João Luís studied Accounting and Business Management at ISCAL Lisbon Accounting and Business School, graduating with a Bachelor's degree in Accounting and a degree in Auditing. He also holds a postgraduate degree in Strategic Management from Universidade Católica Portuguesa (Lisbon) and another postgraduate degree in Artificial Intelligence for Management from ISCTE University Institute of Lisbon.
After graduating, he started his professional career as an Assistant at Arthur Andersen, which was acquired by Deloitte Portugal in 2002. During his 20 years with the company, he rose to the position of Associate Partner and worked in the Business Process Outsourcing division. He gained in-depth expertise in financial management, tax compliance, ERP implementation and project management. He was later invited to join KPMG as an Associate Partner, where he rebuilt the Business Services & Outsourcing Practice in Portugal and Angola, doubling revenue and headcount and achieving the highest employee satisfaction score in Portugal in internal surveys.
Throughout his international career, João Luís has held executive finance roles across various industries. As Finance Director at iBASIS (part of the French Tofane Global Group), he was responsible for financial operations in Portugal, France, India and the Dominican Republic, supporting M&A integrations and global reporting. As CFO at Hiperfrio (industrial refrigeration), he implemented advanced reporting, cost optimisation and strategic budgeting, which helped reverse operating losses. He also worked as an Associate Partner at Crowe Portugal (one of the world's largest auditing networks), where he headed the transaction services (corporate finance) division.
João Luís is a certified External Auditor, certified Accountant, certified Navision (later Microsoft Business Centre) Functional Consultant and is recognised by the Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa as a specialist in Financial Accounting. His technical skills include MS Power Business Intelligence (BI), Visual Basic and ERP platforms such as SAP, Microsoft Dynamics NAV and Primavera.
He has authored technical articles, spoken publicly on topics such as Portuguese GAAP, VAT triangular transactions and outsourcing strategies, and has lectured financial accounting at ISCAL Lisbon Accounting and Business School. His achievements include leading ERP implementation projects for SMEs and large enterprises, as well as process optimisation and automation using robotic process automation (RPA) technologies.
He combines strategic vision, operational discipline and people-centred leadership skills in a rare way. This makes him a trustworthy partner for clients who need advice in the areas of financial transformation or digital financial strategies. Thanks to his multicultural background and fluency in Portuguese, English and Spanish, he is a valuable asset for international mandates.
João Luís is your Expert in the fields of strategic finance, business transformation and growth acceleration, particularly for founders, board members and CEOs looking to build resilient financial processes and scale performance in Europe and Africa.
- Degree in Audit, Instituto Superior de Contabilidade e Administração de Lisboa (ISCAL), Lisbon/Portugal
- Bachelor's Degree in Accounting, Instituto Superior de Contabilidade e Administração de Lisboa (ISCAL), Lisbon
- Post-Graduation in Artificial Intelligence for Management, ISCTE Executive Education (University Institute of Lisbon)
- Post-Graduation in Strategic Management, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Lisbon
- Certified External Auditor, Ordem dos Revisores Oficiais de Contas (Portuguese External Auditors Institute)
- Certified Accountant in Portugal
- Certified Specialist in Financial Accounting, Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa, Lisbon
- Certified Navision Functional Consultant, Microsoft Dynamics NAV/Business Central
- Board & Management Consulting
- Executive & Business Coaching
- Strategic & Digital Financial Management
- Building Resilient Financial Processes
- Business Transformation & Growth Acceleration
- HR Consulting & Development
- Project Management
- CFO of Hiperfrio – Refrigeração Industrial e Comercial Lda, a leading Portuguese company in the field of industrial refrigeration (engineering & manufacturing), with particular responsibility for:
- Management of the finance and administration departments (13 employees) with branches in Portugal, Angola, Colombia, Venezuela and Poland.
- Responsible for treasury, financial accounting, controlling, human resources, purchasing, warehousing/inventory, occupational health and safety.
- Introduction of monthly reporting, budgeting, deferred tax and WIP/work in progress procedures.
