Clean books are a daily habit
Why the annual audit should be a formality, not a fire drill — the weekly reconciliation discipline that makes it so.
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01 · The controller
— Farah Sheikh
Every rupee accounted, every fund where it belongs
Certified Financial Planner and SEBI-registered investment adviser representative with ten years of experience serving technology professionals, doctors and business owners. Builds goal-based portfolios, plans ESOP diversification and tax-efficient withdrawals, and reviews insurance cover.
AUDITED
Finance card
Particulars · one glanceBaseBengaluru, Karnataka
RoleSenior Wealth Advisor…
HandlesBudgets · fees · payroll · audit
ComplianceGST · TDS · trust / 12A-80G
ToolsTally · ERP · advanced Excel
StatusOpen · 90-day notice
02 · The books
What I manage & safeguard
Budgets to audits, fees to payroll, compliance to cashflow — the school's finances held to standard.
Financial planning
Asset allocation
ESOP and RSU planning
Tax-efficient investing
Retirement planning
Estate planning basics
Client retention
Team mentoring
03 · How I run it
Stewardship, not just bookkeeping
Institutional finance isn't bookkeeping — it's stewardship. Every rupee in a school's account is a parent's trust and a child's opportunity, and it deserves to be handled with both precision and conscience. My job is to make sure the money is where it should be, spent on what it should be, and provable to anyone who asks — the board, the auditor, or a parent. Clean books aren't a year-end scramble; they're a daily discipline. Do that, and the audit is a formality.
- PlanA realistic annual budget built with departments, not imposed on them — tied to the school's priorities, not last year's copy-paste.
- RecordEvery transaction booked accurately and promptly. Reconciliation is weekly, not annual — surprises live in the gaps between.
- ComplyGST, TDS, PF, trust regulations — tracked on a calendar and filed before the deadline, every time, without exception.
- ReportClear MIS for the board and honest answers for parents. Transparency is cheaper than suspicion, always.
04 · Track record
Eighteen years, ledger to boardroom
Senior Wealth Advisor
Fee-only registered investment advisory firm
Advise 110 families with combined investable assets of about ₹420 crore under written financial plans reviewed twice a year. Retained 96 percent of clients over five years, with most new mandates coming through referrals from existing families.
5 years
Relationship Manager, Wealth
Private sector bank wealth management division
Handled a book of 180 high-net-worth clients, growing assets under management from ₹150 crore to ₹260 crore. Cross-sold term and health insurance after documented need analysis, maintaining a nil mis-selling complaint record.
05 · Credentials
Education
MBA (Finance)
Private business schoolB.Com
Autonomous commerce college
06 · Qualifications
Certifications
Certified Financial Planner (CFP)…
NISM Series X-A and X-B: Investment…
NISM Series XV: Research Analyst
07 · Honours
Recognised & relied on
9 consecutive clean auditsStatutory & trust, zero findings
2015–GST transition delivered on timeMulti-campus trust, no disruption
2017Fee-leakage eliminatedDigitisation saved lakhs annually
2016Featured — 'Clean Books Are a Daily Habit'On school financial governance
2022
08 · Notes
MAY 2026 FEB 2026 OCT 2025
Notes from the finance office
A school's money is a trust
How thinking of institutional finance as stewardship, not accounting, changes every decision about how funds are handled.
Read →Budgeting with departments
Why budgets imposed from the finance office fail — and how building them with teachers makes the numbers real and honoured.
Read →
09 · From the board
What they say
From the board · 01
Nine clean audits in a row. Our trustees sign the accounts without anxiety because Farah's books are simply always right.
Trust ChairmanANAND NIKETAN TRUSTFrom the board · 01
He steered us through GST without a single disruption to fees or payroll. Technically excellent and completely trustworthy.
Trustee & Auditor liaisonGOVERNING BODYFrom the board · 01
Salaries have never once been late in the years he's run finance. For a teacher, that quiet reliability means everything.
Senior TeacherSTAFF REPRESENTATIVE
10 · For boards & trusts
The hiring brief
₹ AVAILABLE 2027 · HAND ME THE BOOKS THAT WORRY YOU — I'LL MAKE THEM AUDIT-READY
Current roleSenior Wealth Advisor, Fee-only registered investment advisory…
Open toFinance manager · controller · CFO (education trust)
HandlesBudgets · fees · payroll · compliance · audit
Expected salary₹12–20 LPA / negotiable
Notice period90 days
Willing to relocateYes — Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru · trusts & institutions
Chairman, Anand Niketan TrustCURRENT · SHARED ON REQUEST
Statutory Auditor (partner firm)ON RECORD · SHARED ON REQUEST
11 · Reach me