When Melvin Jhon Lugot looks back at the start of his career, he remembers one thing clearly: “Learning accounting is quite a challenge,” he says. “It demands significant discipline and dedication. It involves hard work, sleepless nights, and overcoming failures.”
And for him, the biggest failure was personal. “I failed the board exam three times,” he admits. “Yet I continue to aspire to become a CPA one day.”
Instead of allowing the setback to derail him, it became the push that redirected his path toward a part of the industry he never expected to love — the world of e-commerce, data, and digital finance.
The turning point: discovering e-commerce during the pandemic
Melvin’s first breakthrough came at Shopsuki.ph, an e-commerce platform built in Mindanao during the height of the pandemic. “I’m happy to be part of it,” he says. “We built it from the ground up.”
While the rest of the world was scrambling to move online, he was learning how digital businesses operated from the inside. He began to see a side of accounting that wasn’t part of any textbook — how real transactions flowed, how inventory was tracked across platforms, and how data shaped business decisions.
That exposure changed his trajectory. “It was the first time I saw the connection between accounting and technology,” he says. It also opened the door to his next leap.
E-commerce led to software — and software led to analytics
After Shopsuki, Melvin moved to an accounting firm, where he learned Xero. That’s when things clicked. “I discovered the connection between accounting software and e-commerce in my current online role,” he says.
But the more he worked, the more he realized that accounting alone wouldn’t be enough. The problem wasn’t the numbers — it was the amount of data behind them.
“I was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of data,” he says. “I didn’t know how to clean, organize, and manipulate it effectively.”
So he went back to studying. He enrolled in Google Data Analytics on Coursera. He learned about databases, SQL, spreadsheets, data cleaning, and visualization. It was the opposite of the traditional accounting path — but exactly what modern finance demanded.
“It was challenging at first,” he says, “but my eagerness to learn made the process much easier.”
The mindset shift that kept him going
What stands out about Melvin’s story isn’t a single achievement — it’s the way he responded to every obstacle. When e-commerce felt overwhelming, he said: learn more. When data felt too big, he said: study harder. When he failed the board exam, he said: keep going.
He also learned how to lead with humility and clarity. “Each figure presented in the financial statements narrates the story of your business,” he explains. “Some figures reflect positive aspects while others may not. This is what transparency means.”
His leadership style also leans heavily on teamwork. “Every mistake has its origin—and that’s how I delve into them. Lastly, teamwork matters.”
Why his failures became his competitive edge
Today, Melvin, now Certified Accounting Technnician, is building a career that blends finance, analytics, e-commerce, and software — fields that didn’t even intersect when he first entered college. Employers now look at his NIAT certification, his analytics training, and his digital skillset and see someone who is adaptable and future-ready.
He sees something else: proof that setbacks don’t define a career. They build one.
Accounting still challenges him. Becoming a CPA is still part of his goal. But now, he approaches everything with a different mindset — one that comes from surviving failure and building skills that no exam score can measure.
He puts it simply: “Accounting is dynamic and ever-evolving. We must adapt accordingly.”
