For Sinra Kong, paying it forward to the next generation plays a large role in his professional life. The partner at Blue Chartered Accountants and Auditors regularly returns to CamEd Business School, where he gained his ACCA qualification, to encourage students to consider a career in audit, as well as introducing them to ACCA.
‘I feel good mentoring the younger generation, helping them to succeed,’ he says. ‘I want to see the numbers of local professionals in Cambodia increasing; scaled-up capacity will help to elevate our academic status and our national economy as well.’
‘Of the qualifications required, ACCA is one of the most recognised’
Kong took a leap in 2021 when he decided to leave Grant Thornton Cambodia, where he’d risen to become director, audit and assurance, to join start-up Blue Chartered Accountants and Auditors, founded three years earlier. Kong’s FCCA status enabled Blue Chartered to obtain an audit practising licence from Cambodia’s Accounting and Auditing Regulator and thus upgrade to a full-service firm.
‘To become a licensed auditor in Cambodia, you need to be an active member of the Kampuchea Institute of Certified Public Accountants and Auditors (KICPAA), possess a certain professional qualification and have relevant experience,’ he says. ‘Of the qualifications required, ACCA is one of the most recognised.’
New opportunities
Recent developments in the country demonstrate why developing the profession is crucial. In 2022, Cambodia introduced penalties for violations of accounting and audit regulations – good news for professionals like Kong, who are already up to speed with international compliance.
Robust internal controls play a key role in mitigating financial stability risks, identified as crucial to rebuilding the growth that has taken a hit in recent years. For two decades prior to the pandemic, Cambodia’s economy was one of the world’s fastest growing, accelerating by an average 7.6% per annum. In 2020, it shrank to 3.1%, before gradually rebounding. Before the announcement of US tariffs earlier this year, annual growth of 6.3% was projected for 2025.
The opportunities on the horizon make Kong keener than ever to see local CPA firms step up.
‘I feel SMEs deserve to have a choice’
‘While many foreign consulting firms from around the region have set up in Cambodia, I feel SMEs deserve to have a choice. Not all small businesses can afford the fees charged by an international firm, and they may also feel more comfortable partnering with native-speaking professionals. That’s one of the reasons I joined Blue Chartered – to bring the global expertise I’ve brought from an international firm to benefit small businesses,’ he says, adding that the business has grown from fewer than 10 staff to around 40 today.
CV
2022
Partner, audit and assurance, Blue Chartered Accountants and Auditors
2021
Director, audit and assurance, Grant Thornton Cambodia
2016
Head of internal audit, Mega Asset Management
2013
Senior associate, Grant Thornton Cambodia
2010
Internal audit senior, Mega Asset Management
Early interest
Kong’s early roles in asset management and insurance sectors first piqued his interest in compliance.
‘Working in internal audit in those companies helped me to understand legal regulations and the expectations of shareholders,’ he says. That early experience, coupled with his global exposure at Grant Thornton, ‘helps me to provide value to those SME clients who are still not highly regulated’.
‘The more compliance laws are enforced, the more professional services will be needed’
That’s a situation Kong wants to see change. On the board of the KICPAA Governing Council, which he joined in 2022, and as a member of its various committees – including registration, technical, education and training and investigation – Kong joins concerted efforts to build strength and capacity In Cambodia’s accounting profession.
‘The more compliance laws are enforced, the more professional services will be needed,’ he says. ‘We need professionals to supply that service.’
Matter of trust
Kong had recognised that himself during his final year of a finance and banking degree at the National University of Management. ‘While looking through job requirements, I saw that studying ACCA was a plus,’ he says. ‘Upon discovering that this qualification was both globally recognised and well-known in Cambodia, I was sure it would help me advance my career faster than other qualifications.’
Putting his ACCA studies at the CamEd Business School into practice, Kong appreciated how the syllabus and continuous updates are designed for relevance in the workplace.
‘In audit and assurance, we sell trust, and there is no room for compromise’
Thanks in no small part to take-up of the ACCA qualification, he says, the number of local accounting professionals in Cambodia is steadily increasing,
His advice to students is to ‘love what you do’, and never be tempted to cut corners in their professional practice.
‘Ours is a profession where ethics are valued,’ he says. ‘In audit and assurance, we sell trust, and there is no room for compromise. Your own career, and the integrity of local firms, depends as much on adherence to ethical standards as it does to professional competence.’
