Atul Sarda
Zonal Departmental Head– Finance at UltraTech Cement | CA | CS | 16+ Years experience
Kolkata
Summary
Strategic and result-oriented finance leader with over 16 years of experience driving internal controls, compliance frameworks, statutory accounting, and operational finance in a large-scale manufacturing environment. Proven expertise in end-to-end accounting operations, working capital management, legal and tax compliance (GST, TDS, Ind AS), audit coordination, and SOP adherence. Adept at managing ₹100+ crore procurement budgets, leading cost governance initiatives, and streamlining ERP-led financial workflows using SAP HANA, IBM Cognos BI, and TM1.
Recognized for building strong internal control ecosystems, ensuring 100% statutory compliance, and driving automation and risk mitigation across multi-location operations. Successfully led audit cycles with clean reports, transitioned teams to shared services with zero disruption, and implemented digital systems that enhanced transparency and efficiency. A logical problem solver and team builder who combines analytical rigor with a deep commitment to integrity, governance, and continuous improvement.
Overview
17
17
years of professional experience
3
3
Language
1
1
Certificate
Work History
Zonal Departmental Head – Performance & Profitability
Ultratech Cement Ltd.
11.2023 - Current
- Successfully handling the reporting of 3 business verticals with a combined annual turnover of ~ INR 16k crores for the zone.
- Leading profitability deep dives and providing strategic insights using deep analysis, ERP systems & Tableau.
- Critical review of new plant proposals and analysis of existing plant performance.
- De-bottlenecked delays in invoice creation by automating Delivery release process.
- Conducted analysis of competitor strategies on incentives and pricing, resulting in key insights.
- Pointed exception reporting resulting in cost and control efficiencies.
Zonal Departmental Head – General Accounts, Legal & Compliance
Ultratech Cement Ltd.
Kolkata, West Bengal
07.2021 - 10.2023
- Oversaw zonal accounting, compliance, audits and negotiations for three business verticals.
- Successfully handled procurement of ~ ₹100+ Cr/year.
- Led successfully in recovery of old and critical customer outstanding.
- Ensured Day-1 readiness for new TDS regulations (Sec.194Q and Sec.194R) through stakeholder sessions.
- Championed an innovative end-to-end gift delivery system - the first of its kind in the company.
Zonal Accounts Lead
Ultratech Cement Ltd.
Kolkata, West Bengal
09.2017 - 06.2021
- Managed ₹2,500 Cr zonal expense budgeting, audit cycles, and GST compliance.
- Migrated manpower to Shared Services through meticulous working and foresight to ensure zero work disruption or stakeholder friction.
- Successfully handled accounts closure and audit execution in remote working scenario, without delays or qualifications.
- Meticulous fund planning during COVID to ensure operational continuity, legal compliance and vendor management.
- Contributed to high customer satisfaction by ensuring payment to ~12k retailers on the event day.
- Ensured transactional compliance and operational readiness on merger of multiple companies with UltraTech.
Section Head – Systems & Compliances
Ultratech Cement Ltd.
Kolkata, West Bengal
04.2013 - 08.2017
- Ensured Day-1 GST readiness across the Eastern Zone to ensure uninterrupted sales and operations.
- Facilitated customers to avail eligible transitional GST credit. Impact amount ~ ₹2.5 Cr.
- Co-ordinated to ensure expedited recovery of Concessional "C" Forms from customers under Central Sales Tax - impact amount ~ ₹330 Cr. per year.
- Established robust internal controls across depots and implemented compliance tracking resulting in negligible audit observations.
- Led in implementation and functioning of new SAP/ legal/ compliance tracking and expense monitoring systems.
Executive – MIS
Ultratech Cement Ltd.
Kolkata & Mumbai
12.2008 - 03.2013
- Worked as a core team member in Mumbai in a company-wide project for implementation of Budgeting and Online reporting systems - IBM BI and TM1.
- Prepared critical exception reports, profitability dashboards, and performance reviews for decision support.
