INTHEBLACK June 2026 - Magazine - Page 32
MEMBER PROFILE
skills are at the core,” says Keo. “Clients from
one business can be referred to another
and insights from one industry can be used
to inform another.”
BRANDING FOR GROWTH
Keo credits her connection to Australia
for helping to launch Your Guiding
Star Accounting. Her first clients were
Cambodian-Australian businesses who
recognised her CPA qualification.
“From there, I used my CPA qualification
as the main theme of my marketing on
Facebook and Instagram to help build my
credibility,” she says. “One of the first videos
I posted was about how I gained my CPA
qualification and it helped to build my brand.
“I think it was a smart strategy, because
if everyone trusts my qualifications, they
will want to learn more about what I do and
how Your Guiding Star Accounting can help
them,” she adds. “My business grew from
there, and earning the trust of my clients has
been very rewarding.”
Keo spent almost 10 years in Australia
before returning to Phnom Penh. While
completing her Bachelor of Commerce
at the University of Sydney, she leveraged
volunteer and internship experiences to hone
her accounting skills and went on to become
a senior financial accountant at utility
company Icon Water in Canberra.
Today, Keo works with a range of clients
across industries such as retail, wholesale
and professional services. She views
accountants as strategic business partners
who use financial data to help clients manage
risk and make the critical decisions that fuel
their growth.
“I want to empower Cambodian businesses
to grow smartly and sustainably,” she says.
“I have always been someone who thinks
in systems, and accounting provides a
framework to turn complex information into
actionable insights and meaningful stories.
When financial data is presented well, it
helps leaders make decisions and grow
with purpose.”
AN ECONOMY REAWAKENING
Cambodia experienced a rapid economic
rise in the 15 years prior to the COVID-19
pandemic. Data from the World Bank puts
annual growth during this period around
32 INTHEBLACK June 2026
7.7 per cent, cementing its lower-middleincome status in 2015.
While the pandemic triggered Cambodia’s
first economic recession in 25 years with its
economy contracting 3.6 per cent in 2020,
growth reached almost 6 per cent in 2024.
The country, which is home to around
750,000 micro, small-to-medium enterprises,
maintains its ambition to become a
higher-income economy by 2050. While
agriculture, tourism and textiles remain its
major industries, the Cambodian government
views artificial intelligence (AI) as an
opportunity to accelerate innovation.
Keo sees huge potential for Cambodia’s
economy and the SME sector that helps
fuel its growth.
“After working in Australia, I wanted
to make a meaningful impact in my home
country,” she says. “Many of my clients are
experiencing rapid growth, but they are also
navigating rising costs and tighter margins,
and there is a level of market complexity
that can be difficult to navigate without
robust systems to track performance and
respond quickly.
“Many SMEs still rely on spreadsheets,”
adds Keo. “For Cambodian businesses,
we need to normalise the idea of external
parties doing their books, because there
is still a traditional view that they do not
want to reveal their financial information
to a third party. That is why I spend a lot
of time understanding my clients’ pain points
and challenges, because this builds trust.”
A GUIDING STAR
Keo says marketing via social media
continues to build her business profile.
“In Cambodia, you have to be flexible and
go where your customers are, which is mainly
on Facebook and Instagram,”
Last year, Keo filmed a “day in the life
of…” video for CPA Australia, which
highlighted her role in inspiring the next
generation of accountants in Cambodia.
She regularly speaks about the profession
at school events and career expos, and aims
to foster a sense of excitement about the
growing role of AI in accounting.
“I view AI as a business partner, not a
threat,” she says. “When I speak to students,
my goal is to show them that AI can take
care of repetitive accounting tasks so that
