Interview meeting-20260817_141600-Meeting

Transcript
August 17, 2026, 6:16AM
28m 12s

Romar, Bernard John started transcription

Charm 0:03
the taxation, for me, it's all the same or I would say the calculation is just
the same. It has like different styles because of the specific company, how
they do it. But ultimately, if it's that, you had just have to multiply
by 12%, some things like that. So it's on a BAU. But when it comes to
compliance, that's where the complexity on how you do more efficient, do
more things efficiently for the company, both for compliance side and the
commercial side, because you have to match those two.

Romar, Bernard John 0:24

Mhm.
Right.

Charm 0:42
to have a better process for all of the company, not only in connection to
compliance.

Romar, Bernard John 0:47

All right. I'm glad, Charm, that the role really matches what you're looking
for. No, and it's actually something that you've been doing already. So
allow me to give you a quick overview of the role beyond the job
description. So the role is actually part of
the Global Tax Department, and it actually reports to the tax manager for
market and the GBS entity. When I say market, that's the head office
charm. So the position was actually created as part of the recent tax team
reorganization. So it's a new role.

Charm 1:20
Noah.

Romar, Bernard John 1:27

And it's actually considered as a key role in strengthening the company's
tax governance and audit management capability. So if you're going to
ask me who's doing this currently, remember I mentioned about the three
tax managers. So they're doing all of

Charm 1:44
Yeah.
Romar, Bernard John 1:46
these three tax managers are doing this role at the same time. So the
organization thought of dedicating someone who will focus on tax
governance instead. So the other three could really focus on the
operational side of tax, no.

Charm 1:59
Ohh, with a size.

Romar, Bernard John 2:05

One thing I'd like to highlight early on is that since this person will focus
on tax governance, the title is manager, but this is actually an individual
contributor role with no direct reports. So they are actually looking for a,
they're not looking for a people manager, but rather a strong tax
professional.

Charm 2:18
Oh, okay, okay.

Romar, Bernard John 2:27

who can really independently lead complex tax matters and influence
stakeholders across the business. And maybe if you're going to ask me
what's a day in the life of a tax governance manager, I can say that
majority of your role will be engaging with internal stakeholders from
different departments.

Charm 2:35
Yeah, yeah, right.

Romar, Bernard John 2:49

and other functions regarding audits or compliance matters. You will also
review audit requests from tax authorities and coordinating
documentations. There will be also instances that you will need to
improve or design tax governance processes.
SOPs and control frameworks. So as I have mentioned earlier, it's really a
new role. So we're looking for a fresh eye to improve our current tax
processes, specifically on governance. We will be also working on audit
readiness, specifically initiatives about it.

Charm 3:23
Nice, nice.

Romar, Bernard John 3:29

to ensure that the business is prepared for future audits. So that includes
partnering with advisors, consultants, and of course, tax authorities when
we did know. Now, in terms of maybe the overall, I can describe this as

Charm 3:34
Yeah.

Romar, Bernard John 3:49

Um...
I could describe this as for someone, it is fit for someone who enjoys
solving, you know, complex challenges, leading audits from start to finish,
improving governance processes, and partnering with senior stakeholders
while at the same time remaining hands on in the actual work.

Charm 4:00
Yeah.

Romar, Bernard John 4:11

rather than managing a large team. So you will be doing it from end to
end. I'll pause there for now, but based on what I have shared, I'd love to
hear your thoughts. How does that sound to you so far? Did it change your
impression? What questions can I help answer?

Charm 4:14
Yep, yep.
Yes.
And.
Actually, that is what I'm currently doing, both from Red Planet up until
here in Red Doors. I'm an individual contributor, but I also am a tax and
compliance manager, mainly focusing on letter of authorities and, you
know, being taxed
on the ready. That's really my core, I mean, core job in connection to my
daily work, because taxation, as I've mentioned, is a BAU process for me.
So if you have like a business as usual kind of taxation, what you need is
to be much more a online.

Romar, Bernard John 4:51

Right.
Mm.

Charm 5:08
tax audit ready. So just to share with you, I have handled 20 plus and
close 20 plus LOAs when I was in Red Planet. Yeah, because in Red Planet,
the company's strategy is that every hotel has a specific corporation. So
with that,

Romar, Bernard John 5:18

Wow.
Mm.

