For many, the word “accountant” might conjure the image of a geeky office worker who revels in a world of numbers. But Haridas Kanagasabai would have you know that neither he nor his colleagues at Deloitte Singapore fit that stereotype.

By Trish Landi

“Sure, we love numbers,” said the Assistant Audit Manager of Deloitte Singapore’s Assurance and Advisory Services Group. “But we also know how to have fun...”

A large part of that “fun” element is inherent in the diverse and open atmosphere at Deloitte, which believes in the importance of work/life balance and that happy workers make for a productive work environment.

At the top of its game

As the number of businesses increase alongside changing financial laws and greater public scrutiny of finances, independent and objective financial advice and audits are crucial in helping firms maintain their reputation and the public’s trust.

With nearly 1,400 employees, Deloitte Singapore – a part of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, a traditional Swiss Verein with their globally connected network of member firms in 140 countries – is well equipped to deal with the challenge. As a professional services organisation, Deloitte Singapore is the only one in the Republic to offer comprehensive services that include audit, tax, consulting and financial advisory.

And what makes Deloitte invaluable to its clients from public-listed companies, multi-national corporations and local conglomerates are not only its global connections and state-of-the-art technology, but also its client-centred approach.

Most of all, the multiple-award winning organisation is able to retain its competitive edge because it understands that people are its greatest assets. Hence, it offers attractive career prospects with competitive financial rewards, in addition to a conducive work environment.

Putting the “fun” in function

Assistant Audit Manager, Haridas, graduated with an accountancy diploma with merit from Ngee Ann Polytechnic in 2001 and later, a Bachelor of Accountancy at the Singapore
Management University.

In 2004, after completing his degree studies, Haridas started as an Audit Assistant at Deloitte, and it’s easy to see why he has quickly moved up the ranks to become an Assistant Audit Manager. The 31-year-old takes his job as an auditor very seriously and likens it to being a “corporate watchdog”.

“We look at financial statements and express our opinions of these statements,” he said. “We fulfil a critical part in the economy. Without auditors, capital markets will not be able to function as efficiently. If investors lose confidence in our capital markets, they will not come in and our economy will suffer.”

For Haridas, perhaps there’s no place better than Deloitte to perform such an important job as he reiterates that a core value of the firm is integrity. And he follows that principle faithfully, saying that an auditor must have “a moral compass that always points north”.

More importantly, Haridas says the reason he “looks forward to going to work every day” is the sense of belonging at Deloitte. “If you work at a place, you want to feel at home. You want to feel like a part of the place. It’s not about getting a salary that corresponds to your function. At Deloitte, I can really feel that.”

Haridas attributes this to the organisation’s ability “to understand people” and in understanding that “there is a learning curve and that a reasonable amount of time may be needed to tackle complex tasks”. For example, during his first year at Deloitte, Haridas was given a task which he did not perform correctly. Instead of scolding him, a senior reassuringly said, “It’s okay. Everyone makes mistakes,” and proceeded to teach him how to perform this task correctly.

All this sounds very serious, but Haridas then assures you that the people at Deloitte work hard, but they play equally hard as well. A major “wow” factor that has kept him loyal to Deloitte is the healthy roster of fun activities such as parties and games during the off-peak season, as well as the annual dinner and dance and company outings.

Indeed, life and work have been so good that Haridas jokes, “I’ve been enjoying a lot of the finer things in life recently, and my waist size has accelerated correspondingly.” Well, we should all be so lucky.

The tax lady cometh

Most fresh graduates start out at Deloitte as audit or tax assistants. Unlike Haridas, who chose to go the auditing route, Rachel Chin chose to specialise in tax when she joined Deloitte Singapore four and a half years ago.

Although she was then a fresh Accountancy graduate from NTU, Rachel has always wanted to work at Deloitte. Apart from being a prestigious firm, she felt that Deloitte is well known for having “a better work/life balance, a friendly environment and plenty of learning opportunities”.

The 27-year-old has certainly done well for herself, having been promoted from tax assistant to her current position as an Assistant Manager in the Corporate Tax department. For her, everyday work consists of providing corporate tax compliance services, preparing and submitting corporate income tax returns to the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS), reviewing tax provisions as well as handling ad-hoc projects.

Like Haridas, Rachel is grateful for the abundance of learning opportunities at Deloitte. For example, she was nominated for a Talent Swap Programme in 2006 and was whisked away to Shanghai to work for the local office’s International Tax department.

During the 12-month stint, she was not only able to gain knowledge in China and international tax, she was also able to experience living in a different culture, making new friends and broadening her horizons. And even while she was in Shanghai, Rachel says “the management in Singapore kept close contact with me on my well-being and progress to ensure that things were being taken care of”.

Back in Singapore, more learning opportunities, such as training courses on tax and personal development, await the NTU alumnus as she is scheduled to attend an overseas training course in Bangkok in coming weeks.

What’s next on her plate? Even bigger, better things at Deloitte; that’s for sure.

What it takes

As a professional services organisation with a comprehensive range of services, Deloitte is able to offer an extraordinary career that spans many industries from real estate to the media. According to Haridas, “Deloitte offers diverse opportunities to experience different industries and talk to people within these industries without actually being employed by them”.

Indeed, like Haridas who specialises in the oil and gas sector, applicants can look forward to a flexible and exciting career path that “offers more than a glimpse of the various industries out there so that you can make an informed decision about what industry you eventually want to be in”.

Deloitte welcomes applications from anyone with a recognised degree in accountancy or an Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) qualification. Well-rounded candidates who are active in extra-curricular activities or have leadership and management skills will stand a very good chance. They should be fluent in written and spoken English and have excellent communication and interpersonal skills.

Good time management and the ability to work under pressure are added advantages. Selected candidates will have to undergo an assessment test. For those who want to succeed at Deloitte, Rachel has a great piece of advice: “Keep a positive attitude and be willing to accept criticism. Do not be afraid to ask questions and always ask for constructive feedback.”

Click here for jobs in Finance/Investment!