Teacher's advice led him to an accounting career

27 Jun 2024

Mr Mohamed Amanullah was encouraged by his teacher in secondary school to consider a career in accounting because he was good with numbers, and he ventured into the sector and never looked back. Now the group chief financial officer (CFO) at Sysma Holdings, a real estate, construction, and engineering firm, he shared that initially, he had no plans to have a career related to numbers. After secondary school, he did not go to junior college and then continued his studies at a local university to obtain an accounting degree. Instead, he took the polytechnic route and obtained a diploma in accounting from SP in 1999. Mr Amanullah then began his career in the sector as an account executive with a local law firm, Cheong & Cheong, while studying part-time at the Financial Training Company (FTC), now known as Kaplan, to obtain his qualification in the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA). Comparing the journey of today's accountants with 20 years ago, Mr Amanullah said the current generation gets more support from employers. Prospective accountants are given the flexibility to attend courses and some even have their course fees funded by the company. "The career of an accountant is interesting and satisfying. It is also an important and permanent job for a long period because every company from any industry needs a finance team," said Mr Amanullah.

[Berita Harian]