Charm 5:28
since we have like 14 hotels. So we have like 14 entities. So each entity
sometimes have like two or three LOAs, sometimes VAT, sometimes full
on oil taxes. But you know, that's the one I manage them all.
The things that I don't manage directly are outside Metro Manila, which is
from Davao, and sorry, it's CDO, Davao, and Cebu. Even though I go there
from time to time, I needed someone like, actually we have a consultant
back then.

Romar, Bernard John 5:59

Ndw.

Charm 6:07
to just, you know, represent us when things that needed to be
represented to BIR. So that's the extent of their job connected to us. But
all in all, in connection to the collating of the documents, giving the
documents to the officers, examiners, all I handle them all connecting to
the examiner. So

Romar, Bernard John 6:12

Mmh.

Charm 6:28
That was my daily thing. I have a separate monitoring in connection to all
LOAs. I closed that on the first year that I was with Red Planet. It was a
really great experience because very hands-on because we don't have a
specific consultant here in Manila, but outside Manila, that's why we opted
to have a consultant because I cannot

Romar, Bernard John 6:38

Mhm.
Thanks.

Charm 6:52
be on the same place at the same time. That's the really only reason. So
yeah, in connection to being tax audit ready, in connection to process, in
connection to documentation, I think I got that on the bag because I think
I have like enough

Romar, Bernard John 7:04

All right.

Charm 7:11
knowledge and connection to that one. And enough rapport in connection
to the examiners, because I think I really have communicated with the
examiners, both old people and young people in connection to BIR. Yeah,
so

Romar, Bernard John 7:12

Hello.
Ndw.

Charm 7:30
Does it, because I have, I entered into multiple LOA, entered into multiple
revenue district offices, so I have talked to different walks of earth, so kind
of, I have like a long range of people.
people, personnel, some things like that I have communicated with them.
So yeah, and also here in Red Doors, my title was also created because
they don't have a tax and compliance in Red Doors. So in my first six
months here in Red Doors, I've handled

Romar, Bernard John 7:51

Mm.
Uh-huh.

Charm 8:10
everything I created every policy I created the tax to be be a you so that
you can we can do the handle the LOA that is still pending for the
company. So here for the first year I closed out the two remaining LOAs
with the for the company when I entered and then
all the policies connecting to invoicing because we have a niche kind of
thing in connection to invoicing. We're like, how do they call it? We're a
different kind of thing. We are on a digital, sorry, DPS services in the
Philippines.
So digital products, digital services in the Philippines, because the guest
only use the platform, but the properties that they stay in is not really our
property. They're just our partners. So the niche is that we have to issue
the service invoice that is only connected to our revenue, even though

Romar, Bernard John 8:57

Mm.
Mhm.

Charm 9:11
we are the one who collect the whole amount from the guests themselves.
Kind of things that are a bit more complex when it comes to service
invoice issuance. Those are the things that I think I closed that out first
month of my
employment with Red Doors. Because of that, we collected all the
accounts receivable for the year 2025 because of the pending service
invoice issuance, they could not collect the
accounts receivable when it comes to the corporate client. So with that,
we collected within the, like, the span of, I think, two to three months, we
collected the whole amount for the pending AR, those are 90 days and
now we collected it because of the issuance of the service invoice that
we have come up with for the compliance. So yeah, I think that's the thing
that I'm on a contribution level. And I also am always on collaboration with
other departments because when it

Romar, Bernard John 10:22

Mhm.
Yeah.
Right.

Charm 10:29
comes to taxation and compliance, it's not only on accounting. It's always
the whole company. The way I see it is that when it comes to compliance,
I need the whole company to have a same wavelength of understanding
and connection to compliance so that they can understand
Why am I asking for this kind of documents? Why do I need you to be
more strict into this kind of document? So those kind of things I opted to
communicate directly to the department head, and if ever like they
needed a seminar, they needed more explanation and connection to that
specific area.
I am very gladly do them, give them like a seminar in connection to that
one so that they can understand it more. That's how I collaborate with
other departments within the company because I want them, I want the
company to see that compliance is not a hassle. Compliance is a thing
that you do so that the company would not

Romar, Bernard John 11:18

Mhm.
Mhm.

