Meet the founder
Niranjala is a dualqualified Chartered Accountant (CA ANZ and ICAEW) and Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA)
Niranjala Siriwardena
CA (ANZ, ICAEW), CTA
Niranjala's career has spanned mid-tier accounting firms and the
Big Four, culminating in senior finance advisory
roles at PwC Australia. At PwC, she worked across CFO Advisory and Outsourced CFO services, leading multientity
engagements across Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States. Her
work spanned cross-border financial reporting and consolidations, internal controls and governance, technical
accounting under IFRS and AASB, and ERP and systems implementation.
Mid Tear - Mid Tier Firms
Business advisory and tax services for SME clients across Australia.
Big Four - PwC Australia
Senior finance advisory roles in CFO Advisory and Outsourced CFO services, leading multi-entity engagements across Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States.
Nov 2025 - GNS Strateggic Advisory
Boutique practice founded across three streams: CFO Advisory, Professional Practice Advisory, and Workplace Cancer Advocacy.
The story behind GNS STRATEGIC ADVISORY
In July 2024, Niranjala underwent thyroid cancer surgery. What came next wasn't a recovery.
It was a discovery: Most workplaces want to support their people through cancer. Few have the structure, training, or experience to do it well. That gap is what GNS exists to close. With more than thirteen years of public practice experience and senior finance advisory roles at PwC Australia, Niranjala set out to do something about it. Over the following twelve months, she engaged with Australia’s peak cancer organisations.
On workplace policy reform and submitted a formal request to the Senate Community Affairs References Committee for
a national inquiry. GNS Strategic Advisory was founded to bring senior financial expertise to the moments that matter most: businesses scaling, with confidence, accounting firms building for the next decade, and workplaces and survivors navigating cancer together.
fROM jULY 2024
THE JOURNEY
Thyroid cancer surgery
Niranjala underwent a total thyroidectomy. The experience shaped both her career and the practice she went on to build.
A year of recovery and reflection
A period of recovery from surgery, return to professional life, and growing awareness of the workplace cancer survivorship gap in Australia.
Engagement with Cancer Australia
Engaged with the CEO, Medical Director, and senior leadership team at Cancer Australia's Sydney office, discussing workplace survivorship and the gaps in Australian policy infrastructure. Working relationships established
Senate inquiry submission
A formal submission to the Senate Community Affairs References Committee on workplace cancer survivorship in Australia, calling for a national inquiry into policy reform and the workplace dimension of cancer survivorship.
GNS Strategic Advisory founded
A boutique practice launched across three streams: CFO Advisory for mid-market businesses, Professional Practice Advisory for accounting firms, and Workplace Cancer Advocacy for individuals and organisations.
GNS STRATEGIC ADVISORY FOUNDED NOVEMBER 2025
Where resilience becomes strategy.
Growth
Senior financial leadership for businesses ready to scale.
Navigation
Considered guidance through complex moments.
Survivorship
Workplace cancer advocacy and reform
THE PRACTICE
Three streams. One practice. Built on purpose.
Each stream emerged from a different part of Niranjala's career, and from the same conviction that complex moments deserve considered guidance.
01 cfo advisory
Built on thirteen years of public practice and
senior finance advisory experience at PwC
Australia. This is the technical foundation of the practice — financial reporting, governance, risk and controls, and the senior judgement that growing businesses need at board level.
02 PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
A career spent inside accounting firms, from
mid-tier to Big Four, gave Niranjala a clear view of what makes practices thrive and what holds them back. This stream brings that perspective to firm principals navigating
succession, growth, technology, and compliance.
03 workplace cancer
The stream that gave GNS its purpose. Lived experience of cancer, combined with senior
advisory expertise, to help organisations build cancer-friendly workplaces and to support survivors navigating their careers through illness, recovery, and return.
A PRACTICE FOR COMPLEX MOMENTS
Serving people and organisations navigating complex moments.
Let’s talk about what’s possible
Financial clarity.
Practice strength.
Workplace cancer advocacy. Start here.
Every good engagement starts with a conversation. Tell us what you're navigating, and we'll tell you honestly whether and how we can help.
