Speaker 1: Could you briefly introduce yourself and walk us through your career path?

Speaker 2: I am a Certified Chief Accountant with over 7 years of experience specializing in FDI and multinational companies. During my first 5.5 years at accounting firms like Acclime and PwC, I handled full-set accounting and tax compliance for various international clients. One of my key clients was Fossil Vietnam, which sparked my deep interest in the tech industry. To truly understand how a tech business operates internally, I intentionally joined Fastboy Marketing, a SaaS company, as their Chief Accountant. Joining Realtek is the perfect next step for me to combine my strict Big4 compliance background with my operational experience in the IT industry.

Speaker 1: You have successfully built the accounting department at Fastboy. Why are you looking to leave and join Realtek?

Speaker 2: Building the department from scratch at Fastboy has been rewarding, but the practical reason I am looking for a new opportunity is the daily commute. I currently travel a 60-kilometer round trip every day, which is not sustainable for my long-term well-being. At the same time, my core expertise lies in the multinational and FDI sectors. I want my next step to be in a global environment like Realtek, where I can fully utilize my skills in IFRS and VAS reconciliation, complex group reporting, and working within advanced ERP ecosystems like SAP.

Speaker 1: What do you consider your greatest strengths as a Chief Accountant?

Speaker 2: My greatest strength is bridging the gap between strict financial compliance and system optimization. From my time at PwC and Acclime, I developed a rigorous foundation in VAS, tax laws, and IFRS reconciliations. However, I don't just focus on paperwork. As proven at Fastboy, my core strength is optimizing operations—translating accounting rules into clear business requirements for IT teams to automate internal controls and managing complex cash flows.

Speaker 1: What is your greatest weakness, and how do you manage it?

Speaker 2: If I have to point out a technical weakness related to this role, it would be that I have not been a direct hands-on operator of SAP for daily data entry. My direct operational experience is with Microsoft Dynamics 365. However, I manage this by focusing on data analysis. At PwC, I frequently extracted and analyzed clients' SAP reports to perform data mapping for VAS and complex IFRS reconciliations. Because I deeply understand SAP's financial data structure and the underlying logic of ERP workflows, I am confident I will navigate SAP quickly for management purposes.

Speaker 1: The JD requires coordinating with internal departments. How do you collaborate with non-finance teams, like IT or Software Development?

Speaker 2: Because I intentionally moved into the IT industry, I understand how software products are built. When coordinating with IT to improve an internal process, I don't use programming jargon. Instead, I focus on the data flow and business logic. I translate accounting rules into clear business requirements—mapping out exactly how a transaction should trigger entries in the General Ledger. Once the IT team builds the feature, I lead the User Acceptance Testing to ensure the financial output is 100% compliant before deployment.

Speaker 1: Tell me about a task where you improved a financial process or internal control.

Speaker 2: At Fastboy Marketing, moving to a SaaS model meant managing complex recurring billing. Manual reconciliation between the CRM billing software and our accounting records was causing errors. I mapped out the entire order-to-cash workflow and collaborated with our software team to automate the data syncing. My role was to define the exact tax and revenue recognition rules for the system to follow. This completely eliminated manual entry errors and provided the Board of Directors with real-time financial tracking.

Speaker 1: How do you prepare for and manage statutory audits or tax inspections?

Speaker 2: I believe in proactive compliance. Throughout the year, I rigorously monitor deductible versus non-deductible expenses for CIT and ensure PIT matches our payroll and insurance records perfectly. I maintain clean GL reconciliations and organize all supporting documents contemporaneously. During an audit, I act as the central point of contact to provide clear data and confidently defend our accounting treatments based strictly on the latest tax circulars.

Speaker 1: Realtek values self-confidence. How do you handle a situation where a manager from another department disagrees with your accounting or tax treatment?

Speaker 2: My confidence comes from a deep understanding of the regulations and the business substance. In such cases, I don't just say 'no.' I explain the 'why' based on current tax laws or VAS and IFRS standards. I listen to their business goals first, then I propose an alternative that meets their needs while staying 100% compliant. To me, confidence is about protecting the company from risks while being a supportive business partner.

Speaker 1: How do you build trust with your team and other departments, especially when you are new to the company?

Speaker 2: Trust is built through transparency and consistency. With my team, I lead by example and provide clear SOPs so they know exactly what is expected. With other departments, I take the time to understand their workflows, especially the IT and Operations teams, as their data flows into my reports. By delivering accurate reports on time and being transparent about the accounting logic behind the numbers, I believe I can build long-term trust quickly.

Speaker 1: Integrity is a core value here. Have you ever faced a situation where you had to stand your ground for the sake of financial integrity?

Speaker 2: In my 7 years of experience, integrity has always been my top priority. As a Chief Accountant, I've had instances where there were pressures to record expenses or revenue in a way that didn't align with VAS. In those moments, I calmly presented the potential audit risks and legal consequences to the leadership. I believe my role is to be the gatekeeper of the company's financial health, and I never compromise on accuracy for short-term benefits.

Speaker 1: You are pursuing both CPA and CMA. What motivates you to keep learning while holding a demanding role?

Speaker 2: The IT and Tech industry moves very fast, and so does the regulatory environment in Vietnam. I believe that a Chief Accountant must evolve alongside the business. Pursuing CPA and CMA isn't just about the titles; it's about gaining a more strategic view of financial management and management accounting. This growth mindset allows me to bring better insights to the Board of Directors and ensure Realtek's finance functions remain world-class.