Charm 11:31
have any risk that can cause your job to be also at risk. So that's how I
always put it to them. So yeah.

Romar, Bernard John 11:36

Mhm.
Okay, okay, thank you. Thank you for walking me through your
background and experience when it comes to compliance charm. You've
shared how you handled audits and addressed process gaps, but I'm also
curious about your governance approach, like what specific
practices or controls do you put in place throughout the year to ensure
the company remains audit ready and how do you manage supporting
documentation so it's, you know, it's easy to retrieve when auditors
request it.

Charm 12:13
Yeah, well, of course, the best thing is organization. May it be for paper,
paperless or with paper, you have to organize it. And if you have like both
paper and non-paper documentation, you still have to have a very good
organization skills when it comes to how you organize your documents.
May it be for

Romar, Bernard John 12:18

Mhm.

Charm 12:35
per month, per vendor or some things like that. It depends on how they
started it. I just, I normally what I do is I look into the companies, how they
manage their documentation when I entered. And then if I think that that
would not be like an efficient thing to do,
What I do is I change it up a bit. I give them other pointers that they
should use. For example, here in Red Doors, when I entered, there was
really not any organization in connection to the documents for the
expenses, for the expenses only.

Romar, Bernard John 13:12

Mm.

Charm 13:16
they don't have, if they have the invoice, it's just laying around,
something like that. So what I did is I hired interns to do it because it's
very a menial job. Even though it's menial, it doesn't supposed to mean
that it's not a thing that you should do. It's always the menial thing that

Romar, Bernard John 13:16

Alright.

Charm 13:36
gives you like a much more ease when it comes to audit. So what I did is
what I hired like on the job trainings and help them ask for help so that
they can organize the document. So what I do is I organize it on a monthly
basis and per vendor basis. So

Romar, Bernard John 13:55

Ndw.

Charm 13:55
Inside the month, we do it on a per vendor basis for expenses. But when it
comes to journal entries, what I do is on a per month basis, but on a
posting date when you entered into the document itself.
So when I had the hard copies organized, we had to rearrange the shared
drive in connection to that one so that the hard copy would match the soft
copies. And then when it comes to books of accounts, because when I
entered red doors, we don't have, they don't have like a
computerized accounting system, what they call that, application or AC
itself for the books of accounts. So they write it on a book. What I did was I
applied for books of accounts so that it would be automated because we
have an ERP system.
them and I want to utilize what we currently have when I was with Red
Door. So what I do is I applied for the CAS in connection to our ERP and
good thing is that it was approved like two months after back and forth
with BIR, two months after because of the things connected to the
documentation and all that.
But ultimately, we had a computerized accounting system application and
we were given a certificate for that one. So with that, it's much more
easier to monitor your books of accounts because we already have the
system. We just extract it and on a monthly basis,

Romar, Bernard John 15:34

Can you hear me?

Charm 15:38
We all I always do reconciliation with accounting every time I do like
submission to BIR or a remittance to BIR for all taxes made before
withholding taxes for BAT for income tax. Always have I always have like a
reconciliation basis when it comes to.
general ledger transactions and also the amount that I am, you know,
remitting to be just a standard reconciliation. If ever there are like outliers
in connection to the reconciliation, that's where me and the accounting
team do discussions in connection to that one. Then we resolve it at hand.
Sometimes if we.
could not resolve it within the time frame we do it on the next month
especially for withholding taxes but for but if it's like quarter end or year
end I'm very strict on that so we have to have a compromise or we have
to have a solution when it comes to a quarterly end and

Romar, Bernard John 16:25

Ndw.

Charm 16:40
year end because those are the, what they call that, the periods that BIR
is very strict. So that's where I also being strict. But when it comes on a
monthly basis remittance, not really very strict about that. So that's, I
think that's how I do it in connection to the
Documentation here.

Romar, Bernard John 17:04

Thank you, Charm. Well, go ahead, go ahead.

