TWELVE hours exceeds the average workday.
But for the last 47 years, that has been the norm for accountant Victor Sy.
“I’m a workaholic,” he said. “I guess it’s a good formula for success if you combine the characteristics of a workaholic, the systems of an SGV alumnus, thrifty habits of an Ilocano, and hard work of a Chinese.”
Throughout his career, Sy has spent 37 years working at a company he established in 1977, Sy Accountancy Corporation. The firm offers a number of services from tax return preparation and accounting to asset protection planning.
Its niche, however, is in tax defense that includes successfully representing taxpayers who get audited by the IRS, FTB, EDD, BOE for income, payroll, and sales taxes.
He enjoys dealing with the IRS and feels at home at IRS offices.
“Dealing with the IRS is the love my life, next only to my children and wife,” he said.
Sy currently works at the company he founded, but decided to slow down to start enjoying semi-retirement by traveling with his wife Marissa and spending more time with their children and grandchildren.
He said he misses his youngest child Abigail, a medical student at the University of Hawaii, and Jonathan, a resident physician also at the University of Hawaii. He also wants to spend more time with his grandchildren Kirsten, Tyler, and Emily.
“It woke me up and I don’t want to work this hard anymore,” said Sy, who will be celebrating his 70th birthday next year. “No 70-year-old man should be working 12 hours a day.”
Sy announced his plan to sell, received multiple offers and accepted one that came from an Illigan City native, Arlene Al-os.
“It’s funny that she comes from the southern tip of Mindanao and I come from the northern part of Luzon, but we connected in Los Angeles,” Sy said.
While Al-os’ proposal was not the highest bid, Al-os’ has a demeanor and determination to get things done, which Sy noticed. Additionally, the two had met through their association with the Philippine American Society of CPAs (PASCPA).
“She’s very bright, and she’s not timid. She’s quite aggressive,” he said. “And she’s attaining things that I didn’t at the same age. And yes, she’s a workaholic like me! I’d email her at 5am and she’d email right back. This makes us ideal partners – both early risers and workaholics!”
Al-os began working in accounting at about age 20 in the Philippines. In September 2002, she immigrated to the United States, attained her license and worked for multiple companies.
With at least 15 years of accounting experience at various firms, including PricewaterhouseCoopers, Los Angeles, Al-os has also worked beyond the average eight-hour workday at her previous jobs.
“Probably the [longest] I’ve [worked] is 7 a.m. until 4 a.m. the next day,” she said.
Another factor in Sy’s decision to accept Al-os’ offer was because they were both members of PASCPA. Selling to someone he was more familiar with was a choice he preferred instead of entertaining bidders he didn’t really know.
“If I were to sell to a big firm, they would send their partners here, and I would be answering to multiple partners, and I don’t want that anymore,” he said.
“By selling to Arlene, I can continue what I used to do and just step back slowly as she gets a foothold,” he said.
As partners, Al-os and her “bossing,” as she calls Sy, complement each other well.
Since partnering up, both Filipino accountants discovered several similarities they share.
For one thing, both began working at early ages: Al-os started at age 6, while Sy was already helping his parents with their department stores before he even started kindergarten. They also both excelled in school and later on in their profession.
As Al-os finalizes moving into her new office at Sy’s office on Mira Monte Place in Pasadena, her determination to push the firm forward is clear: Among her goals for the company include maintaining all current employees, helping aspiring accountants from the Philippines and providing an opportunity for workers to take ownership of the corporation if they desire.
With the merger underway, Sy will continue working full time at the company until the end of tax season in April 2015. Afterward, he intends on cutting his time at the office down to four to six hours per day rather than the 12 he has been putting in for almost 50 years.
Sy said he will remain at the firm as long as Al-os needs him to be. However, he confidently believes in her ability to maintain his legacy, which, among other things, includes an undefeated record for appeals in tax cases.
His legacy starts with his famous relative, Washington SyCip of SGV (SyCip Gorres Velayo). He also worked with Ernst & Ernst (now Ernst & Young) and Andersen Consulting before establishing his own firm.
Sy said he dreams of Arlene carrying the torch with his legacy toward the firm’s 75th anniversary.“We’re both excited about this merger and we want [the community] to know that we will still do the same services that we have, and we’ll even be more energetic with Arlene coming in,” he said.
