CEO Insights Magazine

At present, the modes and avenues of business are changing tremendously given the advancing needs of clients and their organizations. As flexibility for accounting and business advisory are on the rise, Mario G. Madrid Jr., Managing Partner of MG Madrid & Company - an audit and business advisory firm is dynamically playing his part by guiding organizations grow in this information age.

Recently, MJ Madrid engaged in an exclusive interview with CEO Insights ASIA and shared about his professional endeavors.

Give a brief account of your professional journey.
I graduated from the University of Santo Tomas with a Bachelor of Science in Accountancy. Immediately after passing the CPA boards, I worked for five years in SGV & Co and gained significant audit and business advisory experience. During this period, I was eager to be an entrepreneur. I started different businesses such as those involved in manpower and security services while also moonlighting as an audit and tax consultant for other businesses. As expected, I faced challenges typical of startups. Lacking the experience and knowledge to deal with these challenges, I decided to go back to school. I enrolled in the graduate program in entrepreneurship at the Asian Institute of Management. The program made me aware of my strengths and weaknesses as an individual and eventually, I was able to see my way clearly to where I would focus my energies. In the middle of the program, I incorporated MGM & Co and started accepting clients in a small office unit in Makati City. Twenty years hence, we are a group of 130 professionals and specialists with four branches in Metro Manila offering services and solutions to local and multinational clients.

What are the most valuable lessons you have learned from the institute? Could you share a few instances of how they served as beneficial in your professional journey?
A side from learning to craft a business plan with clear statements of our vision. mission, and strategies, I learned how to create value in my organization. Creating value is essential to growing our business which is primarily oriented toward service to our clients. Earning the client's trust and continuously meeting their expectations are the bedrock of our business. In the first few years of operations, I made sure I had all the certifications and accreditations required in my practice including joining professional organizations and global affiliations so clients would continue to trust me. Then we focused on efficiency by training our staff and assisting them in using technology to increase productivity. All this resulted in fast delivery of services, increase in client base and expansion of our service lines.

Define MG Madrid & Company as an organization and its position in the market.
MGM & Co. strives continuously to improve its business practices and imparts this mindset to clients as well as its professional staff. This way, the firm becomes more productive and our work becomes easier and more fulfilling. We believe in the saying 'profit is just an end result of good service'. At MGM & Co., we focus on our service delivery and make every effort to provide fast and targeted results. We have set our sights on growth and expansion to enable us to help more businesses in the future. We also hope to inspire future generations to go into accounting as a profession because of its capacity to provide a meaningful contribution to society.

What are the factors you look into when developing effective corporate growth strategies?
There exist a lot of opportunities for growth in the accounting profession. The question is where to draw the pool of professionals who are willing to take advantage of these opportunities. Talent resource is one area that we are looking to improve. Getting the right people to get the job done and adequate training of the professional staff are just a few of the things we consider in order to meet the demands for growth.

How do you encourage your team to draw valuable insights from the market to help the company stay informed of ongoing trends?
When we send our team to attend annual conferences locally and abroad to learn new trends that affect our clients, we make sure that they understand the objectives and advantages these would bring to the Firm and themselves. We make them realize that these insights are useless if kept to themselves. That is why we encourage them to share these learnings immediately for the benefit of the team.

How do you plan to help the company invest its time in moving forward? Also, where do you see yourself headed towards the upcoming years in your career path?
We intend to continue to invest in our leadership development programs to enhance not just the competencies and the skills of our team but rather the set of principles they will use to lead their groups. We will ensure that our Firm's culture improves as leaders continue to step up and become optimistic and fearless in the pursuit of excellence.

Mario G. Madrid Jr., Managing Partner, MG Madrid & Company Philippines
He is an accounting and business professional helping companies to relish growth providing them with expert accounting and business advisory services through his company, MG Madrid & Company.