I chose to study accounting because I like dealing with figures; the accounting industry helps figures ‘talk’ and creates value, so I decided to combine my interest with my career. It gave me a good start in my career, too, as a degree in accounting creates a lot of job opportunities.
My father has also worked in a related industry for decades, which gave me a basic knowledge of the industry and the desire to become an accountant.
I currently work at a state-owned enterprise where I am responsible for financial management of scientific research projects. I deal with the whole cycle of financial management, including budget preparation and evaluation, account processing, funding compliance audit, budget execution analysis and completion of scientific research.
Smart finance is playing a more important role in the era of big data
I love my job as it pushes me to improve my skills and broaden my horizons. The challenges include daily cost management; meeting the requirements of additional tax deduction for research and development costs; and hitting several scientific research targets for hi-tech enterprises. It requires me to focus on comprehensive finance and eventually help achieve the firm’s strategic targets.
Smart finance is playing a more important role in the era of big data. This has encouraged finance professionals to update their skills and create more value.
Meanwhile, China’s accounting system is developing in line with international accounting standards but with its own characteristics. Finance is fast becoming an indicator of business conditions and development tendencies in different countries and industries.
The big challenge for me is to figure out how to improve the financial management of scientific research projects and implement corporate strategy. I need to collect costs incurred by hundreds of different scientific research projects to achieve the company’s business target of economic value added while meeting the requirements of R&D costs for hi-tech enterprises.
To achieve all this, I study every policy guideline, sort out every requirement and find breakthroughs in the accounting systems. Of course, I need to work with the whole team and related departments in the process.
Professionalism and ethics are key in the workplace. The core element of any profession is to respect others, authority figures and the industry you work in.
We should not stop learning when times change because standards continue to be updated. It’s important that our skillsets stay relevant by studying new rules and improving on our professional values.
However, we also need to keep track of our mental health. We sometimes face difficulties or are not happy with our work and life, and we need to make adjustments to relieve the pressure and to welcome challenges with a positive mindset.
