It was difficult to strike a balance, but the ACA opened so many doors

From Formula 1 to electric motor sports and innocent drinks, the ACA has given Alan Chan the foundation – and the confidence – to take risks.

When Alan Chan began his ACA training, he admitted that he didn’t know exactly what a career in finance would mean – or how difficult it would be to balance work and study. “I did math in college and I liked numbers, so it seemed like a good way to get started in finance,” he says. “But in truth, I had no idea what that meant. I didn’t really have a point of reference – my parents immigrated to the UK in the 1970s and they both worked in the NHS. “

After Alan studied at University College London, he wanted a break from the city and attended Deloitte’s graduate program in St. Albans. “I thought it was going to be easy – or at least not as challenging as studying math,” he admits. “And maybe it wasn’t in terms of content, but I really struggled to reconcile work and study. I failed my first exam. I got it wrong: I thought I could work and then just study when I have a moment. But actually it was pretty difficult to find the right balance. “

Three years later, he was relieved to qualify and leave the stressful cycle of study and exams behind. He was spending his Christmas vacation thinking about what to do with his career when he discovered an interesting opportunity with the newly created American F1 team Haas. “I remember it was Boxing Day and it did something weird this week between Christmas and New Years – I get pretty thoughtful and think about setting goals,” he says. “I grew up with sports and had heard of this new Formula 1 team. So I just applied on their website.

“They weren’t looking for Formula 1 people – because it was a brand new team, they wanted people from different backgrounds to bring different things with them. And later, after talking to my new boss, he saw the ACA, the fact that I had a good qualification behind me. “

It was an entirely different experience coming from a Big Four company and joining an entrepreneurial startup, even in a machine the size of Formula 1. “I was the 10th person there and the youngest [at 23]”Says Alan.” Because it was a startup, everything was new to everyone. It was hard to do wrong, but also hard to know you did something right. You really had to roll up your sleeves – in one day I would occupy the front desk and represent Haas on the finance council of F1 headquarters the next time. But that made it exciting. “

Over the next four years, Haas grew from 10 to 200 people and began to see some success. In 2018 he finished fifth in the constructors’ championship. By then, Alan had been promoted to Global Financial Planning and Analysis Manager and felt well he was ready for a new challenge. “I took a risk by joining and I didn’t want to just feel comfortable,” he explains. He joined innocent drinks attracted to the company’s brand and culture. “My time at innocent was short, but it was probably one of the funniest parts of my career there. They taught me a lot, especially about culture and work-life balance. “

He had only been in the job for a few months when a former colleague from Haas contacted him to join another startup, an international electric racing series called SuperCharge. “When he started telling me about SuperCharge, I was excited again,” says Alan. “I thought it could really take off. So I joined them in 2019 and became finance director last year. “

While it’s another motorsport startup, the SuperCharge experience differs from Haas in a number of ways. “Haas F1 is primarily a marketing platform for Haas Automation, while SuperCharge’s goal is to be profitable,” says Alan. “So it’s a much bigger challenge – but actually a lot more real. There has been some success with R&D credits and early stage funding, but it has been difficult for COVID to host events around the world. So it’s taking longer than planned. “

However, this has also opened up opportunities – since January Alan has been working three days a week on a “flexi vacation” arrangement that gives him time to focus on setting up his own accounting practice, Cornerstone – and especially on his new little daughter , Florence. “I don’t want the biggest house or the fastest car, it’s about having the happiest family life,” he says. “My grandparents in Mauritius and Trinidad were shop owners and my parents run their own nursing home business – but the common theme is that they had a lot of family time and I remember that growing up. I still need a career, I still need a job and a purpose outside of the family so I’m trying to figure that out now – what’s the right balance and what lifestyle might work. “

He believes the lessons of last year and the way the accountant’s profession is changing can mean more flexibility. “I think professional services can actually have a really good balance – it doesn’t just have to be Google and Apple and innocents who have these progressive guidelines,” he says. “Companies now understand that there is a mix when you have your deadlines, timesheets, milestones and can deliver remotely.”

With Cornerstone, he hopes to be at the forefront of this advanced approach, harnessing the power of technology, and shifting the focus from “numbers” to professional skills. “I think that’s the exciting thing – and that’s how the profession should be seen,” he says. “Rather than, ‘Hey, you’ve got a degree in math, so you’re probably good at numbers,’ it’s about being able to talk to someone, get to know them and their business, what motivates them and what they’re passionate about. In fact, you can do a lot of that in accounting. More than I might have noticed or even thought before I started. And that only becomes more central to the role. “

Throughout his already diverse and exciting career, Alan believes that it is the ACA that is fundamental to his success and gives him the confidence to try new things. “The ACA has been that central thing in my nearly 10 years of work,” he says. “It really gave me the confidence, but also the recognition, that I can do it. Without it, I honestly don’t know if all of these doors would have opened. “