A business anchored by its owner's knowledge, perseverance, and confidence will surely go a long way. This has been proven many times before by thousands of successful businesses and companies, among them is A.L. Navarro Accounting Services.
Founded and registered by Aldwin L. Navarro, a graduate from STI and Holy Cross of Davao College, in 2000, the accounting services firm only catered to a handful of clients at first. But because of the word of mouth and trust of these same clients, A.L. Navarro’s customers grew unprecedentedly, which now include big national corporations.
Before the accounting services firm became what it is today, Aldwin recalled that while he was a third-year accounting student at the Holy Cross of Davao College, he was also dabbling as a programming and systems development student at STI. He recalled that it was his parents who pushed him to be in accounting, but his passion is to study computer programming. So when his parents were able to make enough money to enroll him in the course he loved, he readily took the opportunity.
Aldwin only took his Accounting course for three and a half years and immediately after graduation he gained employment. But he also dabbled in bookkeeping services since he loves systems and programming, accepting one client at a time while being employed. Since he could not see himself as an employee for the rest of his life, aside from the fact that his clients grew in number, he opted to focus on accepting bookkeeping services and resigned from his job. His love for systems and programming became in handy as well since during that time, it was the beginning of the digital revolution where companies starting to digitize or computerize their data.
Aldwin decided to officially register his business at the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and he acted as the one-man army for his own company, selling his services on the ground floor of the BIR, distributing his calling cards to anyone who enters the office.
Surely enough, Aldwin's labor became fruitful, and slowly the A.L. Navarro Accounting Services was able to hire more employees to cope with its growing list of clients.
Fast forward to the present, A.L. Navarro Accounting Services does not only grow its clients but also its employees, who all consider the company their second home and family. Once holding office at home, now the company has its own office in Lanang, Davao City.
For Jimmy Ballesteros Jr., External Bookkeeping Supervisor, he said that working in the company is like being in a second home where everyone is treated like a family.
“I learned here in A.L. Navarro to trust your workmate, (because) as a team, we could not have succeeded if one only trusts himself and nobody else. The company’s success is the success of everyone. Whatever one’s role is, no matter how big or small, his role is part of the success of the company,” he said.
Victor Timtim Jr., Tax Advisory and Compliance Services (TACS) Manager, reiterated Ballesteros’ testimony, adding that what made him stay in the company for seven years is its great concern for the employees’ mental wellbeing.
“Daghan mi’g mga laag (we have a lot of outings), we have a lot of activities that keep us from boredom,” he said.
Meanwhile, the company’s Business Processing (BP) Manager, Emilio Decinilla Jr., said working in a company that gives more than what the employees are entitled to receive according to law, is a great factor in the quality of service employees provide to their customers.
“Ug nakita ni nako sa A.L. Navarro, ingon ana ka-caring ang company sa iyang mga tao (that is how the company cares for its employees), Decinilla said.
A.L. Navarro Accounting Services commemorated its 20th anniversary two years ago, but because of the restrictions imposed due to Covid-19, its management and employees were not able to celebrate it grandiosely.
In March this year, the accounting services firm got its ISO-2005 certification, proof that the company has gone a long, long way.
Aldwin, in an interview, said that the company did not apply for the certification just for the sake of being called "an ISO-certified company."
"I really have a purpose why we wanted to be ISO-Certified. Number 1 is to remind us that everyone should follow a system. Whatever guidelines we set for our quality management system that we pledged to do as our international standard then these must be fulfilled," Aldwin said.
This, he said, will ensure that the company will sustain itself even when the founder has long retired because the system is already in place.
Meanwhile, Ma. Lucy Agnes Erguerro, HR Manager, said since the ISO certification is an “open-ended achievement” as the company needs to sustain it through annual assessment by the certifying body, it is also paramount for its employees to “elevate” themselves professionally.
“It was not a joke to undergo the process of ISO certification, it was tedious and time-consuming, but we need to elevate ourselves not only for the company but for ourselves as well. We consider being ISO-certified as not only an achievement for the company but also for ourselves as it connotes that we improve our professionalism, our work ethics, and our self-discipline,” Erguerro said.
All of these successes, Aldwin humbly attributed to the teamwork and the dedication of the employees for which he is deeply grateful for.