Page 137 - JoFA_Jan_Apr23

THE LAST WORD / Kapil Mehta, CPA, CGMA

Kapil Mehta, CPA, CGMA, is CFO
and COO at Allied Digital Services
LLC in Torrance, Calif.

Favorite cuisine: I am a vegetarian, and I love
Indian food. I also love cooking.

Favorite music: I enjoy meditation music.
I listen to Marconi Union, a group that has
created music for the brain. This music
relaxes me.
Favorite travel destination: Goa, India.
I lived there for seven years. It’s like the
Hawaii of India, with beautiful beaches, lots
of greenery, and scenic backwaters. It’s a
fantastic place.

‘I’m passionate about developing a culture of efficiency’

Turning a company around: I grew up in a small town proactive. We must make sure customers are served well.
called Avikanagar (Malpura), Rajasthan, India, where my fa- The second is a commercial mindset. We run our com-
ther was a scientist and my mother was a teacher. In college, panies for profit, so we must work to get business from our
I studied commerce, including advanced accounting, business customers. If you want to retain business, you have to be
management, and business law, while working part time with transparent, effective, and adaptable, and you must deliver
a stock exchange broker. My first job after graduation was value so customers stay with you and help you stay profitable.
as group manager of accounts with Historic Resort Hotels, The third is a people mindset, which means your stake-
a hospitality company that owned India’s best heritage and holders are human — whether they are shareholders, board
five-star hotels. Then I worked as financial controller and members, customers, vendors, or employees. We should treat
company secretary for textile and pharmaceutical companies others as we would like to be treated.
in Mumbai and Goa.
Allied Digital Services LLC in Torrance, Calif., was an Building healthy companies through efficiency: I am
acquired company that was struggling during the 2008 sub- passionate about developing a culture of efficiency in my
prime crisis. The company is a U.S. subsidiary of an India- current role. Technology is playing a big role in creating ef-
based global IT managed services provider. I was brought in ficiencies. We can reduce work by identifying repetitive tasks
as financial controller. After making changes, the company and learning how we can complete them using algorithms,
began breaking even within about six months. Today we are technology, RPA, or AI tools.
growing rapidly. In this culture, efficiency does not mean making job cuts.
After being in that role for a few years, I decided I wanted We keep our employees top of mind, while deciding how to
to learn more about U.S. regulations, so at the age of 43, I create efficiencies without negatively impacting them. We also
decided to pursue a CPA and CGMA designation. The most train our employees based on their inherent strengths and
valuable aspect was learning taxation because it helps me what they want to do in their roles. We give our employees a
with corporate tax planning for my company. lot of freedom to learn and grow. PHOTO BY LAUREN JUSTICE/AP IMAGES

Creating mindsets for success: Every manager should — As told to Teri Saylor, a freelance writer based in North
have three mindsets. The first is a service mindset, where the Carolina. To comment on this article, contact Courtney Vien at
customer is king. If a customer needs anything, we should be Courtney.Vien@aicpa-cima.com.

46 | Journal of Accountancy March 2023