Writing his own destiny

Mark Ma Jin wears several hats. By profession, he is the founder and senior partner of Beijing-based financial consultancy Brook & Partners, as well as a part-time lecturer at Peking and BPP universities. At the same time, he has written a bestselling introductory series on accounting and finance, eight novels and two poem collections.

His secret to maintaining two very distinct career paths is passion, optimism and perseverance.  ‘One question we have to ask ourselves constantly is what we are hoping to achieve,’ Ma says. ‘That can help you make decisions from as small as what to have for the next meal to as big as how you wish to spend your life.’

Literary charm

For Ma, writing has been his dream since childhood and he was not prepared to put it to one side when it came to making decisions about his career. And so, while majoring in auditing at Tianjin University of Finance and Economics, he also studied English literature at another college in his spare time. As a result, he graduated with two bachelor degrees in 2002.

Literary charm

For Ma, writing has been his dream since childhood and he was not prepared to put it to one side when it came to making decisions about his career. And so, while majoring in auditing at Tianjin University of Finance and Economics, he also studied English literature at another college in his spare time. As a result, he graduated with two bachelor degrees in 2002.

Encouraged to set apart hobby from profession, he then took up a role as a tax associate at Deloitte’s Tianjin office. ‘I’m an optimistic person and believed there might be crossover in the future,’ he says, adding that he regards accounting as a language in itself, albeit one that is more rational and dispassionate.

Fast forward to 2006, when Ma’s posts about his experience as an auditor went viral on Tianya, one of mainland China’s most popular internet forums at the time. He received offers from a number of publishers to expand on his ideas and the result was his first book, The six chapters of a floating life as an auditor.

Power of poetry

Ma’s love of literature and writing is, he says, vital to his wellbeing. ‘By day, our job requires methodical thinking and meticulous efforts. When you encounter some difficulty at a project, reading a few poems can help soothe the mind,’ he says. ‘Literature has the power of nurturing and decompressing. It makes my spirit freer, my mind calmer and my life deeper.

‘Regardless of whether it’s fishing, cooking or playing mahjong, I encourage young professionals to have a hobby.’

Finance nuts and bolts

Through his bestselling Croissant-like accounting series, which launched in 2009, Ma unpacks the nuts and bolts of cost budgeting, internal control, risk management, capital market and investment as well as explaining how to read financial statements. To achieve this, he uses the example of a bakery – hence the ‘croissant’ of the title.

‘Back then, the only beginner’s guides were textbooks that were very dry and bore names like “foundations of accounting”, which were aimed at aspiring professionals rather than general readers,’ Ma says. ‘Since financial literacy is so important, I figured: why not decipher it bit by bit, using real-life scenarios?’

He adds that the Croissant-like accounting series also makes ideal reading for his entrepreneur clients at Brook & Partners, which he co-founded after leaving KPMG China. Headquartered in Beijing, the accounting and financial consultancy has worked with more than 200 different-sized private companies that are looking to enter the capital market through initial public offerings (IPOs) and mergers and acquisitions.

‘Most entrepreneurs I’ve dealt with are real business talents with acute senses, strong will and a unique philosophy for doing business,’ he says. ‘However, only a few are equipped with a good knowledge of accounting and finance, and some may even dismiss the importance of internal control and financial audit.’

Ethical approach

Brook & Partners’ motto is ‘diligence, integrity, clarity and sincerity’, and professionalism should always be at the heart of any practice, says Ma.

‘If the Big Four auditing firms are the schoolteachers who come up with a test, then consultancies are the tutors who help companies prepare,’ he says, adding that the process can be particularly challenging for entrepreneurs.

At the same time, as awareness of ethics increases, entrepreneurs are starting to understand the value of working with financial experts to ensure that their records are robust, says Ma who, while working at Motorola China, won a company award for his contribution to a regional project enabling compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

For Ma, professional qualifications are crucial to career development; an ACCA Approved Employer, Brook & Partners covers the costs associated with exams, as well as providing employees with study leave.

‘Taking professional exams should be woven into your career plan,’ he says. ‘It’s also a process of gathering self-confidence in your own professional skills.’

Perseverance drive

Perseverance is another quality that Ma developed during his own studies for the ACCA Qualification and he recalls countless late nights after a full day’s work.

‘It’s even more rewarding when you make full use of your time to prepare while maintaining a job, figuring out how to balance work, life and study,’ he says. ‘The qualification is a testimony of your perseverance.’

Strive for joy

In terms of motivating his own team, Ma likes to remind them that ‘there are two types of joy in this world: one comes quickly but fades, like shopping or having a marvellous meal; the other requires serious effort but lasts longer. Strive for the latter.’

Looking back, Ma says that founding his business was also a test of perseverance, which was founded just as the financial crisis swept across global markets.

‘The biggest challenge is not dealing with clients or working on a financial audit; it’s boosting morale among your team and preventing a talent drain during the downtime,’ he says. ‘It’s a rare quality to maintain peace of mind during tough times and hold an unwavering faith.’

Digital technology also poses new challenges to financial professionals, Ma says, noting that while robotic process automation and other new systems are gaining a wider acceptance in mainland China, the emergence of Big Data is also challenging.

‘Getting familiar and used to information systems has become a must,’ he says. ‘Financial professionals must embrace technology and adapt to an evolving future.’