25 years of turning a female accounting graduate into CEO of technology company Misa

After 25 years working for a single technology company, Ms. Dinh Thi Thuy, a bachelor of accounting, became CEO managing a team of 2,600 people with many IT engineers.

One summer day 25 years ago, a tall, skinny, dark-skinned girl stood in front of the gate of the Information Technology Institute ( Hanoi ) timidly asking the security guard to find "Mr. Lu Thanh Long."

She was working on her graduation thesis on the topic of materials management, so she needed to understand the “path” of input and output documents, so she met “Uncle Long” through the address found in the Misa software user manual at her internship site. On the sixth floor, she met Master Lu Thanh Long, who was four years older than her and had just gotten married. “Uncle” Long not only sent someone to support her but also invited her to work after graduation.

Three months later, the new graduate of the Hanoi University of Finance and Accounting, now the Academy of Finance, returned to Misa to apply for a job, the office having moved to a new location. She completed the requirement of “writing the accounting organization work of an independent group”. Two weeks later, she became the first accountant of Misa, the accounting software development group that had just separated from the Institute of Information Technology.

“Another very funny memory was the first time I came to Misa. It was noon, I saw the guys go into a small glass room, thinking it was the kitchen. They called me in but I didn’t dare, I ran straight from the sixth floor to the first floor. When I got there, I saw the guys were already on the ground floor. They said they had just taken the elevator,” Ms. Dinh Thi Thuy, general director of Misa Joint Stock Company , recalled with a laugh in a conversation with Forbes Vietnam at the headquarters in the Technosoft building (Duy Tan, Hanoi).

Up to now, the female CEO born in 1976 has been with Misa for 25 years, a company with a history of 29 years. Ms. Thuy has served two terms as CEO at one of the first private information technology enterprises in Vietnam, and is one of the rare female CEOs of technology companies in Vietnam.

“There are two reasons why I stick with Misa. The first is the environment to develop my strengths and do the work I love. The second is the good strategic orientation of the company, the good leader who always thinks ahead of everyone else, and I learn a lot,” Ms. Thuy explained why she did not start her own business.

Misa, formerly a research group developing accounting software at the Institute of Information Technology, was founded in 1994 by Mr. Lu Thanh Long (former student of Hanoi University of Science and Technology, born in 1972) and his friend Nguyen Xuan Hoang (former student of Hanoi University of Science, born in 1974). In December 2019, Misa received investment from TA Associated Fund, but the amount and number of shares were not disclosed. Currently, this software company has more than 2,600 employees. In 2022, Misa will be in the group of 500 largest private enterprises in Vietnam.

Board of Directors and Executive Board of Misa Joint Stock Company. Mr. Lu Thanh Long, founder and chairman of Misa (second from left) was the one who gave Ms. Thuy the assignment “writing the accounting organization of an independent group” over the phone in 1998. Photo: Misa

Currently, Misa software has been used by 10,000 communes and 55,000 administrative units, accounting for more than 80% of the market share. From accounting software, Misa has provided additional software for asset management, personnel management, education management and most recently budget management. According to the financial report, revenue in 2022 reached 1,150 billion VND, of which the software segment for the administrative sector accounted for more than 800 billion VND.

In the enterprise sector, from accounting software, Misa has integrated human resource management, sales - marketing, and operations software into Misa Amis, a unified management platform. Amis also has a gateway to connect with tax, customs, and insurance agencies. About 75,000 customers are using the Amis platform, in addition to about 160,000 customers using electronic invoice software.

“There are many other companies that make software, but I have not seen a complete system with accounting as the core. Misa is currently number 1 in the market in this field,” said Misa CEO, adding that being the leader is a challenge for businesses because they must always do well to maintain their position, while competitors can rise very quickly thanks to technology and investment funds.

In 2017, Misa launched Cukcuk software – restaurant management. Misa chose the large restaurant segment to “reduce the risk of customers closing” and exploit other products in the catalog such as accounting software, electronic invoices. Up to now, Cukcuk is being used by about 50 thousand restaurants. Notably, this “made in Vietnam” product is exported to 20 countries such as Germany, Canada, Southeast Asian countries, and is aiming to enter the US market in 2023, increasing revenue more than 50 times in the next five years.

Mr. Nguyen Viet Anh, director of AZ Auditing and Valuation Company Limited, assessed that small businesses like AZ Company find Misa accounting software convenient because it is quite cheap, runs stably, is suitable for the majority, and is well cared for and supported. Mr. Viet Anh believes that Misa has these advantages thanks to its many years of history in the field, customer data, and large sales team.

Having been with the company for 25 years, Ms. Thuy has been present at all of Misa’s important milestones. In the early days, the product was new, customers did not understand the software – an “invisible” thing, many accounting staff did not know how to use a computer, so convincing was very difficult. Misa set a goal of developing to 10,000 customers in three years.

