BYJU’s CFO Ajay Goel quits after audit, Nitin Golani gets additional charge of India CFO

PTI, Oct 24, 2023, 2:29 PM IST

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Edtech company BYJU’S Chief Financial Officer Ajay Goel has quit the company after completing the audit process for the financial year 2022 and is returning to Vedanta, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

The edtech major has roped in industry veteran Pradip Kanakia as the senior advisor, and President (Finance) Nitin Golani has been given additional responsibility as India Chief Finance Officer (CFO) to handle the finance function of the company.

”I thank the founders and colleagues at BYJU’S for helping me assemble the FY’22 audit in three months. I appreciate the support received during a short but impactful stint at BYJU’S,” Goel said.

He will transition after completing the formalities of the financial year (FY) 2022 audit, the statement said.

The company had planned a board meeting in the second week of October to adopt the result but it could not be held due to the resignation of Goel in process, according to sources.

While the audit process by Goel is complete, the auditor BDO (MSKA & Associates) will sign off the audit after doing due diligence as the resignation of the CFO has a material impact on the company’s audit process.

The FY 2022 result will be placed before BYJU’s board for adoption after BDO (MSKA & Associates) completes the process, the source said.

Goel has resigned after his six-month stint at the company. BYJU’s announced his appointment in the first week of April as Group CFO but due to internal restructuring he was given charge of handling finance at India level.

Within two months of Goel’s joining, BYJU’s auditor Deloitte resigned in June citing a delay in the submission of financial statements for FY 2022.

In a letter to the Byju’s board, Deloitte Haskins and Sells said that it is resigning as auditor of Think & Learn three years prior to the expiry of its contract due to a long delay in the edtech firm’s financial statement for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2022.

Post Deloitte Haskins and Sells resignation, the company had appointed BDO (MSKA & Associates) as auditor.

Kankia, onboarded by BYJU’S as senior advisor, comes with over 35 years of experience including leadership positions at Price Waterhouse and KPMG.

Golani was previously the Chief Strategy Officer at Aakash Education and played a crucial role in Byju’s USD 1 billion acquisition of Aakash in 2021 and moved into an operating role at Aakash post-acquisition.

He began his career at Grant Thornton Bharat and has held roles at MetLife and Accenture Strategy.

BYJU’s Founders Byju Raveendran and Divya Gokulnath thanked Goel for his contributions during his tenure as CFO and expressed confidence in the new team.

Golani said he would take up the new role alongside a dedicated team.

”I am committed to ensuring that BYJU’S growth is robust and sustainable. My endeavour now is to maximise shareholder value by optimising financial performance,” he said.