Eldred Wee: Inside Southeast Asia’s SME Gold Rush, Double Books & the Roll-Up Playbook – E660
Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/episode/2BrjbJUS3XpWYmvLGh7vZN?si=5462d127d03a4b2f
Youtube:https://youtu.be/BZ3qCcezrcU
"Why do I make the decision for six lives? That was when I was brave enough to tell her, crying, ‘Mommy, I’ll be a good boy. I’ll listen to anything you say.’ I said, ‘I don’t want to die. I really don’t want to die. I choose life.’ We survived. I have my child, she is now a grandmother, and my sister has a child too. That moment toughened me and shaped why relationships matter so much to me. People ask why I’m afraid of heights, and I say no, because I almost jumped before." - Eldred Wee, Founder of Edenity
"With AI, vouching is now automated, but vouching means checking whether a real receipt and invoice match the bank statement and the full flow of money. When I reviewed the engagement, I saw receivables rising, sales increasing, and the sales director constantly trying to curry favor every time I visited. I worked on that audit for three years and kept thinking something was wrong. If we did the audit properly, it would not pass. In the first year, I reported it and was told to just close the audit. In the second year, I said I could not do this anymore and that I would take action if it continued. By the third year, everything unraveled." - Eldred Wee, Founder of Edenity
"Audit meant working late, juggling studies and exam periods, and grinding through long nights. I learned a lot and almost uncovered a fraud as a junior. It was hard to navigate because there were many stakeholders. I had to extract information from people who partly knew the truth, piece it together for the finance manager, and then report it clearly to the audit partners. That experience was unique and shaped why I started in accounting and finance." - Eldred Wee, Founder of Edenity
Eldred Wee, Founder of Edenity, joins Jeremy Au to unpack why corporate services and accounting firms sit at the center of Southeast Asia’s next wave of SME acquisitions. They explore how Eldred’s early career in Big Four audit shaped his ability to spot incentives, fraud, and double or triple books, and why these realities define investing in the region. The conversation covers the rise of roll-ups in accounting and corporate services, why organic growth is hard for B2B services in Southeast Asia, and how aging founders and low digitization are creating a narrow transition window for buyers. Eldred also shares why price arbitrage alone rarely works, how culture and trust determine post-deal success, and why relationship-driven execution matters more than capital in small business M&A.