Download - Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants

Rising stars
t 34, Roy Leung is one
of the younger partners
at KPMG in Hong Kong.
Rather than keeping a low
profile and deferring to senior
colleagues, he finds himself often knocking
on their doors.
Leung says such an “open door” culture
has enabled him to learn a lot in his relatively
short time at the firm. “We don’t really have
barriers,” he says. “Just knock on the door
and the more you consult, the more confident
you are with your decision and the closer
you will be to your colleagues.”
A member of the Hong Kong Institute of
CPAs, Leung’s career is illustrative of the
sometimes rapid ascent that young accountants
can make.
With hard work, accounting firms offer
young CPAs some of the most promising
career paths of any in Hong Kong. Large accounting
firms are always top of the list of
the world’s best employers, according to different
global surveys.
Benny Tong
Manager, audit
22 December 2012
“People in the U.K.
are more focused
during office
hours... But, I don't
think the workload
in Asia is much
more than in the
U.K.”
Leung joined KPMG straight after graduating
from the London School of Economics
in 2000. A decade later he was promoted to
partner, specializing in providing audit and
assurance services to clients that are listed
or preparing for an initial public offering.
He has since been involved in IPO projects
for companies overseas including in
South Africa and Russia.
“I think it’s really good not just to work with
them through the phone or email, but to be in
their offices, get to know their culture and
learn what their best practices are and then
bring those things to Hong Kong,” he adds.
Long hours are unavoidable for those in
the profession and generally in Hong Kong.
However, while it is hard work, Leung says
those busy periods and peak seasons are
important. “You get the first deep learning
curve out of it, so after completing every engagement
you always feel that you have developed
yourself to a certain extent,” he says.
With auditors usually working in teams,
Leung finds himself constantly working
with people of a similar age group. To him,
this makes ploughing through work after
regular office hours much more tolerable.
“You can work in a less challenging workplace,
but you won’t get as much as I got over
the past 12 years.”
Embrace change
The career advancement of bright young
CPAs has led to many to work abroad. Benny
Tong, 31, is one, currently working at Price-
PHOTO: CARL JASON PIDLAOAN