Group Chief Financial Officer (CFO) – Job Description
Role at a glance
The Group CFO will have the responsibility the finances of every promoter business end to end: real estate, food, hospitality, a consumer brand and any venture started next.
About us
Akshay Group is a family-led luxury residential developer in Mumbai, focused on housing-society redevelopment in premium areas in Mumbai.
The promoters also run:
• Neat Meals Company : healthy boxed meals and private chef services for HNI clients globally.
• CPG: a premium CPG brand launching in India across D2C, modern trade and quick commerce.
More ventures are planned, and the Group CFO will structure and run finance for each one.
Role purpose
The Group CFO is the promoters' single point of accountability for money, compliance and financial risk across every business. The role runs from voucher-level detail to the big calls on funding, structure and margins.
The goal: every entity fully compliant, protected from disputes, well funded and more profitable each year.
Key responsibilities
The Group CFO owns twelve areas across all businesses; a line that names a business applies to that business only.
1. Accounting and financial control
• Own every entity's books: accurate entries, reconciliations and a disciplined month-end close.
• Deliver monthly MIS for each business and a consolidated group view (P&L, cash flow, debt, receivables, payables).
• Set and enforce internal controls: delegation of authority, payment approvals, vendor checks and segregation of duties.
• Keep each legal entity's invoicing, payroll and bank accounts separate and correctly named.
• Real estate: project-wise accounts, cost-to-complete tracking and revenue recognition under applicable standards, with correct treatment of rehab units, member rent, TDR, premiums and borrowing costs.
• Food and consumer: inventory, recipe and SKU costing, wastage tracking and marketplace reconciliations.
• Run statutory, tax and internal audits and close every audit point.
• Choose and run the right accounting and ERP systems for each business.
2. Taxation
• Own direct tax end to end: advance tax, TDS/TCS, returns, tax audits and assessments under the Income-tax Act, 2025, plus legacy years under the 1961 Act.
• Own GST across businesses: registrations, returns, input-credit optimisation, e-invoicing, reverse charge and reconciliations.
• Real estate: GST on development rights, rehab units for existing members and sale units; stamp duty and registration on development agreements, permanent alternate accommodation agreements (PAAAs) and sales.
• Food and consumer: correct GST classification and rates for boxed meals, chef placements, catering and protein products; customs duty on imports.
• Manage cross-border tax: withholding on foreign payments, treaty benefits, remittance paperwork and transfer pricing.
• Plan tax efficiently, within the law, across entities, transactions and promoter remuneration.
• Represent the group, with advisors, in scrutiny assessments, GST audits, show-cause notices and appeals.
3. Compliance and policy tracking
• Run a compliance calendar for every entity with zero missed deadlines, covering:
o Companies Act and LLP filings, board processes, related-party approvals, and inter-company loans and guarantees (Sections 185, 186 and 188)
o RERA/MahaRERA: designated project accounts, withdrawal certificates, periodic updates and annual audits
o Redevelopment obligations under the MCS Act (Section 79A) and development agreements: bank guarantees, corpus, rent and shifting payments
o The Labour Codes: wage structuring, PF, ESIC, gratuity, professional tax and contract labour
o FEMA: foreign investment, overseas entities, imports and cross-border payments
o FSSAI licences and import clearance, Legal Metrology and customs for the food and consumer businesses
• Track changes in tax law, GST Council decisions, RERA circulars, budgets and government policy; brief the promoters on impact and action as they land.
4. Risk, disputes and litigation
• Vet the financial, tax, indemnity and payment terms of every material contract.
• Keep documentation and audit trails that stop disputes before they start.
• Maintain a group litigation and contingent-liability register, with provisions where needed.
• Lead tax-dispute strategy and appeals with external advisors.
• Keep insurance adequate: contractor's all-risk and project cover, product liability, key-person and directors' liability.
5. Financial planning and analysis
• Build annual budgets and three-to-five-year plans for each business and the group.
• Model every redevelopment bid: FSI and TDR, premiums, member entitlements, construction cost, sales absorption, financing, IRR and cash-flow sensitivity.
• Run rolling cash-flow forecasts and recommend capital allocation across businesses.
