Ramdihal and Haynes launch accounting and professional services firm

A new company, Ramdihal and Haynes Chartered Accounting and Profes-sional Services Firm, has entered the local market with the aim of providing world-class services in anticipation of the country’s expected economic growth.

Officially launched Friday afternoon in Cara Lodge’s Ballet Room, the new firm brings together the expertise of partners Chateram Ramdihal, ACCA, CIA, and Floyd Haynes, CPA, CFE, along with the support of 14 professional, semi-professional and support staff in Guyana.

Ramdihal, who is also the firm’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), told those present at the launch that the venture was conceived over a year ago after some “serious thinking.” He explained that having been a licensed as a certified accountant for some time, he took the “bold step” of establishing his own firm, the Chateram Ramdihal Chartered Accounting and Professional Services Firm, in 2015.

Chateram Ramdihal
Floyd Haynes

Having made “positive strides” in his venture, coupled with his confidence in Guyana’s business climate, Ramdihal said he was motivated to venture out even further. After several months of close collaboration between himself and Haynes, he added that the realisation of this new venture was made with the hope of the firm being allowed to make significant contributions to the development and growth of Guyana.

“Floyd and I have many things in common, one of which is our deep and sincere love for Guyana as well as our ambition to grow into a world class international organisation… Floyd’s… years of experience in serving public and private entities throughout the United States along with my own experience will definitely ensure that we provide a service that is comparable to any world standard,” the CEO said. “It is our vision to embrace other much needed disciplines, such as engineering, [and] project management, in order to establish a firm where all professional services are provided under one roof, taking into consideration the anticipated rapid growth of Guyana in the next few years,” he added.

Ramdihal, a senior accounting and financial management executive, is said to have over 17 years of experience in finance and operations management within the private and public sectors.

He has held positions such as Audit Manager at Maurice Solomon & Co., CEO at Cacique Inc, Audit Manager at Ram & McRae Chartered Accounting and Professional Services Firm, and Finance & Ticketing Manager for the Cricket World Cup – Guyana Local Organising Committee, among others.

Meanwhile, Haynes, a Guyanese professional with over 30 years of senior and executive-level experience, said the new venture is an excellent example of what a diaspora local content collaboration should look like. “When I spoke to Chateram, I thought this would be a good opportunity to leverage our experience and our personnel… it isn’t just about wanting to be a part of the transformation that is getting ready to happen, we also intend to leverage that vast experience and resources in a form of skill and knowledge transfer back and forth as we recruit local talent,” Haynes said. “Most if not all of our talent will be local, so we will be creating job opportunities for Guyanese,” he added.

A Certified Public Accountant who holds an MSc. in Financial Economics from the University of Oxford, and a Masters in Public Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, Haynes is also an adjunct Professor in Finance, and Accounting at the University of the District of Columbia and a public lecturer in Leadership and Management.

Additionally, Haynes is founder and President of Haynes Incorporated, a Washington-based Accounting and Management consulting firm, which was ranked 33rd on the Washington Business Journal’s list of the top 50 accounting firms last year.  Haynes Inc. currently provides high level financial and accounting support to public and private entities throughout the United States. Some of its clients include the US Department of State, and the US Agency for Inter-national Development.

Also speaking at the launch was Minister of Business Dominic Gaskin, who congratulated the two men on their newly formed partnership.

“It is encouraging to see synergies between Guyanese in the Diaspora and Guyanese at home… It is good to combine the skills and resources of the diaspora with what we have at home and I am happy to see them broadening the scope of this field,” Gaskin said. “We suffer from a shortage of true professional services across the board and we need the influx of best practices.

“It is special to have Guyanese coming back home and showing their confidence in our economy and putting their years of acquired expertise for Guyana’s benefit,” he added.