- Successfully handled MIS reporting after structural and reporting re-organization of the company.
- Supported SAP R/3 upgrade with comprehensive master data compliance.
Education
Chartered Accountant -
ICAI
11-2007
Company Secretary -
ICSI
12.2007
B.Com (Hons) -
St. Xavier’s College, Calcutta University
05.2005
Certificate Course - Goods And Services Tax
GST (ICAI)
05.2022
Data Visualization -
Udemy
05.2020
Skills
Financial Controls & SOP Compliance Audit Coordination (Statutory, Internal, Cost) GST, TDS, Ind AS, Compliance Account Finalisation & Working Capital Management Procurement & vendor management (₹100 Cr pa) ERP Systems (SAP HANA – SD/FICO, Tableau, IBM Cognos BI) Fixed Assets Accounting & Capitalisation
Budgeting and Variance analysis Automation, Digitization & Risk Mitigation AI Tools: ChatGPT, Notebook LM, Napkin AI, Gamma, Canva, Otter AI, Perplexity AI Team Leadership, Process Governance, Stakeholder Collaboration
Interests
Interests: Books on leadership, online learning, music
Certification
Certificate Course on GST
Work Preference
Work Type
Full TimeLocation Preference
On-SiteRemoteHybridImportant To Me
Career advancementWork-life balanceCompany CultureFlexible work hoursPersonal development programsHealthcare benefitsWork from home optionPaid time offTeam Building / Company RetreatsQuote
I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have.
Thomas Jefferson
Software
SAP HANA
MS Excel
MS Powerpoint
MS Word
MS Outlook
IBM Cognos BI & TM1
Generative AI tools
Languages
English
Bilingual or Proficient (C2)
Hindi
Bilingual or Proficient (C2)
Bengali
Elementary (A2)
Websites
Work Availability
monday
tuesday
wednesday
thursday
friday
saturday
sunday
morning
afternoon
evening
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Accomplishments
· Recovered critical outstanding dues from customers through persuasion, MOUs and legal follow-ups, improving receivables health. (~ ₹10 crores)
· Critically reviewed customer incentive schemes leading to its revision and substantial reduction in outflow (~ ₹27 crores)
· Digitized incentive payments for 12,000+ retailers. Ensured disbursement on event day achieving maximum traction and recall.
· Pioneered e-bidding in procurement operations ensuring lower TAT and highest transparency.
· Led first-of-its-kind last-mile gift delivery model in the zone which was adopted Pan India.
· Migrated manpower to Shared Services with zero disruption and stakeholder friction.
· Ensured Day-1 operational readiness for the zone on GST migration. Also helped customers secure transitional credit of ~ ₹2.5 Cr in input tax during GST rollout.
· Trained 100+ internal and external stakeholders, achieving 100% compliance in TDS (Sec 194Q/194R) rollout.
· Led remote audit execution during pandemic (FY20 & Q1 FY21) without delays/ qualifications.
· Core team member in Pan-India rollout of IBM Cognos BI & TM1 for budgeting and MIS. Core team member in Discount automation tool.
· Led SAP master data integration during merger, ensuring seamless financial transition.
Timeline
Zonal Departmental Head – Performance & Profitability
Ultratech Cement Ltd.
11.2023 - Current
Zonal Departmental Head – General Accounts, Legal & Compliance
Ultratech Cement Ltd.
07.2021 - 10.2023
Certificate Course on GST
06-2021
Zonal Accounts Lead
Ultratech Cement Ltd.
09.2017 - 06.2021
Section Head – Systems & Compliances
Ultratech Cement Ltd.
04.2013 - 08.2017
Executive – MIS
Ultratech Cement Ltd.
12.2008 - 03.2013
Chartered Accountant -
ICAI
Company Secretary -
ICSI
B.Com (Hons) -
St. Xavier’s College, Calcutta University
Certificate Course - Goods And Services Tax
GST (ICAI)
Data Visualization -
Udemy