Scoring success...

Scoring success and never getting bored with numbers

He went with the flow. That’s how Benjamin “Ben” Valdez, partner for audit and assurance at Punongbayan & Araullo (P&A), defines his success.

To begin with, numbers run in the family: His sister is an accountant. Two of his uncles are also accountants. His grandfather was treasurer of their hometown in La Union. “I’m not sure which side of the family tree it comes from, but I got the math gene as well,” says Valdez, the third and eldest male among 10 siblings.

“Growing up, I wanted to be an engineer, a priest, a sailor, or a soldier. Accounting was the most convenient option, though,” Valdez laughs. “I was quite dependent on my elders and followed their advice, almost without question. My sister studied in UE and finished accountancy, so I followed in her footsteps. I did not even try other schools, it was sort of the natural thing to do.”

He finished his BS Accountancy cum laude from the University of the East.

The path to success

After graduation, he joined a public accounting firm as a junior auditor. There he was sent to the US for an on-the-job training and to the Asian Institute of Management for his MBA. A decade after, Valdez left public practice to take on the role of corporate auditor for a large local conglomerate.

Moving from public practice to a corporate setting required some adjustment on Valdez’s part. As an auditor, he basically did the same thing, except that in a corporate setting, he had more time for himself and his family.

“I had a more relaxed work set-up. I would go through the financial statements of all the conglomerate’s companies, and I would report directly to the conglomerate’s founder only once a month,” Valdez recalls.

It was a far cry from the work pace in a public practice firm, which could get frenzied because of the number of clients. Oddly enough, it was this hectic work schedule that Valdez missed about public practice, which is why, years later, he decided to return to his roots.

In 1992, Valdez joined P&A – one of the country’s largest accounting, tax and business advisory firms – as an audit director, and the following year, he was named partner.

Staying successful

Valdez recalls a chance meeting got him in the radar of Alfredo Damian who, as P&A’s partner for HR, was always scouting for talent. “I knew Fred from way before, and on that chance meeting in a mall, he convinced me to join the firm. I also know most of the people who started P&A. I thought I would be joining a good firm, and I was right,” he smiles.

He joined P*A at an opportune time, since the firm was on the lookout for an auditor who had a lot of experience auditing banks and other financial institutions. “When I started as an auditor, I didn’t want to handle banks. They have a very complex structure, and in school, banking was never taught, only finance,” Valdez shares. “Banking was alien to me, but I eventually became adept at it, and that’s the reason why I got hired by P&A; the firm needed someone knowledgeable in banking,” Valdez shares.

With his experience, it was perfect that Valdez ended up working with a lot of fresh graduates at P&A. “There’s a mix of the very young and the experienced auditors here at P&A. That’s part of the trade. You work with them and train those who have the potential to succeed,” Valdez shares. Currently, he heads an audit group with about 130 to 150 staff members.

Not retiring yet

After close to 30 years in the accounting practice, Valdez says he never once got bored working with numbers. “It’s always different. You may audit the same company every year, but that company will always have a new story to tell. Also every year, you get new clients and you work with new teams from both the client side and the firm side. So there’s no room for boredom, and a lot of room for learning,” Valdez illustrates.

Although he clocks in more than eight hours of work daily especially during tax season, Valdez manages to find time for his favorite sports: basketball, bowling, golf, mountain climbing, running, swimming, tennis, among others.

About five years from now, Valdez sees himself in the classroom teaching. “Hopefully I get to teach in college or graduate school. That will be my way of paying homage to my parents, who were both teachers,” Valdez smiles.

Passing on the success

Choosing a career in numbers has proven to be a very rewarding decision for Valdez, and now, he dishes out tips for those who want to succeed in the competitive corporate world.

Master the basic skills. The decline in English proficiency among Filipino youth is dismaying, Valdez notes, especially since English is the lingua franca of the business community. Being technology-savvy is also an advantage in the corporate world. “Here at P&A, your communication skills and technology know-how are very important. These are good indicators of how you can improve yourself further,” Valdez stresses.

Learn well from your job. “After two years of working here at P&A, people can very well do the same job anywhere else. They can strike anywhere – whether here or abroad – with confidence because the firm provides very good training, both the theoretical and practical kind,” says Valdez.

Rise to the challenge. “The way P&A is structured, fresh graduates are mentored from the very start. As an employee, you have to challenge yourself so that you constantly improve and move on to the next level. When you’re a junior, you learn the ropes and will probably get assigned portions of the audit and may not have any responsibility for the whole engagement. But when you become an in-charge here, that’s when you own the job,” Valdez illustrates.

Be resourceful. Valdez says he usually lets his wards figure out the best approach to an assignment. “My concern is that staff members deliver quality output on time. Given the proper training and guidance, talented people will develop their own process for accomplishing work, a process that best works for them,” Valdez shares.

Learn how to handle the pressure. Peak season for an auditing firm is from December to April 15, when tax filing is up. During this period, pressure is especially high. “You have to know how to handle the pressure and stay productive. There’s no room for emotions when you’re handling several clients and facing multiple deadlines,” Valdez says.

Above all, don’t rely on luck. “Your luck’s nothing if you don’t work hard. Focus on your objective and know what you want to do, and eventually you’ll prosper,” Valdez ends.

(As published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, 21 July 2008.)