With Eric Li out of the running, it's anyone's race
This year's election is a record-breaker, with six candidates - double the number of last time - and 17,500 voters, compared with 13,000 in the 2000 election and 10,000 in 1998.
The keen competition is due partly to the decision by Eric Li Ka-cheung, who has represented accountants for 13 years, to stand down. He said he would not support any candidate as his successor, leaving the field wide open.
Unlike other functional constituencies, in which companies vote, the accountancy sector is one-person, one-vote for all qualified accountants in Hong Kong.
The large number of voters means candidates who are well known in the sector, such as the two vice-presidents of the Hong Kong Society of Accountants - Edward Chow Kwong-fai and Paul Chan Mo-po - will have the edge.
Mr Chow lost three times to Mr Li, in 1995, 1998 and 2000, but does not feel any embarrassment about running again.
'Mr Li was such a strong candidate. I do not feel any shame about losing three times to him,' Mr Chow says. 'My record shows that I am not one to give up easily.'
Some accountants challenge Mr Chow on the grounds that he is executive chairman of China Infrastructure Group rather than a practising accountant.
He counters that 65 per cent of all accountants in Hong Kong work not in accounting firms but in finance departments.
'Working in the private sector has helped me to understand their needs and fight for their rights,' he says.
Mr Chan, his main rival, has worked on various committees of the society for 15 years to promote mainland relations and to create a new accounting code for small and medium enterprises.
Mr Chan said accounting firms working for SMEs would be his source of supporters because he has worked closely with these firms to design the code.
Mandy Tam Heung-man, Wong Tai Sin district councillor and a tax expert, is backed by the pro-democracy camp.
'Hong Kong now has a very different political environment from what we had four years ago,' she says. 'I believe many accountants would like to have a pro-democracy candidate to represent their ideas.'
Ronald Kung Yiu-fai, a senior manager at Grant Thornton, is not backed by any political group and does not occupy any profile-raising senior posts in the sector.
He announced his election ambitions by riding a bicycle around Golden Bauhinia Square while wearing a suit. As a result many accountants now call him the 'bicycle guy', even if they can't remember his name.
Mr Kung says he has some innovative ideas to attract voters but refuses to disclose them in case his rivals copy them.
Wilfred Wu Shek-chun also has no party background, holds no posts in the accountants' society and has no one to help lobby for him. He believes this is his selling point - independence.
'I have no relationship with any parties or organisation. But I can use my whole heart to service the sector,' he says.
Mr Wu, a debt and liquidation specialist, says the government should do more to help companies to raise money to avoid collapse.
Louis Leung Wing-on, who runs his own company - Wing On CPA & Associates - says he wants to act on behalf of the middle class and professionals.
Mr Leung has worked as ambassador for the Hong Kong Society of Accountants to promote the local accounting sector overseas.
Accountancy
Number of voters: 17,500 qualified members of Hong Kong Society of Accountants
Candidates to date: Six
Edward Chow Kwong-fai (I)
Paul Chan Mo-po (I)
Mandy Tam Heung-man (DP)
Ronald Kung Yiu-fai (I)
Wilfred Wu Shek-chun (I)
Louis Leung Wing-on (I)
DP: Democratic Party
I: Independent
