Throughout a career spanning more than 40 years, doors have fortuitously opened in the right place at the right time for Pratap Pradhan. One of the earliest ACCA members in Nepal, he founded boutique practice PP Pradhan & Co in 1979, when the accountancy profession was in its infancy in the country.
He started small, embarking on his career as a sole practitioner with a second-hand typewriter in a shared office. But he soon ‘got lucky’, he says. The World Bank was starting a water supply project in Kathmandu Valley and an international financial analyst on this mission, recognising the benefits of hiring an ACCA-qualified accounting professional, asked Pradhan to support him.
‘I saw enormous future in the financial management sector of the country’
Building connections
‘This was my opening to consulting work, which is a mainstay of my business to this day,’ says Pradhan.
He has since consulted on myriad development projects, involving water supply, irrigation, agriculture, education and institution building. With expertise in development project audits, his firm specialises in working with UN agencies, the EU, the United States Agency for International Development-funded projects, the German development agency GIZ and various non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
‘I saw enormous future as there was a very limited number of financial experts in the country, including in development sector project audit,’ he says.
Over time, Pradhan’s firm has grown to 25 full-time staff and a dedicated office in Kathmandu. There’s also a new arm to the business: collaborating with BDO on projects in Nepal and nearby countries. This follows a successful partnership with Moore Stephens (now part of the BDO network) in a number of development projects. ‘They were happy with our performance and hired us to work on similar development projects funded by UN agencies, GIZ and EU overseas,’ he explains.
Reasons to thrive
Half of the firms trainees are ACCA students. This, Pradhan feels, is a way to not only ‘give back’ but to also support the next generation in bringing sound financial leadership to the private and public sector.
With the number of professionally qualified accountants in Nepal still relatively low – around 2,000 – Pradhan acknowledges that there is more to be done.
‘I was known as an ACCA man and very much enjoyed talking to students and parents’
‘The economy is growing and most of the non-qualified accountants will retire in due course,’ he says, adding that the migration of qualified accountants abroad is a concern. ‘The biggest employer of accountants is the government, but both the Office of the Auditor General and Financial Comptroller General Office have only a handful of qualified accountants.’
ACCA advocate
Pradhan began advocating for ACCA long before a registered office was opened in Kathmandu in 2020. As a voluntary delegate, he’d meet with government departments, employers and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nepal (ICAN). He participated in exhibitions, put ads in newspapers, and counselled students and their parents on the merits of the qualification.
‘I was known as an ACCA man and very much enjoyed talking to students and parents,’ Pradhan says of his advocacy. The parents were really pleased when they saw their children’s successes, which gave me great satisfaction.’
Pradhan has since served as an ACCA International Assembly member representing South Asia and the Middle East from 2007 to 2010.
‘Stronger financial management is very important for the development sector’
In 2015, the first head of ACCA Nepal was appointed, which gave members and students a local point of contact and access to training sessions and resources.
In 2016, ACCA supported ICAN’s drive to introduce International Financial Reporting Standards in 2016-17, offering free training to members and later signing a memorandum of understanding with the organisation.
Getting started
Pradhan’s own start in accountancy came with a scholarship to study in the UK. ‘Getting the scholarship brought much prestige to our family,’ he recalls. ‘Going to the UK was a big dream for most students.’
He moved to Scotland in 1971 for four years of full-time study for the ACCA qualification. A string of exam successes led one of his teachers to introduce him to a partner at Whinney Murray (now part of EY) in Glasgow.
Pradhan then retuned to Nepal and joined a local audit firm, equipping himself with the skills to start his own business. ‘I did not see future there, so after my training I opted to take a risk and start my own firm,’ he says.
Succession planning
Pradhan is now in succession phase, preparing to hand over the reins to the next generation. His son, Abinash Pradhan CA, is the senior manager of the firm, with leadership positions also held by his son-in-law, a CA and partner, and daughter-in-law, an ACCA member and audit manager.
Pradhan is confident that the firm will continue to thrive, thanks in part to its history in the development sector. ‘I would like the firm to continue to work in this field and assist in strengthening the audit and financial management in the development sector,’ he says, adding that he hopes to continue to guide the firm on a part-time basis. But he also plans to spend plenty of time with his family in ‘my small home town located at Tansen, a beautiful hill in the west Nepal’.
Beyond the business he’s worked so hard to grow, Pradhan is heartened by the next generation of finance professionals. His advice to them? ‘Work hard, have patience and be sincere,’ he says. ‘Success will follow.’
