Hitting The Boards

hitting the boards

MEMBER PROFILE: VICTOR LAI, CA (SINGAPORE), REGIONAL MANAGING DIRECTOR, BOARDROOM LIMITED

The unrelenting rollout of disruptive technologies is shaking up businesses and industries everywhere, leaving almost no stone unturned. Mobile working solutions are giving employees the flexibility and connectivity to work remotely, and saving companies money in terms of reduced office space. The adoption of paperless processing, digital signatures, and software enabling “live” capture and sharing of information is also gathering steam. While some people may be resistant to these changes, Victor Lai, 40, is not one of them. In fact, his excitement about the technology transformation is downright infectious.

Mr Lai is the Regional Managing Director of Boardroom Limited as well as the Managing Director of its Singapore subsidiary, Boardroom Corporate & Advisory Services Pte Ltd, a leading provider of corporate secretarial and share registry services for existing and aspiring listed companies in Singapore. His line of work includes the provision of polling and registration services at shareholders’ meetings, where physical proxy forms are used by many investors to authorise third parties to cast votes on their behalf. For Mr Lai, the appeal of automating this human-intensive task is obvious.

“Moving to paperless processing of proxy forms would cut costs. But to do that, we need to incentivise shareholders of companies to also go paperless, so we are exploring new ideas on how to get this moving.” he reveals. Technology can also serve as a source of innovative business ideas, adds Mr Lai. “We recently launched a web-based service that allows companies to administer their employee share plans. Using our digital platform, employees of a company who have been issued share options or performance shares are able to enjoy a full-suite service from share custody to trading to settlement.”

A trained professional accountant, Mr Lai is somewhat of an expert on the latter subject, thanks to his previous tenure at PwC Singapore. “While at PwC, I served in its Accounting Consulting Services practice for a few years. One accounting standard I was responsible for was IFRS 2: Share-based Payment,” he says. This would not be the only complementarity between his former and current job roles either.

CROSSING OVER

Mr Lai joined PwC in 2002, having obtained a Bachelor of Accountancy degree from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) prior to that. He describes his 13 years at PwC as “exciting and fulfilling”. Career highlights included being selected in 2009 to take part in Genesis Park, PwC’s global leadership development programme for high-performing staff, gaining valuable experience in both audit and advisory services, and also serving as audit engagement leader, which helped him hone his people management and project management skills.

“At a Big Four firm, the scope of accounting is very wide. Working at PwC gave me the opportunity to do different things and explore other services besides audit, such as accounting consulting and advisory,” says Mr Lai. “I also became familiar with engaging C-suite executives and board directors on complex accounting issues, as well as analysing historical information and providing opinions on financial statements.” Armed with a versatile skill set, his eventual transition from PwC to Boardroom in 2015 was a smooth one.

“Accountancy introduces you to the world of finance. It is a vital skill in all aspects of business development, including raising equity capital and structuring trade finance transactions.”

Headquartered and listed in Singapore, Boardroom Limited is a regional corporate services firm that has an established presence in the Asia-Pacific region. The group’s portfolio of services spans corporate secretarial, share registry and business solutions (including accounting), and its client base consists mainly of companies heading for IPOs and existing listed entities. For Mr Lai, running Boardroom Limited’s corporate secretarial and share registry services in Singapore – and since March this year, in Hong Kong as well – has allowed him to “do everything except the audit”.

In his present capacity, Mr Lai still deals with C-suite executives and board directors – but from a different angle. “Compared to my previous audit work, I am now involved in shareholder engagement matters pertaining to corporate secretarial and share registry services. I help management and boards organise and run meetings, comply with day-to-day reporting and listing requirements, and operate within the interplay of current legal and accounting regulatory frameworks,” says Mr Lai, who splits his time between Singapore and Hong Kong.

Working in the capital market environment, though more urgent and time-sensitive than in public accounting, admittedly entails more processing or “menial” tasks. But as Mr Lai explains, “It is about making sense out of the menial work. We are helping our clients grow, stay compliant and obtain relevant business insights.”

He is also appreciative of the opportunities afforded by his accounting background to take on different parts of a professional services firm’s value chain. “Accountancy introduces you to the world of finance. It is a vital skill in all aspects of business development, including raising equity capital and structuring trade finance transactions.”

PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE

“As a professional accountant, you want to be trusted to advise in the corporate finance space and deal-brokering. That is why, even though I don’t audit financial statements anymore, I am still registered as a public accountant with ACRA and continue to be a practising member of ISCA,” says Mr Lai. “Being involved with ISCA and ACRA helps me stay updated with the latest developments to meet industry needs.”

Mr Lai has stepped up his involvement with ISCA since leaving PwC, primarily as a member of ISCA’s Accounting Technicians Learning and Development Board. The committee collaborated with the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) to conceptualise, design and develop a new qualification programme, ISCA Accredited Accounting Technician (ISCA-AAT) Qualification, which was launched last year.

By pursuing the ISCA-AAT Qualification, accounting technicians can acquire the practical skills to perform a wide range of accounting and finance roles, from basic bookkeeping practices to higher-level tasks like managing budgets. It can be completed in one to two years, after which individuals who attain the accreditation are eligible for Affiliate (ISCA) membership and full AAT membership with relevant work experiences. “The course aims to help accounting technicians develop their soft skills, as well as their analytical skills beyond debits and credits, so that they can upskill themselves and add value,” explains Mr Lai. He thus views his ISCA contributions as a way of tapping on his accumulated experience and skills to further develop Singapore’s accounting industry.

By pursuing the ISCA-AAT Qualification, accounting technicians can acquire the practical skills to perform a wide range of accounting and finance roles, from basic bookkeeping practices to higher-level tasks like managing budgets.

Addressing the accountancy profession as a whole, and not just the accounting technician segment, Mr Lai argues that patience is the most important trait one should have. “Certainly, the industry is in need of innovative thinking, and there are a lot of developments that will unfold in the next five to 10 years. But no matter what, in-depth knowledge is still required. There will always be some aspects of the work that require you to look at the mundane, nitty-gritty details.”

“Being an accountant means having the ability to analyse the financial results of a company, so as to tell a story about the journey that the company is taking and where it is headed. From there, you can obtain insights, anticipate challenges and create value for businesses. In the interest of fast-tracking your career, make sure you don’t overlook the value of grinding things out – the very aspects that make you an insightful, analytical professional,” advises Mr Lai.

JUST JAMMING

Outside of work, music is Mr Lai’s prevailing passion. It has been since he started playing in his secondary school band and taking private music lessons as a teenager. These days, the multi-instrumentalist – who confesses to “playing music full-time and studying part-time” at NTU, as the President of NTU’s Cultural Activities Club Jam Band – enjoys reinterpreting existing songs in his specially-built home studio, and freelances on music projects of interest. Mr Lai is also involved in a business that supplies music wares for local commercial trade, including Hong Kong singer Jacky Cheung’s concert shows in Singapore this past February.

With Jacky Cheung

Mr Lai in a fan photo with Jacky Cheung during the singer’s Singapore leg of “A Classic Tour”

CAREER MILESTONES

This article was first published by ISCA Journal.