Charm 17:07
As for the controls, because there were no controls when I come in, the
documents were really not good. The invoices does have an incorrect
name or incorrect, something like that for the company.
So what I did is that I communicated with the accounting team together
with the AP team so that every time they have a document that they are
going to enter into the system, they have to check the documents first
before they entered it so that we can correct the document.
first before we put it into the system. I don't, the control that I put in is
that they could not enter a specific expense or a specific entry in
connection to the expense if the document is not at par to a normal, to
the ones that I
into the specific policy. So if it does not meet the what they call that, the
compliance thing that I enumerated in the policy, it was, it's going to be
rejected or it's going to be changed. It's going to be put back to the
person that submitted to them and have it changed from the vendor or
something like that.
That.

Romar, Bernard John 18:25

All right. Thank you for walking me through that charm. I appreciate the
detailed examples you've shared, especially around audits, compliance,
and process improvements. But I leave the other technical questions to
the tax managers who's going to assess your overall fit during the
technical interview part. I'd also like to cover the work setup.

Charm 18:41
Jessie.

Romar, Bernard John 18:49

for the role and make sure we're aligned on expectations. So the position
is primarily based in our BGC head office in Taguig and it follows the
company's hybrid work arrangement wherein you will be, of course,
expected to work from Mondays to Fridays, but you will be required to be
in the head office at least twice a week. It depends on you which.

Charm 18:54
Yeah.

Romar, Bernard John 19:11

days you would prefer to be in the office. Just expect there's only a day
that all of you from tax team will be required to meet at least once in a
week now. Maybe A dedicated team day. And then the remaining two
days you will be working from home.

Charm 19:23
Direct.

Romar, Bernard John 19:31

That said, the tax team also partners closely with the stakeholders in the
Batangas factory. So we have a dedicated team who are based in the
Batangas factory. We also have a tax manager there. But there may be
also occasions when you would be...
or you would need to report to Batangas depending on the business need.
It's not part of your scope, but if there will come a time that your expertise
will be needed in the factory, you might be tapped to report in the factory
in the future. How do you feel about that setup? Would you be confident?

Charm 20:06
Yep, yep, shoot.

Romar, Bernard John 20:09

supporting factory if in case it will be needed in the future.
Yeah.

Charm 20:15
Actually, it's fine as long as I would be given a specific time where and
when I will be there, but it's all good.

Romar, Bernard John 20:22

Awards.
Hmm, right, to draw your heads up, right?

Charm 20:29
Yep, yep.

Romar, Bernard John 20:30

Got it. Thank you for being open about it. Now, in terms of your
availability, I know that you're still with your current company. So I'm not
sure if you were able to talk about this earlier, but I'm also curious about
your motivation to explore opportunities at this point of your career. I
know that you're holding a very important position now, but
What made you decide to look for other opportunities?

Charm 20:57
For Red Doors itself, the main reason, actually, I'll be very honest,
because I'm a very honest person. The management opted to have like a
specific, another personnel that is below me without

Romar, Bernard John 21:05

Yeah.
Mm.

Charm 21:16
my knowledge. I only knew it when the personnel was onboarded on the
day that the HR introduced him to us, to the whole team actually. So it
was on my end, it was kind of disrespectful because this person is going to
report to me. What if we don't have

Romar, Bernard John 21:18

Ndw.
Ohh.
Mm.

Charm 21:36
the rapport? What if we don't have the specific, you know, values in
connection to how we work? Because, you know, working is not only in
connection to if you're like, if you can be like thought into how to how
work, how we do in a normal basis, you just really have to have a

Romar, Bernard John 21:38

Ndw.
Mm.

Charm 21:56
for on that specific personnel, because that's the person you're gonna
work with directly, correct? So with that one, afterwards that he was
introduced to us, I talked to the management about it and their only reply
is that it's a management decision.

Romar, Bernard John 21:58

Right.
Right.

Charm 22:16
without any reasoning or any other information that's their only
explanation to me is a management decision. So I was a bit taken aback
on that one. And even though I communicated directly to my

Romar, Bernard John 22:16

Yeah.
Charm 22:35
direct report because I'm directly reporting to the CFO and the business
controller. I talked to them about it and I just couldn't. I feel like I was a bit
disrespected on my role here, even though I'm the tax compliance leader
or some things like that. That's the main reason that I am

Romar, Bernard John 22:40

Right.

Charm 22:55
looking for opportunities. Actually, I'm rendering my resignation and I will
be ready to work for other company on September 1. So yeah.

