Shihan Sheriff

About Shihan

The Story

From Accounting to A Bigger Mission

The FoundationJohn Keells Hotels, 2005

Joined John Keells Hotels as an Accountant. Authored the group's annual report, which won Best Annual Report for Hotel Companies (2005-06), and was named Employee of the Year for 2006-07.

The BuildOlive Real Estate, 2008

Moved to Dubai as Finance & Admin Manager at Olive Real Estate, engineering the finance function from scratch and writing the HR and admin policies.

The ScaleEsanjo, 2010

Joined Esanjo as Finance Manager in Downtown Dubai and was promoted to Chief Financial Officer in 2012, a role he still holds, leading finance for the whole group, including JadoPado.com, with teams in the UAE and overseas.

The TransformationFinance Meets Data

Moved the finance function from manual work to automation and data analytics. His qualifications include two MBAs (Data Science and AI; General).

The MissionNomod and Money Master HQ

VP of Finance at Nomod, a Y Combinator-backed fintech, since 2022, and founder of Money Master HQ (SS Coaching, LLC), making finance and accounting simple for business owners through books, the podcast, free tools and the Growth and Scale Summit.

"Finance should not be a language only accountants speak. My mission is to make it simple for everyone."
Core Expertise

Where Finance Meets Real Growth

1

Financial Strategy & Corporate Finance

Financial modelling, treasury, cash flow and corporate finance that turn numbers into decisions.

2

Financial Reporting & Consolidation

IFRS reporting, group consolidation, variance analysis and cost accounting across multiple entities and industries.

3

Audit, Risk & Internal Controls

Internal and external audit, risk management and internal controls that protect the business and build trust.

4

AI for Finance & Education

Two MBAs (Data Science and AI; General) and 250+ educational and professional courses, applied to finance workflows and taught in plain English to non-finance professionals.

FinanceAccountingFinancial AuditsInternal ControlsCash FlowIFRSConsolidationFinancial ReportingVariance AnalysisCost AccountingRisk ManagementExternal AuditFinancial ModellingInternal AuditCorporate FinanceTreasury Management
Experience & Credibility

Awards & Recognition

Bronze Medal, IPPY Awards 2024 (international award-winning author)

Four-time Amazon bestselling author

Speaker at the Accounting and Finance Show 2019 and 2020

Advisor, Advisory Panel, Accounting and Finance Show 2019 (organised by Terrapin)

Vice Chairman, Sri Lankan Business Council, U.A.E. (past Director Secretary to the Board and past Director of Business Development)

Employee of the Year, Hotels Sector, John Keells Hotels (2006-07)

Part of the team awarded Best Annual Report for Hotel Companies (2005-06)

Global Book Awards 2024 winner

Certified AI App Builder (1000x AI, 2025)

Executive Development Programme on Anti Money Laundering, Postgraduate Institute of Management (2022)

Presentation Skills, Harvard Business Review (2022)

Host of the Growth and Scale Summit

Fellow Chartered Management Accountant (FCMA) · CGMA · CPA (Australia) · UAECA · Two MBAs: Data Science and AI, Ascencia Business School (High Distinction); General, Torrens University Australia (High Distinction) · Doctorate of Business Administration (in progress), SBS Swiss Business School

Shihan Sheriff
About Shihan

Shihan Sheriff is CFO at Esanjo Ventures Ltd and Group and VP of Finance at Nomod, a Y Combinator-backed fintech based in Dubai, U.A.E. With over 20 years of experience in finance and accounting across hospitality, real estate, e-commerce and fintech, he is a four-time Amazon bestselling and two-time international award-winning author, including a Bronze Medal at the IPPY Awards 2024. He is the founder of Money Master HQ (SS Coaching, LLC) and host of The Money Master HQ Show. Outside work he enjoys time with his family, cricket and tennis.

LinkedIn Recommendations

In Their Words

Shihan earns my highest recommendation

It was a great pleasure to work with Shihan at Keells Hotel Management Ltd, Colombo. He is a fantastic professional who brings all of his skills and expertise in accounting. Shihan has made me improve in many internal accounting procedures and helped immensely to improve my knowledge of SAP financial modules. His ability to work through the crisis and develop new ways to achieve the targets were always inspiring. I am delighted to work and learn with such professionals. As a leader, Shihan earns my highest recommendation.
Asela Jayasekara

He will be a valuable asset to any company

I know Shihan since he began working for JKH as an Accountant. I have seen his remarkable transition to a full-time accountant within a short period of time. Since then, there is no looking back for Shihan and his passion for accounting procedures makes him a valuable asset for the firm. Shihan takes every task as a challenge and completes it successfully. He is hardworking, excellent with numbers, and extremely punctual. Everyone in the company values his sense of expertise in making things quite easy to understand. I highly recommend Shihan for any top managerial position like CEO in any organization that he wishes to apply to.
Sinan Mohamed

I would love to work with him again

Shihan is a delightful person to be around. He is the most profound person I have met and his ability to tackle any problem is remarkable with a warm smile. During his initial career with Olive real estate, he mastered the art of managing finance and administration. Being one of the most dedicated professionals I have worked with, he is always willing to lend a helping hand when needed. His expertise as a finance head is considerable, and it helped the owners come up with more efficient ideas on different leads. His contribution was valuable to the side, I highly admire his professional growth and would love to work with him again.
Satya Chitra S

He was professional and understanding

Shihan was my CFO at JadoPado.com and he is one of the best supervisors that I have worked with. He was professional and understanding. He has a unique ability to organize the working process in a way that lets employees demonstrate the full extent of their professional skills. I also have to thank him for helping me to improve my excel and analytical skills. He is a true leader.
Lakshika Weerapura

Very experienced in Finance, Accounting and Automation

Shihan is indeed a charismatic leader and mentor and I believe my Esanjo team would all be in the same page with regards to it. He has many years of experience in the field of Finance, Accounting and Automation, he knows variety of creative methods and he always ensures what he learned is passed on to others and he loves sharing knowledge. He is very good at organizing and bringing people together and very calm under pressure and is always able to manage unforeseen events smoothly. It was a great pleasure to work with him and will always look forward to work with him in future.
Wasil Nawfal, MBA, CIMA

A highly intellectual and meticulous person

Shihan is a highly intellectual and meticulous person with amazing analytical skills in finance and operations. A great people person and a genuine asset to any company. It was a real pleasure working with him.
Justine Chetty
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