I was introduced to accounting by my aunt, a CFA, when I was deciding on my career path after high school. She was supportive and gave me food for thought on finance, which I now realise was the best decision of my life.
My family is an entrepreneurial one and my experiences from an early age helped lay the foundations for a career in business. I grew up in India and my professional path led me to work for a local mid-tier accountancy firm before moving into audit with EY India.
I moved to Canada in 2019 so I could gain international experience working in insolvency and restructuring. Having the ACCA qualification provided me with recognition as a global professional.
Our profession is going to be quite busy for the next few years
I am an associate with Albert Gelman Inc and work in its insolvency and restructuring practice. I help corporations and individuals with their debt and financial problems and provide options to manage their financial situation. Through advice and recommendations, I help them turn around their businesses and give them a new lease of financial life.
We help businesses and individuals negotiate with trade suppliers and other creditors. We also develop a restructuring and turnaround plan to enable them to recover from their current financial crisis, stabilise operations and rebuild the organisation. If restructuring is not the solution, we help them come up with other strategies to find the right solutions to their financial problems.
With a recession looming globally, I think insolvency and restructuring will rise in the future. As a result, our profession is going to be quite busy for the next few years.
It's important to keep upgrading and increasing knowledge
In times of adversity, people need to be cautious and seek financial advice. I foresee a lot of networking taking place through social media and various other forums.
As technology evolves, it has automated a number of practices and procedures. That in turn can lead to many skills being made redundant and many professionals losing their jobs. It's important to keep upgrading and increasing knowledge. I tend to upskill myself through various means, such as attending continuing professional development programmes and reading articles and research papers on the impacts of automating processes and procedures.
In a world of specialisation, finding a niche is crucial. I'd also add that having an optimistic outlook towards professional and personal journeys, being flexible and adaptable in learning new skills, and developing professional networks are all valuable means for growth.
Outside of work, I enjoy music, playing cricket with my friends and trying to cook new dishes using YouTube videos. I also enjoy camping and hiking with my friends and family, and exploring new places.