- Introduction of a flexible benefits scheme.
- Improvement of ERP usage and risk management procedures.
- Tax savings of 1 million Euros.
- Renegotiation of key supplier contracts and improvement of operating profitability.
- Consultant & Certified External Auditor for several companies across various industries, including technology, law, telecommunications and SMEs:
- Provision of auditing and consulting services in the areas of statutory auditing, taxation, finance and accounting.
- Management of SSC/Shared Service Centre implementations, system optimisations and complete restructuring.
- Introduction of IFRS 15 and intra-group reconciliations.
- Supporting clients such as Tofane Global, Numeric Consulting and Whale Labs.
- Associate Partner at CROWE LLP Portugal, one of the world's largest accounting networks with more than 200 independent accounting and consulting firms in over 130 countries, responsible in particular for:
- Head of Transaction Services (Corporate Finance) at Crowe Portugal.
- Building the department, developing methodologies, hiring and training teams.
- Leading and supervising several financial (M&A) due diligence reviews.
- Business development and building strategic client relationships.
- Finance Director & Senior Finance Manager at iBASIS, a leading global telecommunications company and part of the French Tofane Global Group (ranked third among the world's largest wholesale voice providers), with particular responsibility for:
- Managing the finance department for subsidiaries in Portugal, France, India and the Dominican Republic.
- Management of financial accounting, budgeting, IFRS reporting, audits, regulatory compliance, M&A and post-acquisition integration.
- Collaboration with the group headquarters and the SSC (Shared Service Centre) in the USA (Lexington) in the areas of reporting, intra-group pricing, tax matters and intercompany alignments.
- Finance Director at BIND – Sociedade de Advogados, a full-service law firm and member of the international network IR Global, with particular responsibility for:
- Finance & Controlling/KPI, budgeting & forecasting, treasury, business development, risk management, debt collection, asset protection, tax returns and personnel matters.
- Management of the finance and administration team.
- Strategic management in support of the Executive Board.
- Visiting Professor at ISCAL – Lisbon Accounting & Business School, Guest Professor for students in the field of financial accounting.
- Associate Partner at KPMG in Portugal, in the area of Global Compliance Management Services (primarily Business Services & Outsourcing as well as Operations Management), with particular responsibility for:
- Management of 45 specialists in Portugal and Angola, including personnel matters.
- Implementation of automation projects using OCR (Optical Character Recognition) and RPA (Robotic Process Automation).
- Carrying out strategic ERP integrations, process optimisations & compliance support.
- Other topics included, among others, record to report, consolidation, purchase to pay, treasury, order to cash invoicing, debt collection, controlling, budgeting, start-ups, mergers, spin-offs & liquidations, project & business process management, as well as tax compliance.
- Doubling of the business unit's revenue.
- Achievement of the highest employee satisfaction rating in KPMG Portugal's global employee survey.
- Associate Partner at Deloitte in Portugal, in the areas of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), Accounting & Tax Compliance, as well as ERP Implementation; in the industrial, telecommunications, pharmaceutical and real estate sectors:
- 20-year career from assistant to partner, starting at Arthur Andersen & Co., which was taken over by Deloitte in Portugal in 2002.
- Management of large outsourcing teams and technical implementations (e.g. Microsoft Dynamics NAV).
- Supervision and management of more than 350 full-time employees.
- Responsible for ERP implementation in more than 200 companies.
- Implementation of projects in the fields of cost accounting, controlling and financial management, consolidation, treasury, financial reporting and M&A for Portuguese and international clients.
- Responsibility as a chartered accountant.
- Member of Deloitte Europe's BPS/Business Process Solutions Technology Committee: definition and implementation of the BPS Technology Standard Operating Model and the Business Digital Hub.
Global travel & cultural explorations, wine tasting, music & jazz lover, nature walks, outdoor reflection, football, cinema, history, cross-cultural business learning, ethical leadership & sustainability, purpose-driven finance, economic development, impact investing, lifelong learning & curious mind.
