Three Chartered Accountants awarded Best Entrepreneur, Best CFO and Rising CFO at CA Sri Lanka awards

Three of Sri Lanka’s trailblazing Chartered Accountants walked away with the Best Entrepreneur, Best CFO, and Rising CFO awards organised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka) for transcending businesses to the next level and effectively contributing to both society and country.

Mr. Upali Jayasekara, Chairman/Managing Director of Mega Heaters Group was declared CA Sri Lanka’s Best Entrepreneur for the year 2022, while Mr. Daham Gunasena, General Manager – Finance at Ceylon Biscuits Limited was adjudged CA Sri Lanka’s Best CFO and Ms. Randi Kailashinie Thiranagama, Head of Finance at NSBM Green University was named Rising CFO.

The three outstanding members of CA Sri Lanka were presented with the awards following a stringent evaluation process. In addition to having the foresight to charter new territories, with their leadership and strategic capabilities, and the tenacity to push past accepted norms, they were recognised for their critical contributions to the business landscape, which helped them take the business to the next level, resulting in a positive impact on both society and country.

The awards were presented by Mr. Sanjaya Bandara, President of CA Sri Lanka, in the presence of Mr. Heshana Kuruppu, Vice President, and Ms. Dulani Fernando, Chief Executive Officer at the Monarch Imperial.

Mr. Sanjaya Bandara said that CA Sri Lanka has produced and continues to produce exceptional Chartered Accountants, who have moved away from the traditional number-crunching roles to take on leadership and strategic positions, apart from being identified as the brains behind many successful corporates.

“Our Chartered Accountants don’t limit themselves to only steering the corporate world, many of them have also gone on to set up businesses or continue their family legacy and convert small and medium businesses into successful business empires,” he said.  

Mr. Upali Jayasekara was adjudged Best Entrepreneur for been instrumental in turning around his family-owned business from a dying enterprise into a market leader with four state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities. Today, the business has branched out, diversifying into manufacturing, restaurants, hotels & accommodation, real estate, and information technology. The primary criteria for judging the best entrepreneur were based on the contribution to the economy, the volume of the enterprise, recorded growth and future growth plans.

Mr. Daham Gunasena was awarded the Best CFO for his contribution both to the corporate world, as well as the profession and society. He is a senior c-suite executive with over 20 years of experience in finance and supply chain and has a proven track record of successfully delivering outstanding commercial results to leading Sri Lankan and multinational organizations.

Ms. Randi Kailashinie Thiranagama was adjudged Rising CFO for her contribution to the organisation in terms of innovation, strategy deployment, and new product development. She has been an important pillar in contributing to the success of NSBM Green University due to ensuring the smooth financing of the project apart from being a member of the top management, where she contributes to the corporate and strategic leadership of the university.

In its standing as the vanguard in developing the accounting profession, CA Sri Lanka has produced over 3,400 Chief Financial Officers to date.