger and Cost Center & Internal Order master data management in line with Global Chart of Accounts.• Executing weekly payment runs for the META region.• Monitoring Cash Flow & Management of bank portal by ensuring sufficient bank account balances in various currency accounts.• Manage AMEX Corporate Credit Cards & Business Travel Accounts.• Led the implementation and testing of the SAP S4HANA system, enhancing financial reporting and operational efficiency.

Dubai International Financial Centre, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

- Worked on Private Equity deals for 2 new start-up companies in Middle East.- Assisted in financial valuation of NMC Healthcare using DCF model and worked on its acquisition of various hospitals in Saudi Arabia.- Conducted market research on the Private Equity companies and Family Offices in MENASA region.- Supporting due diligence & negotiations.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

- Gathering and analysing data about university programs offered in USA. - Finding competitive edge over programs offered by top ranked universities.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

- Proposed a new profitable shipping route connecting the East Africa and Middle East which could provide the company a competitive edge over other shipping lines.- Drafted consolidated forecasts and budgets and analysed trends in revenue, expense, capital expenditures and other related areas.- Identified areas of cost cutting for improved operations.

Bachelor’S Degree, Economics

Activities and Societies: Regional Immersion Project, Model United Nation (MUN-2015) - 80% Scholarship for 3 years - Studied in Singapore.

Certified Management Accountant (Cma), Accounting And Business/Management

Chartered Financial Analyst, Finance, Level 1 Candidate

High School, Economics, Accountancy, Marketing And Computer Science Programming, 94% In Cbse.

Activities and Societies: 12th Grade School Topper in 2015 (Commerce)

Certified Management Accountant (Cma®), Accounting And Finance