One of the pioneer batch of SMU’s Bachelor of Accountancy, Lim Kexin has spent two decades at PwC Singapore reimagining what it means to be an accountant — blending analytical rigour with empathy and transforming chance encounters into a purposeful career.
Lim Kexin has a simple mantra as she paused, and shared: “Breathing is not optional.” It’s her quiet rebuke to the culture of relentless motion that defines much of corporate life.
However, the act of slowing down does not equate to inaction, according to the PwC Singapore Partner who specialises in Tax and Entrepreneurial and Private Business. It’s about choosing how to move.
“It’s not about speed,” she says evenly. “It’s about pace.”
Balancing managing the day-to-day bustle with driving purposeful outcomes is central to Kexin’s professional philosophy and personal values. She advises business families and their next generation leaders, family offices, entrepreneurs, and investors in Singapore and across the globe, including markets such as Indonesia and Greater China. To stay ahead, “I prefer to disrupt myself before I get disrupted,” she shares.
Getting comfortable with discomfort
For Kexin, uncertainty is not something to fear but a muscle to train.
She shares a defining episode of her career: her decision to leave Singapore and work with PwC’s Indonesian team for a 3.5-year secondment back in 2012 over more developed locations like New York and Melbourne. With no familial ties to Indonesia, and speaking no Bahasa Indonesia, it was a daunting prospect, but the desire to work with an emerging market fuelled her resolve.
What followed were countless late nights that made her feel almost like a student again, with hours after work spent studying the culture, language as well as Indonesia’s tax laws. It was a disruption of what had become a “comfortable life” that she was used to in Singapore. Needless to say, Kexin had to ‘let go’ and venture beyond her comfort zone, like the community groups she has served since her teenage years, and begin a new learning journey. Her resolve paid off, completing a rewarding stint in Indonesia and close subsequent interactions both professionally and personally. Even to this day, she considers Indonesia her second home.
That instinct to lean into discomfort stemmed from her formative years at SMU, where being part of the University’s pioneer cohort taught her that agility is not just a skill, it is also about mindset.
“You are constantly in a state of flux,” she reflects on her time at SMU. “Different teams, different projects — always juggling. It’s very similar to the real world.”
The accidental accountant
Ironically, Kexin once swore never to be an accountant. Growing up with both parents as successful accountants, she never intended to follow their path, aspiring to pursue business, law, or architecture after junior college.
When she was offered a place at SMU, Kexin applied to the School of Business, leaving all other course options blank. But life had other plans for her, as the professors conducting her admissions interview suggested Accountancy, saying it would be perfect for her.
She accepted, partly intrigued by the University’s flexibility. “They said, ‘If you don’t like it, we’ll transfer you to the Business course.’ I thought, ‘Wow, this university is so intriguing. They’ve only just met me and they’re willing to stick their neck out for me’,” she says.
Kexin made the Dean’s List after her first year, and with a growing interest in Accountancy and an offer for a bonded tax scholarship from PwC Singapore, she decided to stay the course.
Later, her accountancy training helped build the foundational skills that enabled her growth in various aspects. The profession, she realised, was not just about numbers and narratives. What’s also important is knowing to decode how people and organisations make decisions.
“I don’t see myself as a traditional accountant,” she says. “It’s a bridge between the technical skills, people skills, and analytical skills. I have this desire to value-add. Being able to solve a client’s problem, a team’s problem, is fulfilling.”
Kexin later became the youngest council member on the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants’ (ISCA) governing council ever appointed to-date, alongside other accolades such as Young Accountant of the Year at the inaugural Singapore Accountancy Awards and Prestige Magazine’s “40 under 40”.
Maintaining both substance and voice
Kexin still remembers a moment from an early Accountancy class with Professor Emeritus Gan Ting Hua. “He told us that no matter how brilliant you can be, if you don’t speak up your mind, then nobody will know.”
That lesson flipped a switch, and it clicked just how important communication was. As she puts it, substance is foundation, even if you have the answers but don’t communicate it effectively, your message won’t get through.
Today, she leads teams at PwC Singapore, which includes running the finance function in the Tax Practice on top of client work. Often profiled in the media, she also teaches in both Mandarin and English mediums at the Wealth Management Institute (WMI) founded by sovereign wealth fund GIC and state-owned investment firm Temasek Holdings, and mentors entrepreneurs on Endeavor, a global not for profit organisation; all roles that require both substance and voice. Her management style, she jokes, is “highly androgynous”.
“I am a balance of many opposites,” she says. “There is a time to be firm and decisive, and times where we need to be very nuanced.”
In her current work advising high-net-worth entrepreneurs, families and their teams alongside multinational clients, Kexin applies the same approach. While her clients may approach her with simple questions like what the tax implications are or how much tax to pay, she sees her role as going beyond merely answering technical questions. She aims to provide holistic value by offering clients broader perspectives on adjacent considerations. More important to her is listening to their real needs – the “why” behind what they are asking, and how she can help them achieve their goals. She sees her role as their trusted business advisor alongside like-minded global peers across the close-knit PwC network.
In a way, she sees herself as part interpreter and part architect. Her clients' trust, which she gains by fully comprehending their needs and supporting them in adapting plans to changing situations, is her most valuable reward and makes it worthwhile.
Pacing for the next lap
Beyond her professional sphere, Kexin has spent much of her life being active in the community since she was 17 and paying forward the guidance she once received.
Her ties to SMU and beyond remain strong. Kexin has served in hands-on to advocacy roles from grassroots leader, committee member of PwC’s Corporate Responsibility team, past council member of the Singapore government’s National Youth Council to opportunities representing Singapore on various international platforms.
Currently, she is a member of the SMU International Advisory Committee in Indonesia and is the first alumna to serve on the University’s Board of Trustees. “Sometimes every three steps on campus, I’ll get a big hug,” she laughs. “There’s always so much love and support.”
To her, SMU is “fresh yet familiar”. A community of 50,000 alumni and stakeholders large enough to evolve but still small enough that each bond feels personal. With SMU celebrating its 25th anniversary, Kexin describes the University as entering “young adulthood,” and as a Board Trustee, she is constantly thinking of how SMU can stay energetic, entrepreneurial and not rest on its laurels.
As she looks ahead, Kexin refuses to frame the future in terms of milestones. Instead, she seeks to live it with meaning. “I want to lead a very purposeful life,” she says. “To live with gratitude. And to always, always remember to breathe.”
The SMU Edge
As a pioneer graduate of SMU’s Bachelor of Accountancy programme, Kexin’s time at SMU has been integral in nurturing the adaptability, curiosity, and balance that continue to guide her professional and personal journey.
- Agility through constant change
SMU’s small-group, project-based learning model mirrors the dynamism of work in the real world. Getting to practice these skills during her time at SMU has helped Kexin to train the reflexes that she now uses to navigate new markets and industries with ease. - Bridging disciplines across industries
Being trained in Accountancy along with a Major in Law, SMU’s emphasis on interdisciplinary knowledge has given her a strong pairing that translates well as Kexin navigates both the financial bloodline of a company and the legal frameworks of tax law, a skill that is essential in her work advising complex, global families. - Purposeful leadership and community impact
Whether mentoring young professionals or serving on SMU’s Board of Trustees, Kexin’s actions embody SMU’s mission to develop leaders who act with intention and heart.
See also: Lim Kexin is First Alumna to be appointed on SMU’s Board of Trustees | SMU Newsroom
