Three accounting executives tell of their career development and give their views on what our youngsters joining the profession should do to prepare themselves well for the challenge. Here comes Part III – Simon Lee.

The passion and enthusiasm in training is the reason Simon Lee looks beyond his traditional accounting roles and shifts to the academic field. “I love doing training and being a university lecturer fulfils my goal. There is a great deal of flexibility in designing and delivering my training of accountancy to the students,” he says.

Simon has just moved to Hong Kong Baptist University as lecturer of the Department of Accountancy & Law (effective Sept 2006) after seven years with Chinese University of Hong Kong where he was instructor of the School of Accountancy. The new job presents fresh challenges that he is prepared to take on vigilantly to realise his ambition in teaching and training.

Watershed of Career
After completing his Physics study at Chinese University in 1990, he started off as a management trainee of MTR Corp and obtained MBA two years later. The year 1995 was the watershed of his career when he acquired ACCA qualification, which laid the cornerstone of his career development. Simon was with Airport Authority on corporate finance before he decided to pick up his teacher's pointer in 1999.

“My training pursuit is not confined within the campus. I have been conducting training programmes for business organisations on personal financial planning in the past few years,” Simon says. Another ambition is to put his business exposure and training experience into black and white, and to produce a textbook on accountancy for secondary school students.

As regards the current shortage of accountants on the market, he said it would take some time to train up young professionals to meet industry needs. “Training plays a key role in the supply of competent accountants. We have to conduct training all the time, regardless of the economic performance and market conditions.”

With the promising career prospect of the accounting profession, more young people are showing interest in accountancy studies.

Not Just Numbers
New accounting standards and financial rules as well as the tightening of regulatory controls have put substantial pressure on the industry, keeping all practitioners constantly on the run. “Accountants are facing increased pressure and workload in a tight labour market. The rise of China's economy and Chinese enterprises also gives rise to demand for more works and more experienced accountants who know the way of doing business and dealing with people in the mainland,” Simon says.

His recommendations for students and junior accountants are that they have to brace themselves for the increasing requirements. “It is not just about doing with numbers being an accountant. Our young hopefuls have to gain more international exposure and be prepared for long working hours with good soft skills including the ability of deal with office pressure and being a team player.”

Source: ACCA Hong Kong