Sweet Guray – Accountant

sweet-guray-vaThere are so many accountants as good as me, better than me, and not better than me but I hope among all the other accountants out there, you can be my perfect match.

I am Sweet Sharmaigne Guray from the Philippines. Some call me ‘Sweet’ while others call me ‘Sharmaigne’, but either way is fine. I came from a lower-class family but seek importance to education. Thus, after my high school graduation, I decided to apply in a prestigious school here in the Philippines to experience a good education. However, it was not only education that I look forward to but also the city life that I am about to experience. If you are wondering, why would I like to experience urban life? Well, it is because I grew up in the outskirts of our province where there are no convenience stores, malls, traffic, and night markets. It is something that I crave to experience since my childhood.

College came and I took up a Bachelor of Science in Accountancy. My first year was easy because the accounting process was perfectly explained by my professors, especially the preparation of a balance sheet. In its every step and process, it became clear to me that accounting is not just about Mathematics but it also about comprehension and analysis.

During my first year, one of my teachers taught me about his definition of student’s balanced life. He called it “8-8-8”, which means a day with 24 hours, should be divided by “8-8-8” where 8 hours in a day should be spent sleeping, another 8 hours for studying, and the rest of 8 hours for playing and entertainment. I followed this concept all throughout until I was on my 2nd year when distractions came. I enjoyed the city life too much that I forgot about the 8 hours of studying. I would come home past 12 midnight from KTV bars to enjoy drinking and singing even if I have an exam in the next morning. This lasted for a semester, until finals came when I found out that I had to get an A+ in my final exam to remain in my program. As expected, I did not make it since there was too much to absorb in a minimal span of time and as I recall, I had too much night life.

It was the first failure I have experienced that made me promise myself to never experience it again. I was forced to shift to Bachelor of Science in Accounting Technology, which is almost the same from my first course. I applied the “8-8-8” concept with discipline and continue my college journey with utmost determination.

sweet-guray-vaIt was 2015 when I graduated from college. As I look back, I realized that one mistake in life can make a big difference in the future. I had some setbacks but it was never a hindrance to pursue my dream as an accountant. I took some certifications to recover my setbacks right after graduation. Thankfully, I passed all the certification exams from levels 1 to 3. I then applied for a membership in the National Institute of Accounting Technicians and garnered my designation as a Member of International Certified Bookkeeper, Registered Cost Accountant and Certified Accounting Technician. Aside from those certifications, I also passed the Civil Service Professional Level exam and the Real Estate Appraiser board exam.

It was 2016 when I got my first job as a Junior Bookkeeper in a Pineapple exporter company. It was then when I experienced the famous SAP Accounting system for the first time. Part of my responsibilities are preparation of bank reconciliations, posting of monthly accrual expenses, recording of monthly depreciation expenses, reconciling of intercompany accounts, and amortising of prepayments and insurances.

In 2018, I applied to a different company with the same industry as a Cost Analyst. During my stay, I got to learn about making cost reports and doing creative Excel templates to make the data easier to interpret for the user. However, it was not long when I had a higher salary offer in a Hospitality company. That was 2019 when I transferred to a hospitality industry where I got my first accounting supervisory position. It is where I deeply understood the accounting theories and concepts since part of my responsibility is to prepare monthly financial reports for the top management. It is very overwhelming to prepare reports for the top management and they got to appreciate it.

I hope I will be your chosen accountant that will soon help you prepare financial reports for decision making.

For a copy of Sweet’s resume please click here.