Goel resigns as Byju's CFO, will finish work on FY22 statement

Byju’s chief financial officer Ajay Goel, who was brought on board to improve the edtech’s financial compliance has quit in six months, in a jolt for the company that has attempted to streamline its finances. He will join Vedanta Ltd, his previous employer, on 30 October.

- Ranjani Raghavan

Goel will complete work on Byju’s audited 2021-22 financial statement before leaving, Byju’s said in a statement. The statement, which was due by September 2022, is pending approval from auditor BDO Global, a person briefed on the development said on condition of anonymity.

The top job for Goel, who was appointed in April after a multi-year search, was to finalize 2021-22 accounts by September 2023 and issue 2022-23 audited accounts by December 2023.

“He will transition after completing the formalities of the FY22 audit," the company said in a statement. Goel thanked Byju’s founders and colleagues “for helping me assemble the FY22 audit in three months".

Byju’s has struggled with releasing its audited accounts on time for three years in a row. It filed its 2020-21 audited statements after a delay of 18 months in September 2022. Its long-standing auditor, Deloitte Haskins and Sells, quit in June 2023, citing a non-response from the company, which led to the appointment of BDO as its new auditor. Three external board members representing investors also quit in June, forcing the company to set up an external advisory council.