The program “buy a computer, get software” was implemented. Customers who spent from 7 million VND will have a computer and have Misa accounting software installed, and will be instructed on how to use it when a new version is available. Even for many administrative units, Ms. Thuy, when going to the training place, also entered data in the evening for them to produce reports and final products.

Ms. Dinh Thi Thuy, General Director of Misa Joint Stock Company.

As the first financial accountant among “all-tech guys,” Ms. Thuy both specialized and provided accounting consulting for them to program. Then she tested the program, participated in writing user-language manuals, and directly taught customers. Staying overnight in the office during peak periods was normal.

In 1999, Ms. Thuy spent two consecutive months traveling from Buon Ma Thuot to Ho Chi Minh City, then Can Tho, Soc Trang, Bac Lieu, and Ca Mau to teach at administrative units after the previous team had convinced the provincial finance departments to open classes.

“I went to work but never asked for a salary. Back then, the starting salary was five hundred thousand. There were times when the company didn’t have any salary to pay, but we had to accept it. Like when Mr. Long was scammed, lost all his money and the computers he ordered and couldn’t get them back,” Ms. Thuy recalled.

In 2003, Ms. Thuy was transferred to be in charge of business after Misa became a joint stock company. For Ms. Thuy, this was a new job with a lot of pressure. After four years of performance, she was promoted to director of Misa Hanoi office and after three more years, she rose to the position of deputy general director. In 2016, she was appointed general director, with a four-year term. In 2020, the board of directors encouraged this board member to serve a second term, lasting three years.

Ms. Thuy said that the biggest milestone in her career was becoming the first person to work in finance and accounting at a technical company like Misa. She gained new work experiences, such as training customers and doing business in addition to her training.

This expertise, when working as an executive, helps her think, perceive and make decisions based on data, immediately calculating costs and profits, so "only do what is effective." Sometimes she is "the kite string", pulling the technical colleagues to fly. She is also proud to have recruited and trained the next generation. A current deputy general director is a finance and accounting major, working her way up from an employee, becoming a department head and then an office director.

Coming from an accounting background and working in a technology company, Ms. Thuy admitted that she felt pressured due to her lack of expertise. Generation 7X also has limited foreign language skills. That forced her to learn continuously. But what she got in return was a creative mindset and constant innovation. At work, Ms. Thuy is not the one who makes the final decision on the product but is the one who makes requests for the professional department to solve based on market signals.

She said “every year is difficult” because Mr. Long always sets very high business targets. For example, in 2023, the revenue target is up to 2,200 billion VND, of which the enterprise software segment increases to 1,130 billion VND. The basis is that the demand for management software increases when businesses are forced to digitally transform, restructure, invest in technology to increase productivity... while the administrative and career sector will be difficult when public investment disbursement is affected.

Misa staff guide customers in the pilot program of personal digital signature issuance booth at Hoan Kiem Lake walking street. Photo: Misa

Since late 2020, Misa has started providing the Misa Asp platform for small and micro businesses without an accounting department. On Misa's web platform, customers will provide data for accounting service providers to perform operations and produce tax reports and financial reports. This platform is expected to help service providers increase productivity many times over, while small and micro business owners change the way they think about financial reports.

Because the data is uploaded online, the service company's employees can work anywhere, the processed information will produce financial reports and management reports in accordance with accounting regulations, there is no longer the concept of two books. Currently, this platform has 15 thousand subscribers paying 2.4 million VND per year and 300 partners providing free accounting services.

Ms. Dong Nhu Anh, General Director of Vietnam Tax Training and Consulting Joint Stock Company (VTAX), said that launched right during the COVID-19 pandemic, Misa Asp is the first web platform for service businesses that allows users to work online. Service companies can easily manage data, track employee progress, and employees can work anytime, anywhere.

Ms. Nhu Anh assessed that Misa is a company with many years of experience in accounting software, a large customer base, and teaching at universities, with a large staff, so service companies using Misa software have the following advantages: employees often know; compatible with the customer platform they are using; well supported through a separate interaction channel (wholesale customers). At the same time, information about Misa's management policies is often available very quickly, so as soon as tax regulations come into effect, they are updated in the software.

CEO Misa, a mother of three, shared that at each stage, she had priority goals. When she was young, she focused on her career, asked relatives to help take care of her children, accepted to be less perfectionist, did not take on too much but still tried to be present at all her children's events at school, and participated in all parent-teacher associations. At this stage, she ran the company based on the principles of delegation and trust, only doing what her subordinates could not do.

The remaining time is spent socializing and finding new customers. “The president of Misa once shared why he hired me, a girl who had just graduated at that time. Mr. Long said that my eyes were bright, and he believed that I was an intelligent person. I believe that 'hard work makes up for intelligence.' Each person needs to constantly learn from their boss, colleagues, and customers,” Ms. Thuy said.

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