• Track unit economics in food and consumer: cost per meal, contribution by SKU and channel, acquisition cost and repeat rates.
6. Fundraising and capital structure
• Raise and manage debt: construction finance, structured and private credit, NBFC and AIF funding, and working-capital lines.
• Raise equity as needed: project partners, family offices, institutional and foreign investors, and angel or venture capital for consumer brands.
• Prepare investor materials (models, information memoranda, data rooms) and lead due diligence, valuations and term sheets.
• Structure investor commitments and fund arrangements, keeping all foreign capital FEMA-compliant.
• Manage lender covenants, security creation and on-time servicing.
7. Banking and treasury
• Own all banking relationships; negotiate pricing, limits, bank guarantees, letters of credit and escrow structures.
• Run daily cash management and fund flows across entities and projects; deploy surplus within an approved treasury policy.
• Assemble the financial-capability package societies ask for in tenders: bank guarantees, investor comfort letters, net-worth and solvency certificates, audited financials.
• Manage foreign-currency payments and receipts for overseas suppliers, partners and clients.
8. Margin improvement and cost control
• Real estate: benchmark construction costs, audit contractor bills with the QS and PMC, cut procurement costs, time premium payments well and lower finance costs.
• Neat Meals: control food cost, wastage, procurement, packaging and logistics; price meal plans and chef placements to protect margin.
• CPG: optimise landed cost (manufacturing, freight, duty), channel margins and trade spend.
• Hold monthly margin reviews with business heads and drive agreed actions to closure.
9. Government incentives and subsidies
• Identify, apply for and track central and state incentives: MSME (Udyam) benefits, Startup India recognition, food-processing schemes, export incentives, state industrial-policy incentives, CGTMSE-backed credit and stamp-duty or premium concessions.
• Meet every scheme condition so claims are actually realised.
10. New-business structuring
• Be the go-to advisor when the promoters start a business: entity type (company, LLP, subsidiary, SPV or joint venture), shareholding and holding structure, capital structure, and tax and FEMA impact.
• Set up registrations, bank accounts, accounting, controls and the compliance calendar from day one, then run its finance like every other business.
• Advise on group structure as the portfolio grows: project SPVs, a holding company, intra-group funding and ring-fencing of risk.
• Coordinate overseas entity set-up and compliance with local advisors where a business needs one.
11. Promoter finances
• Coordinate the promoters' personal tax compliance and investment records, keeping personal and business money clearly separate.
• Support wealth and succession structuring with external advisors, as the promoters direct.
12. Team and advisors
• Hire, train and manage up to one Junior Accountant each for Akshay Group, Neat Meals and CPG brand, as needed.
• Manage auditors, tax advisors, the company secretary, legal counsel and valuers, holding them to deadlines and agreed fees.
• Document SOPs so finance never depends on one person.
What success looks like in 12 months
A strong first year leaves the group fully compliant, well funded and measurably more profitable:
• Zero penalties, defaults or missed statutory deadlines in any entity.
• On-time monthly MIS for every business and the group.
• Project-wise P&L and cash flow for every active redevelopment project.
• Funding lined up for the project pipeline on competitive terms.
• A margin plan for each business, with measurable gains.
• Clean audits, with every tax and legal exposure mapped, provided for and managed.
• Eligible government incentives identified and claims filed.
Qualifications
• Chartered Accountant (ICAI): mandatory.
• LLB, CS, CMA or MBA (Finance): a strong advantage.
Experience
• 15+ years post-qualification, including 5+ years as CFO, Head of Finance or Financial Controller at a real estate developer.
• Mumbai housing-society redevelopment experience strongly preferred.
• A record of raising construction finance and running lender relationships.
• Hands-on handling of tax assessments, GST disputes and appeals.
• Exposure to F&B, FMCG or consumer start-ups, imports and cross-border payments: a strong advantage.
• Experience in a promoter-led or family business preferred.
Knowledge
• Working command of income tax (including the Income-tax Act, 2025), GST, RERA/MahaRERA, the Companies Act, the Maharashtra Stamp Act, the MCS Act on redevelopment, FEMA, the Labour Codes, FSSAI, and AS/Ind AS.
• Strong financial modelling and Excel; Tally and a real-estate ERP such as Farvision.
