From Tax Intern to Senior Auditor: Building a Career at DeLeon & Stang
Shan Chiu grew up in Rockville, Maryland, and joined DeLeon & Stang over 6 years ago as a Tax Intern. He was eager to find a place where he could learn, explore different areas of accounting, and build meaningful relationships. What he found at D&S was a firm that encouraged internal development and gave him the space to grow.
After gaining foundational tax experience, Shan was given the opportunity to explore the audit side of the firm. That shift opened a door that aligned perfectly with his analytical skills and interest in assurance work.
“I really appreciated the flexibility and trust D&S gave me early on,” he shares. “Being able to explore both tax and audit helped me discover where my strengths were and what kind of work I enjoyed most.”
That exploration allowed him to move fully into assurance services, progressing from Staff Auditor to Senior Auditor. Today, Shan leads and supports Financial Statement Audits, Agreed-Upon Procedures, and Internal Audits across the credit union and nonprofit sectors. He also serves as the primary point of contact between clients and internal team members—coordinating communication, managing expectations, and ensuring the whole process runs smoothly.
Shan credits D&S’s mentorship program and supportive leadership with helping him grow into the auditor he is today.
“The mentorship here has helped me grow not just as an auditor, but as a communicator and problem-solver,” he says. “I’ve been encouraged to take on new challenges and explore different types of assurance engagements, which has deepened my expertise and confidence.”
One of his key contributions has been helping streamline engagement processes within the credit union department, supporting greater efficiency and audit quality as the department continues to expand. During his time at the firm, Shan also earned his CPA—an achievement made possible, he says, by D&S’s flexibility and the diverse experience he gained working across both tax and audit.
Looking ahead, Shan is excited about the future of assurance services and hopes to contribute to the department’s ongoing innovation—especially in exploring AI and automation to enhance audit quality and efficiency. With D&S’s culture of innovation and professional growth, he’s confident that his next chapter will be just as rewarding as the journey so far.