Speaker 1: In your experience with multinational clients, what are the most common gaps between VAS and IFRS, and how do you resolve them during the month-end closing?

Speaker 2: The most common gaps I handle usually involve Revenue Recognition, Fixed Asset Depreciation, and Leases (IFRS 16). Because VAS is highly rule-based and heavily tied to tax regulations, while IFRS is principle-based, the timing of recording revenue or expenses often differs. To resolve this efficiently, I maintain a comprehensive mapping matrix between the local Chart of Accounts and the Group's reporting template. At month-end, I identify the exact treatment differences and prepare the detailed adjustment workings. I ensure these workings are fully referenced and transparent, so the regional consolidation team can easily trace the adjusted IFRS numbers back to the local VAS trial balance.

Speaker 1: You mentioned using SAP data for your reconciliation tasks. Can you walk us through the exact steps you take to prepare a complex IFRS vs. VAS reconciliation report?

Speaker 2: First, I extract the financial reports and Trial Balance from the SAP system, which usually reflect the group's IFRS standards. Next, I apply my pre-defined mapping rules to convert the SAP data into the Vietnamese Chart of Accounts for statutory purposes. Then comes the critical part: I calculate the specific adjustments needed for local compliance—for example, reversing non-deductible expenses or adjusting foreign exchange revaluations. Finally, I generate a bridge report that clearly explains every variance between the SAP IFRS figures and the statutory VAS figures. This analytical process ensures data integrity for both local authorities and the Group.

Speaker 1: When Realtek launches a new product or a new type of tech contract, how do you ensure the transaction is recorded correctly under both VAS and group reporting standards?

Speaker 2: I believe in assessing the accounting impact before the transaction occurs. When dealing with new software licenses or tech contracts, I evaluate the terms against both VAS and IFRS. I document the treatment differences upfront. More importantly, drawing from my experience in the SaaS industry at Fastboy Marketing, I collaborate directly with the IT and Operations teams. I define the exact business logic so that our billing system captures the necessary data points to satisfy both local statutory requirements and the Group's IFRS rules right from the start.

Speaker 1: Let's talk about technical accounting. Can you explain how you handle the treatment of Revenue Recognition, especially the gap between local VAS and IFRS for a tech or SaaS company?

Speaker 2: In my experience, especially at Fastboy Marketing handling SaaS models, Revenue Recognition is a major gap. Under VAS, revenue is heavily rule-based and often tied to the issuance of the VAT invoice. However, IFRS 15 focuses on when the performance obligation is satisfied. For a 12-month tech subscription, VAS might recognize it immediately upon invoicing for tax purposes, but IFRS requires us to defer it and recognize it evenly over the 12 months. To manage this treatment, I set up a robust deferred revenue schedule. I collaborate with our internal software team to ensure our billing platform automatically calculates the exact service period and syncs this data into the ERP. For group reporting, I generate adjustment entries to defer the unearned portion according to IFRS while keeping the local books compliant with VAS tax rules.

Speaker 1: What about Fixed Asset Depreciation? How do the treatments differ between the Group's standards and Vietnamese regulations, and how do you reconcile them?

Speaker 2: The main difference lies in the thresholds and useful life. VAS is very strict and tax-driven, specifically Circular 45, which requires an asset to have a value of at least 30 million VND to be capitalized, and it dictates specific depreciation bands. IFRS (IAS 16), on the other hand, is principle-based and relies on the actual economic useful life without a strict monetary threshold. When I reconcile this, if the Group capitalizes laptops or tech equipment that cost 25 million VND, I must record them as an immediate expense or allocate them as prepayments under VAS. At month-end, I use my mapping matrix to extract these specific items from the SAP data. I then post an adjustment working to reverse the VAS expense and apply the IFRS capitalization and depreciation rules so the Chengdu regional team gets accurate consolidated numbers.

Speaker 1: Leases under IFRS 16 represent a significant gap with VAS. How do you practically account for office or equipment leases for group reporting?

Speaker 2: This is one of the most complex reconciliations I handled at PwC. Under VAS, operating leases like an office rental are kept off-balance sheet, and we simply record a straight-line rental expense in the P&L each month. However, IFRS 16 requires us to bring almost all leases onto the balance sheet by recognizing a Right-of-Use (ROU) asset and a corresponding lease liability. To treat this practically, I maintain a separate lease amortization schedule—often extracting the raw parameters from SAP. For the local VAS books, I book the standard rental expense. But for the group reporting package, my adjustment working completely reverses that VAS rental expense, and replaces it with the IFRS 16 depreciation of the ROU asset and the interest expense on the lease liability. This ensures total compliance for both local tax authorities and the regional consolidation.

Speaker 1: Do you have any questions for us?

Speaker 2: Yes, I do. First, since group reporting and SAP proficiency are key requirements, are there any current bottlenecks in your month-end group reporting process? Or is the current SAP system fully optimized for the reconciliation between local and group standards? Second, coming from a tech environment where I closely collaborated with software teams to automate financial workflows, I'm curious: Are there any ongoing projects at Realtek to automate internal controls or streamline the order-to-cash process? And finally, based on the current status of the accounting department, what would be the most urgent challenges you expect the new Chief Accountant to resolve within the first 30 to 60 days?