CentreO Blog

Hello,

I work atop the Bonham Strand Trade Centre in Shengwan with some great people, and for some great clients. As a bookkeep & accounting trainee, I spend my days sifting through mountains of invoices to prepare precise and thorough financial statements. Centre O’s goal in the audit process is to minimize a client’s tax burden and provide an accurate representation of their companies’ financial standing. To ensure this outcome, I was introduced to and enacted their multi-step process. First, all the invoices are categorized into different accounts based on the nature of the activity. Second, the invoices are logged as monthly vouchers and cross-referenced with bank statements. Third, the vouchers are summarized in a table called the column account. Finally, this information is extracted to produce the period’s income statement and current balance sheet. What a process!

Centre O also expanded my role outside of accounting. Notably, I provided an analysis and presentation on the differences between corporate taxes in the US and Hong Kong. Quite simply, Hong Kong has lower taxes, and a much more comprehensible system than found in the US. Hong Kong has only one company tax – the Profits Tax – at flat rate of 16.5 percent, while the US has many taxes, rates, and exceptions. Additionally, I took part in the statutory books process at Centre O – one of their key service. Registering a company, or just changing the name requires a lot of red tape. Moreover, this process can be daunting- and worse for a new entrepreneur- time-consuming. Fortunately, Centre O helped me understand and take part in the process.

In short, I have done and grown a lot during my time here at Centre O. I am excited to bring what I have learned back to school this August where I’ll begin my Junior year attending the Goizueta Business School at Emory University.

All the Best,

Neil Kumar

Hey!

I’m Daniel, the Community Engagement Trainee here at Centre O. I am originally from Los Angeles, California with ancestral roots from Moldova, and I am studying business at University of California, Berkeley.

I chose an internship in Hong Kong becasue I was looking for a place that would challenge me while allowing me to gain a better understanding of the international business world, and what better place than “Asia’s International City”?

I am very glad with my decision to chose a small company like Centre O becasue I really get a holistic feel of the operations that go into establishing a company and maintaining it. My position allows me to work with the communication of our brand to the outside world through social media and events. I see now that business-related blogs are useful for everyone who would like to get to know more about the rules and regulations in Hong Kong, but also the practices for Bank Account Opening and etc. These posts play a vital role in keeping our clients updated with all things useful from information on how we can improve their business to the daily news of Hong Kong.  Along with media and event planning, I also establish ideas through marketing strategy on how to make what we do for our clients even better. This ensures that I pick the best route to make a clients time with us the most enjoyable and easy.

With such a small hardworking team, there is no hierarchy at work, which allows me to gain the most out of my experience  by learning a little bit from everyone here!