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Cost & Management Consultants · New Delhi · Mumbai · India

A trusted advisor to CXOs
and senior management,
in India and abroad.

A specialist Cost and Management Accountancy practice for listed and growth-stage Indian companies and multinationals operating in India. We solve the strategic problems that matter most to our clients — cost, control, audit, automation, and compliance — through proprietary methodologies built on globally accepted frameworks, and delivered partner-led.

25+
Years of Audit & Cost Practice
(Principal’s experience)
4
Global Certifications
CMA · CIA · CISA · CFE
3
Partners
Finance · Tax/Legal · Technology
2
Offices
New Delhi · Mumbai
Entertainment & Consumer · Organised Retail · Real Estate · Global Industrials · Technology · Energy

The partner of choice
in value creation.

“The firm intends to establish itself as the most sought-after partner in value creation that matters most by solving the client’s strategic problems.”

That is the firm’s founding statement, and it shapes every mandate we accept. We are not generalists, and we do not measure ourselves by volume. We measure ourselves by whether the client’s problem — the one that matters — has been moved.

Each engagement is partner-led from data request to closing memo. The professional who signs the report is the professional who has done the work. Nothing is left to chance, and engagement expectations are not just met; they are exceeded. That is the standard the firm operates to, and the standard our clients have come to expect.

Proprietary methodologies,
built on globally accepted frameworks.

RKLCMA’s engagement methodologies are developed in-house and refined through the principal’s 25+ years of audit and consulting practice across multiple industries and functions, alongside the partners’ combined credential set. They draw upon the most rigorous global frameworks and are adapted to the realities of Indian listed-company and multinational engagements.

IIA PPF

The Institute of Internal Auditors Professional Practices Framework — foundational to our risk-based internal audit methodology and audit-committee orientation.

COSO

Committee of Sponsoring Organizations frameworks for Internal Control and Enterprise Risk Management — the basis of our ICFR and ERM engagements.

FCPA & Equivalent Frameworks

Anti-bribery and anti-corruption disciplines — the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the UK Bribery Act, the German Lieferkettengesetz, and equivalent Swiss and European frameworks — alongside SOX-equivalent control effectiveness, applied to multinational subsidiaries operating in India.

ISACA

Information Systems Audit and Control Association standards for IT governance, application controls, and SAP/ERP review — led by a CISA-certified partner.

ACFE

Association of Certified Fraud Examiners methodology for forensic review, fraud risk assessment, and investigation — led by a CFE-certified partner.

USGAAP · IFRS · INGAAP

Working knowledge of US, international, and Indian accounting standards — applied to multinational subsidiary accounting, group reporting, and statutory compliance.

These frameworks form the foundation. The firm’s own methodologies — proprietary audit manuals, costing models, control-testing protocols, AI-based automation pipelines, and workflow design templates — are built upon them and continuously refined through client engagements.

Mandates we accept.

We accept a deliberately curated set of mandates — those where the firm can move the needle on a problem that matters. Each is staffed by a senior team, scoped tightly, and held to a standard that produces a deliverable a CXO can place before a board or audit committee without revision.

01

Risk-Based Audit & Assurance

Independent, risk-prioritised audit and assurance work — covering internal audit under the IIA’s 2024 Global Standards, ICFR effectiveness testing, FCPA and anti-bribery reviews, forensic investigations under ACFE methodology, and co-source audit support for multinational groups. Conducted to global professional standards and Indian statutory requirements.

Methodology
02

Cost Optimisation & Business Process Management

Systematic identification and quantification of recoverable margin — and the redesign of the processes that produce it. Activity-based costing, vendor-spend Pareto analysis, TCO-based renegotiation, business process re-engineering, and operating-model redesign. Each finding quantified in financial terms with a specific implementation recommendation. The firm’s founding discipline.

Methodology
03

IT & Technology Audit

Review and governance of technology cost structures, ERP control environments, software licence portfolios, IT general controls, and AI-and-automation pipelines. Conducted with combined CISA-led financial audit perspective and CIO-level operational depth — a credential combination uncommon in Indian advisory practice.

Methodology
04

Tax, Legal & Regulatory

Compliance, advisory, and representation across direct tax, GST, company law, FEMA, and DPDP Act 2023. Including representation before tax authorities and appellate tribunals. Led by a senior Advocate and Fellow Chartered Accountant with 26+ years of practice and a long-standing role as GST Faculty at ICAI Delhi.

