Kapil Mehta, CPA, CGMA

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

Turning a company around: I grew up in a small town called Avikanagar (Malpura), Rajasthan, India, where my father was a scientist and my mother was a teacher. In college, I studied commerce, including advanced accounting, business management, and business law, while working part time with a stock exchange broker. My first job after graduation was as group manager of accounts with Historic Resort Hotels, a hospitality company that owned India’s best heritage and five-star hotels. Then I worked as financial controller and company secretary for textile and pharmaceutical companies in Mumbai and Goa.

Allied Digital Services LLC in Torrance, Calif., was an acquired company that was struggling during the 2008 subprime crisis. The company is a U.S. subsidiary of an India-based global IT managed services provider. I was brought in as financial controller. After making changes, the company began breaking even within about six months. Today we are growing rapidly.

After being in that role for a few years, I decided I wanted to learn more about U.S. regulations, so at the age of 43, I decided to pursue a CPA and CGMA designation. The most valuable aspect was learning taxation because it helps me with corporate tax planning for my company.

Creating mindsets for success: Every manager should have three mindsets. The first is a service mindset, where the customer is king. If a customer needs anything, we should be proactive. We must make sure customers are served well.

The second is a commercial mindset. We run our companies for profit, so we must work to get business from our customers. If you want to retain business, you have to be transparent, effective, and adaptable, and you must deliver value so customers stay with you and help you stay profitable.

The third is a people mindset, which means your stakeholders are human — whether they are shareholders, board members, customers, vendors, or employees. We should treat others as we would like to be treated.

Building healthy companies through efficiency: I am passionate about developing a culture of efficiency in my current role. Technology is playing a big role in creating efficiencies. We can reduce work by identifying repetitive tasks and learning how we can complete them using algorithms, technology, RPA, or AI tools.

In this culture, efficiency does not mean making job cuts. We keep our employees top of mind, while deciding how to create efficiencies without negatively impacting them. We also train our employees based on their inherent strengths and what they want to do in their roles. We give our employees a lot of freedom to learn and grow.

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.

— As told to Teri Saylor, a freelance writer based in North Carolina. To comment on this article, contact Courtney Vien at Courtney.Vien@aicpa-cima.com.