Rebecca Selvamani

- Managed the project management lifecycle for audit engagements, overseeing planning, resourcing, budgeting, risk, communication, change control, stakeholder coordination, and engagement closure. Worked closely with Audit, Tax, IT Specialists, Engagement Financial Advisors (EFA), resource management, and client stakeholders to ensure engagements remained aligned to scope, timelines, quality requirements, and budgets.

Responsibilities:

• Managed end-to-end project management for audit engagements, from kickoff and planning through execution, financial statement issuance, and closure.
• Developed and maintained integrated project plans covering Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), activity sequencing, schedules, roles, responsibilities, and resource requirements.
• Partnered with resource management to forecast staffing needs, onboard team members, and allocate resources based on engagement requirements.
• Managed team-member level budgets, monitored progress, and forecasted Estimate to Complete (ETC) to ensure financial visibility.
• Developed quality, communication, and risk management plans, identifying potential risks and driving mitigation and escalation.
• Led integrated change control, updating project plans and maintaining change logs as scope, timelines, or stakeholder requirements evolved.
• Coordinated cross-functional delivery across audit, tax, IT specialists, and EFA teams, ensuring alignment of dependencies and deliverables.
• Prepared weekly project status reports and leveraged Power BI dashboards to track progress, identify week-over-week trends, and communicate actionable insights to stakeholders.
• Facilitated issue and conflict resolution, while monitoring team workloads and proactively addressing capacity and burnout risks.
• Managed engagement closeout activities, including client acceptance, financial statement issuance, lessons learned, project artifact archiving, and formal project closure.

Impact:

• Managed the full project lifecycle of audit engagements, bringing structured project management disciplines into audit delivery.
• Improved engagement visibility through integrated project plans, budget tracking, ETC forecasting, weekly status reporting, and Power BI dashboards.
• Enabled effective coordination across multiple specialist and support functions, including Audit, Tax, IT, EFA, and Resource Management.
• Supported timely and controlled audit delivery through proactive risk management, change control, resource planning, and stakeholder communication.
• Strengthened engagement closeout and continuous improvement through structured lessons learned, documentation, and project closure processes.

Built approximately 4 years 9 months of progressive external audit experience, advancing from executing assigned audit procedures to independently managing audit areas, coordinating engagement teams, assessing risks, and leading financial statement audits across Investment Management, Real Estate, Healthcare, Manufacturing, and Nonprofit clients.

Responsibilities:

• Executed financial statement audit procedures, including tests of details, substantive analytics, and tests of operating effectiveness.
• Performed internal control walkthroughs and evaluated control design and operating effectiveness.
• Supported audit planning through materiality, risk identification, and significant risk assessments.
• Assessed risks of material misstatement, including fraud considerations, and adjusted audit approaches accordingly.
• Managed assigned audit areas and progressively took ownership of broader engagement responsibilities.
• Coordinated multiple audit engagements and delegated work to interns and staff.
• Managed audit team execution to support timely issuance of financial statements.
• Supervised, coached, and provided feedback to junior team members.
• Audited complex structures including group, master-feeder, and parent-subsidiary entities.
• Resolved complex accounting and audit matters with clients and engagement leadership, including research using FASB ASC guidance.

Impact:

• Progressed from Audit Assistant to In-Charge through increasing responsibility in audit execution, risk assessment, team coordination, and engagement management.
• Gained cross-industry audit experience across 5 major sectors.
• Progressed from performing audit procedures with minimal supervision to leading team execution and supporting timely audit issuance.

Impact:

• Gained hands-on experience in customer relationship management, issue resolution, communication, and service operations within a large-scale customer-focused organization.
• Developed strong communication and problem-solving skills that supported the subsequent transition into professional audit and client-facing roles.

Impact:

• Selected among 10 students from the college for the HSBC-focused Aspiring Minds workshop.
• Gained early practical exposure to banking operations, business functions, research, teamwork, and project-based problem solving.
• Developed an understanding of how different departments and business functions work together within a large financial institution.