For Chankiriroth Sim, entrepreneurship has never been just about building a business. Through his fintech platform BanhJi, advisory roles with government and regulators, and advocacy for SMEs, he is helping to shape Cambodia’s financial infrastructure from the ground up.
His mission has always been more than a simple fintech startup story. Creating the conditions that allow small businesses to thrive has been his goal for BanhJi, the financial operating platform for SMEs that he founded in 2016, despite the inevitable challenges facing a startup in an emerging market.
‘The vision is still there,’ Kiriroth says. ‘It’s not about giving up. It’s about continuing to iterate until we achieve that objective.’
‘Financial inclusion is also about helping businesses grow’
Today, Kiriroth occupies a uniquely influential position within Cambodia’s business ecosystem. He is founder and chief executive of BanhJi, an adviser to the country’s accounting regulator – the Accounting and Auditing Regulator (ACAR) – and a member of ACCA’s Global Forum for SMEs and regional SME advisory bodies. He is also the assistant of the prime minister and a member of the prime minister’s special task force on private sector development.
This powerful combination allows him to operate at multiple levels simultaneously. ‘I run the company and provide the practical perspective,’ he explains. ‘Then I advise the regulator on standards and reporting, and another layer is helping advise on private sector development at a national level. Each one complements the other.’
A national challenge
BanhJi was born from a problem Kiriroth encountered repeatedly during his career in finance. After studying accounting and building a successful career that included roles as FD, consultant and managing partner at one of Cambodia’s largest consultancies, he knew first-hand how difficult it was for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) to access finance.
Small businesses are the backbone of Cambodia’s economy, yet many struggle to secure funding because they lack reliable financial records. Kiriroth launched BanhJi to help SMEs digitise their accounting and financial operations, generating the data needed to support lending decisions.
‘I bring a more creative perspective. I think outside the box’
Today, BanhJi’s platform combines accounting, operational finance, digital payments and access to financing within a single ecosystem. Businesses can manage transactions, maintain records and even apply for loans directly through the software.
The platform reflects both Kiriroth’s finance expertise and his creative side. Before pursuing accounting, he had wanted to study fine art. ‘I wanted to be an artist,’ he says. ‘That was my passion.’
That creative instinct remains evident, with Kiriroth personally designing the BanhJi user interface and customer experience, sketching every screen before handing the concepts to developers. ‘I’m not a traditional finance person,’ he says. ‘I bring a more creative perspective. I think outside the box.’
Building the foundations
What makes Kiriroth’s story unusual is that he did not stop at building a solution. He is also engineering the wider infrastructure needed to make that solution work. As an adviser to ACAR, he has helped shape major reforms designed to improve financial reporting and data quality across the country.
Among the achievements he is most proud of is the development of Cambodia’s Reduced Financial Reporting Framework for smaller businesses – the framework is for SMEs that are required to submit unaudited financial statements to the regulator – which is based partly on IFRS for SMEs with some key exemptions to ensure proportionality. It allows SMEs to produce higher-quality financial reports while reducing complexity and compliance burdens.
An accomplished author, his book on Accounting and Financial Reporting for SMEs was published last year, and endorsed by ACAR.
‘Advising on economic development fits my passion for nation-building’
He also helped develop Cambodia’s first accounting taxonomy and standard chart of accounts, creating a common language for financial reporting. Those initiatives ultimately became the foundation for the country’s digital financial reporting platform, launched last year.
‘That is something I’m very proud of,’ he says. ‘It helps improve compliance and quality of digital financial reporting.’
He also provides his financial expertise as advice to the prime minister on private sector finance through the prime minister’s special task force. He sees the work as part of his own commitment to Cambodia’s development. ‘It fits my personal passion around nation-building,’ he says. ‘Not many people get this opportunity, nor have the skillset to contribute in this way.’
The ACCA advantage
Kiriroth credits ACCA with playing a significant role throughout his professional journey. The qualification helped establish his professional credibility and has opened doors throughout his career. It also connects him to a network that continues to shape Cambodia’s business landscape.
‘ACCA’s credibility is very strong,’ he says. ‘If you see ACCA on a business card, it signals something important.’
Given Cambodia’s population of 17 million and its hundreds of thousands of SMEs, he is keen to encourage more young people to pursue the qualification. ‘It’s not easy,’ he admits. ‘The qualification is rigorous. But that’s also where the quality comes from.’
‘After 10 years of refining the model, everything is coming together’
Looking ahead
Kiriroth believes BanhJi is approaching a pivotal moment. The latest version of the platform brings together accounting, financial operations, compliance and digital financial services in a way that previous versions could not. ‘For the last 10 years we’ve been refining the model,’ he says. ‘Now everything is coming together.’
His immediate focus is Cambodia before considering wider regional expansion. But whether through fintech, regulation or public policy, the objective remains the same as it was a decade ago: empowering businesses through better financial information.
‘Financial inclusion is not just about providing access,’ he says. ‘It’s about helping businesses grow and contribute to economic development.’
CV
2016
Founder and CEO, BanhJi, Cambodia
2012
Series of roles culminating in managing partner, PCG, Cambodia
2005
Several finance roles, including adviser, trainer, lecturer and FD, Cambodia
