Saving Strategies for Teens From an Entrepreneurial Accountant
The Importance of Saving While Young With Anthony Balic of Katuni Capital Corp.
Making Moves in the Mining Industry
As a young chartered accountant at major accounting firm Deloitte LLP Anthony strived to achieve more. Given opportunities to gain knowledge in different industries, Anthony made good use of his experience in eventually putting it all together to form his own business, Katuni Capital Corp. in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Having an extensive background in money management we asked Anthony to go back to his early investing days, discuss his pay yourself first plan, and tell us what worked well for him as well as where he would make changes knowing what he does today. Anthony has provided advice for teens and young investors starting out their savings journey.
Question: What exactly does Katuni Capital Corp. do?
Answer: Katuni is a consulting company that specializes in providing accounting services to corporations ranging from financial and management reporting, governance, and compliance [make sure companies follow rules] to financing.
[An accountant will review a businesses financial records and summarize, analyze and report on them]
Question: What is your position/role at the company?
I am the president of the company and Katuni is basically the corporate vehicle that I provide my services through which is beneficial due to liability reasons.
[In case of legal issues, Anthony can depend on his corporation for protection]
Question: What experience/training/education did you complete to get into this role?
Answer: My educational background is I obtained a Bachelor of Commerce in Finance and a Diploma in Accounting from UBC in 2004 and then obtained my Chartered Accountant designation from the Chartered Accountants of British Columbia in 2009. The Chartered Accountant designation is now referred to as Chartered Professional Accountants
Question: Where did you start your career and how did you end up in your current position?
Answer: I started my career in 2007 as an articling student in Assurance and Advisory at Deloitte LLP which is considered one of the “Big 4” accounting firms. As part of a team, I worked on the audits of Canadian and US listed entities in various industries. As part of my job I was able to travel and see places of the world I would probably never have seen especially in small mining towns in Peru and Mexico.
I spent 9 years at Deloitte and progressed to Senior Manager focussing on the mining sector. At that point in my career, I felt like a needed a change and I saw an opportunity in the marketplace to provide accounting services for companies like the ones I was auditing.
Some of the smaller companies that I was auditing were struggling to provide adequate accounting records due to limited staff or limited accounting knowledge which more often than not was the result of limited financial resource. These companies couldn’t afford to hire a good full-time accountant.
The opportunity was that they didn’t need a full-time accountant. They just needed someone to handle the accounting function and it was irrelevant whether the person was full time or part time as long as the work was performed. So I created Katuni Capital Corp.
I began to offer accounting services to these companies at a cost that was less than full time, which made the companies I was working for happy as they can save money, and was able to streamline the process so I was able to take on multiple clients leveraging my experience from Deloitte where I was always juggling multiple audits and client requests on a daily basis.
The transition was made even easier as a good friend of mine already established a similar business model and I was able to use his support and knowledge when needed, which was very helpful in my success.
Question: Where do you see opportunities arising for somebody young looking to get into your field/industry?
Answer: I think there are endless opportunities in the accounting field. I don’t see how innovation is going to impact the accounting and audit function in the short term and every company requires an accounting function.
I think having a grasp of accounting is beneficial for all business owners and entrepreneurs as having an understanding of the underlying numbers and fundamentals is essential in decision making.
Question: Do you have any personal finance principals that you follow or that guide your decisions?
The personal financial principal that I follow is the pay yourself first principle which is a strategy of increased and consistent savings and investment. The goal is to set aside a monthly amount that you want to save and invest before other expenses.
The current approach most people follow is to get through the month and then see what you have left to invest, which can fluctuate and result with you having nothing to invest. The pay yourself first principle ensures that you are investing.
This does not need to be a lot of money at first and can be $5 or $10 per month and then as your earning potential grows you can increase this amount. The important thing is to start early.
Question: If you could go back to being a teenager, what is one (or more) things that you would change about your decision making knowing what you do now?
Answer: Now that I have a better understanding of finances, I would analyze my purchases and distinguish between needs and wants.
We all spend money on questionable things when we are young, and I am not saying you should save every penny and not enjoy life but I would be better off today if I didn’t waste money and started saving earlier.
Question: What is one thing every teenager should start or do today to begin a successful financial future?
Answer: Start to get an understanding about building/creating wealth. The most impactful book I remember reading in my early 20s was The Wealthy Barber by David Chilton. He goes through different financial scenarios using fictional characters and stories which provide helpful financial advice. This is where I learned about the pay yourself first principle.
Question: Do you have any advice you would like to pass on to any teenager reading this?
Answer: The world of finance can seem daunting. The key is to take it slow and just make an effort to start. There are many free podcasts out there and resources like TeenLearner that provide content for you to better your future financial self.
Key Takeaways from Anthony Balic
Anthony Balic has forged a great career in a fast-moving industry by learning through experience. While having the education to get started was a requirement, he was able to learn on the job, use his friends for support, and look at what others were doing successfully to help him on his way.
Anthony was not an overnight success and put in lots of time and effort to get to where he is today. We thank Anthony Balic from Katuni Capital Corp. for his time.
Keep an Eye Out for Opportunities
Throughout the interview, one of the things Anthony mentions is opportunity. He saw an opportunity to create a business and took the steps to make it happen.
He was aware of the challenges that smaller businesses were having and through experience, communication, and networking he formed a very successful business out of it.
Learn about Creating Your own Wealth
Learn basic knowledge about saving and investing money. Start slow and use resources such as books and websites like Teen Learner.
Start Saving While Young
Pay yourself first (put money aside before you spend it) and start as soon as you can with as much money as you can. The power of saving for a long time will pay off later in life.
Understand Needs Vs. Wants
What you want and what you need are two different things, learn to differentiate between them.
