Trade Finance – Distribution & Receivables

About Company

The company operates in the beauty and personal care industry, focusing on developing and marketing consumer products through digital-first and direct-to-consumer channels.

Job Description

About the Role

As we expand into offline distribution across zones/states in India, we are building a strong Trade Finance function to manage distributor financing, receivables, credit control, and commercial hygiene.
This role will anchor the financial control layer between Sales, Supply Chain, and Distributors — ensuring tight governance over receivables, credit notes, schemes, claims, and working capital.
The candidate must be comfortable handling both offline trade debtors (distributors, super-stockists, retailers) and online channel receivables (marketplaces, quick commerce, D2C platforms).

Key Responsibilities

1. Distributor & Trade Finance Management

• Evaluate and set distributor credit limits based on financial strength and risk profiling
• Monitor:
  • Ageing
  • DSO
  • Zone-wise receivable trends
• Ensure timely collections and follow-ups with sales teams
• Manage debit/credit notes related to:
  • Schemes
  • Damage
  • Rate differences
  • Claims
• Reconcile distributor accounts periodically
• Track secondary sales impact on receivables

2. Credit Notes & Trade Schemes Governance

• Review and validate primary and secondary trade schemes
• Control issuance and accounting of:
  • Trade discounts
  • Quantity discounts
  • Damage claims
  • Expiry returns
  • Rate difference adjustments
  • Incentive payouts
• Ensure proper documentation and approvals for credit notes
• Prevent revenue leakage through strong internal controls

3. Online Channel Debtors Management

• Manage receivables from marketplaces and quick commerce platforms
• Reconcile:
  • Sales vs settlement reports
  • Claims
  • Returns
  • Penalties
  • Marketing spend adjustments
• Ensure accurate revenue recognition
• Monitor platform deduction patterns

4. Working Capital & Risk Control

• Drive reduction in DSO
• Identify risky distributor accounts and escalate early
• Monitor credit exposure by geography
• Support development of structured distributor financing model (if applicable)
• Coordinate with banks/NBFCs for channel financing structures

5. Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Work with Sales to align on:
  • Credit policies
  • Collection targets
  • Scheme rollouts
• Partner with Supply Chain for dispatch hold/release decisions
• Collaborate with Accounting for:
  • Revenue
  • Provisions
  • Audits

6. Controls, Audit & Reporting

• Ensure compliance with internal financial controls (IFC)
• Prepare trade receivable MIS including:
  • Ageing analysis
  • Collection efficiency
  • Credit exposure
  • Provisioning
• Support statutory and internal audit requirements
• Assist in drafting trade finance policies

Ideal Candidate Profile

Qualifications & Experience

• Chartered Accountant with 2–4 years of experience
• Prior experience in:
  • FMCG / Consumer / Retail / Distribution business (preferred)
  • Trade receivables / credit control

Technical & Functional Knowledge

• Strong understanding of:
  • Revenue recognition
  • Working capital cycles
  • Credit risk assessment
• Strong Excel and financial modelling skills

Behavioral Attributes

• High ownership mindset
• Comfortable working in a fast-scaling environment

What Success Looks Like

• Clean distributor reconciliations
• Reduced DSO and ageing buckets
• Strong credit note governance
• No revenue leakage through schemes
• Clear receivable visibility across online and offline channels