Romar, Bernard John 23:01

No.
I see, I see. Got it, John. Sorry to hear that. But if you don't mind me
asking, since you're looking for new opportunities right now, do you also
have other active interviews with other companies right now?

Charm 23:23
Yes, I do have. I do have other applications to other companies.

Romar, Bernard John 23:28

I see, I see. Got it. Thank you. Now, I think it actually matches the timeline
that we have for this role, Sharon, since we also need someone who at
least be on boarded by October 1st. So I guess a month will be enough for
you to be able to transition.

Charm 23:42
Ohh, nice, nice.

Romar, Bernard John 23:49

from your current role to JTI if in case you get chosen for this role, since
we will also need the candidate to complete the pre-onboarding processes
and also the requirements completion. So that's the reason why we have
at least a month for you to complete those processes.

Charm 24:07
Got it, got it.

Romar, Bernard John 24:09

Now I also want to align about the, what do you call this, the next steps of
the process. But before I discuss the next steps, do you have any
questions for me? Or maybe questions that Recruitment or JTI can answer
for you?
Charm 24:29
Yeah, I think for Recruitment, my only question is in connection to HMO,
because I have a comorbidity, I'm a type 2 diabetes. So what I want to
know is that do I have like an HMO on day one that I enter JTI if ever?

Romar, Bernard John 24:35

Ahh.
Google.
Well, something that I wanted to look forward to is that as early as day
one, you will be covered already. Our provider is actually in TeleCare. And
then apart from you, JTI also covers at least three of your dependents for
free.

Charm 25:03
Wow, okay, okay.

Romar, Bernard John 25:11

So we don't have to provide them.

Charm 25:12
The 3 dependents. Wow, okay, okay, that's good to hear.

Romar, Bernard John 25:18

Yeah, any other questions or concerns?

Charm 25:22
I'm all good in connection to Recruitment side.

Romar, Bernard John 25:25

Sure, maybe you can save the other questions once we reach the job offer
stage. But for now, we can talk about your next steps. So as I mentioned
earlier, there will be two steps that you need to go through. The next one
will be the technical interview with the tax managers. There are three of
them. And then the final one will be the tax directors interview or the
meet and meet with the directors.

Charm 25:32
Yeah.

Romar, Bernard John 25:49

Now, you mentioned also earlier that you will be away towards the end of
August, right? I would like to know the exact dates that you will be away
so I could also take note of your availability before we could set your
interview schedule.
Charm 25:56
Yeah.
Got it. I will be out from the 24 until... I will be in the Philippines 27
morning. So if ever...

Romar, Bernard John 26:20

And.

Charm 26:22
I can do an interview 27 afternoon and Friday for the next week.

Romar, Bernard John 26:29

Okay, so it's either 27 afternoon or Friday of 28th, right?

Charm 26:34
Yep, correct.

Romar, Bernard John 26:36

Okay, got it. I'll take note of that. Sure, I'll definitely secure your interview
schedule towards the end of the month. Or if not, if it's not really possible,
we can have it in the first week of September. Like, what day would it be?

Charm 26:53
Yeah, sure, sure.

Romar, Bernard John 26:55

It's going to be August 31 up until September 4, around those dates. But
I'll let you know once I secure the availability of the three tax managers.
I'll send everything to you via e-mail, including the details, what to look for
once you get to the office.
And at the same time, reminder so you could also take note of the things
that you need to know before you go to the head office for the technical
interviews. So yeah, I might be able to finalize it. If not within the day, I
might be able to send it to you tomorrow, Sharon. Okay.

Charm 27:28
Sure, Sharon. Thank you.
Yeah, sure, sure. We'll wait for your e-mail.

Romar, Bernard John 27:39

All right. If you have other questions other than those that we have
discussed, feel free to reach me through my e-mail address or even my
contact number. I think you have my corporate number. You can reach me
through that number. Yeah. Along the way, you can just reach me out
through those contact details. Okay.
Charm 27:50
Yeah, I think so.
Sure, sure. Thank you so much, Vijay.

Romar, Bernard John 28:01

Alright, that's all for now, Charm. Keep safe and stay dry, Charm. We'll
talk to you again soon.

Charm 28:06
Yeah.
You too. Thank you. Bye bye.

Romar, Bernard John 28:09

Bye for now.

Romar, Bernard John stopped transcription