Accountancy is still a man's world, but Winnie Cheung Chi-woon, chief executive of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (HKICPA), has managed to smash through its glass ceiling. And she says women are playing a much bigger role than when she started.
'When I first joined the industry more than 30 years ago, very few women were taking senior roles in accounting firms or in the business sector as a whole. But this is changing and I believe we'll see women chief executives in future,' Cheung told the South China Morning Post.
Cheung, 54, retired at the end of last week after 22 years at the institute - including eight years at the helm. Before that, she worked for Ernst & Young in London for 10 years.
She says she has seen many changes in the industry during her 32 years crunching numbers - beginning with the role of women in the profession.
There are now more young women accountants than men, according to HKICPA figures.
And 59 per cent of all accountants under the age of 29 are women.