Methodology
05

ERP Process Management

End-to-end ownership and execution of ERP-anchored finance and operations processes — covering data migration, procure-to-pay management, reconciliation, SOPs, UAT, and steady-state process ownership across SAP and mixed-ERP environments. Supported by proprietary GST and vendor reconciliation infrastructure.

Methodology

Randhir Kumar Lal.
CMA · CIA · CISA · CFE.

A Cost and Management Accountant of the 1996 batch, with three further international certifications in internal audit, information systems audit, and fraud examination. The combination is held by very few professionals in India.

Group Internal Auditor at ABB Limited for Asia, the Middle East, and Africa — a Fortune Global 500 Swiss-Swedish power and automation group. Earlier, Lead Auditor at Convergys (now Concentrix), Assistant Manager at Amtek Auto, and Senior Audit Officer at JK Industries. Audit and consulting experience spans Finance, Manufacturing, Project Management, Supply Chain, Sales & Marketing, HR, and IT Governance & Security — across listed Indian groups, multinational subsidiaries, and process-industry operations.

The methodology, working-paper discipline, and audit-committee orientation developed across these engagements form the operating standard of the firm today — refined and codified into RKLCMA’s own audit manuals, costing models, and engagement protocols.

CMA — Certified Cost & Management Accountant (ICAI, 1996)
CIA — Certified Internal Auditor (IIA, United States, 2009)
CISA — Certified Information Systems Auditor (ISACA, 2010)
CFE — Certified Fraud Examiner (ACFE, United States, 2011)
The firm →
CMA · CIA · CISA · CFE

How client data is handled.

Our clients entrust us with SAP exports, vendor masters, GST ledgers, and board papers. The standard of care that material receives is non-negotiable, and built into the way the firm operates.

NDA-first engagement

Every mandate begins with a mutual non-disclosure agreement executed before any data is exchanged. No exceptions, no informal previews, no verbal commitments.

India-resident, encrypted storage

Client data resides on India-located infrastructure with encryption at rest and in transit. Working files are not held on personal devices or unmanaged accounts.

Role-based access

Access to engagement data is restricted to the assigned team. Access is logged. Access is reviewed. Departing team members are de-provisioned immediately.

Audit-grade working papers

Evidence retention, working-paper indexing, and partner-review disciplines developed across two decades of regulated audit practice and codified into the firm’s manuals.

The first thirty days.

A short, deliberate path from first contact to a deliverable in your hand. We do not run extended proposal cycles. The standard is set in the first four weeks — and nothing is left to chance.

Day 0

Confidential conversation

A thirty-minute call with the partner. We listen, we ask precise questions, and we form a view on whether the firm is the right fit for the mandate. That view is shared directly.

Day 3

Mutual NDA & scoping note

Executed NDA, followed by a one-page scoping note: objectives, boundaries, deliverables, fee range. Clarity before commitment, on both sides.

Day 7

Engagement letter & kickoff

Detailed engagement letter executed. Named team assigned. Weekly cadence agreed. Data request list issued. Kickoff held with the CXO and finance leadership.

Day 30

Initial findings memo

A preliminary findings memo on the partner’s letterhead. Direction, early observations, and course-corrections — issued while there is still time to act on them.

Recent writing from the firm.

All Articles →

Audit Practice Development

What the 2024 Global Internal Audit Standards mean for the Head of Audit running a global function

A peer-level brief on conformance with the IIA’s 2024 Global Internal Audit Standards, the five new pressure points for a Chief Audit Executive, and where the partner-led co-source model fits.

By Randhir Kumar Lal · CMA · CIA · CISA · CFE

Forensic & Procurement

Seven red flags procurement teams routinely miss in vendor due diligence

A CFE-trained framework drawing on Benford’s Law, the Fraud Triangle, Albrecht’s Fraud Scale, COSO ERM, and the Companies Act 2013.

By Randhir Kumar Lal · CMA · CIA · CISA · CFE

Finance Operations

Building a finance back-office that scales: in-house against KPO economics

A layer-by-layer view through the five tiers of a finance function — with an honest call on what to retain and what to outsource at each level.

By Randhir Kumar Lal · CMA · CIA · CISA · CFE

A thirty-minute conversation, with the partner.

If your problem is one we can move the needle on, you will know by the end of the call. If it is not, that will be communicated as well — with a thoughtful view on who could.

Message Randhir on WhatsApp →
Direct to the partner · randhir.lal@rklcma.com · +91 95609 68938