On August 2022, I had the opportunity to speak in an knowledge sharing session with Current Students of North South University. Session was organized by Department of Accounting & Finance (DAF) of School of Business & Economics, North South University with collaboration of ‘Accounting & Finance Professionals of NSU‘, a platform for Professionals of NSU Alumni. Purpose of the session was to share the career insight by DAF Alumni.
In the session, I have spoken from my own experience about the decision making process I went through while selecting my career path. I also spoken about current and future opportunities of this profession. Ultimate goal was to encourage students to pursue professional accreditation. I am sharing my speech here so that other may be encouraged too.
Assallamualikum, Hello & Good morning to everyone!
It is my pleasure to be with you on this fine morning. I sincerely thankful to North South University, Department of Accounting & Finance and NSU Finance Club for giving me this opportunity.
It is really nice to be back from where I took off to pursue my professional career. I started my under-graduation here at NSU on Spring 2008 Semester with an aim to pursue career in accounting. From very beginning I knew will concentrate on accounting as my major. Because my Aim in Life was to be a chartered Accountant. Why Chartered Accountant? Earning lots of money was one of the reasons. I knew it would be easy for me to be chartered accountant if I focus on accounting.
At the end of my undergrad, I was confused about future plans. I had several options at hand. Starting Job, start studying MBA, go to foreign country for immigration or higher studies, pursuing professional credential like CA/ CMA/ ACCA. I had no one to consult. Then I applied my knowledge and started pointing out the pros and cons and started to cross off options one by one. I crossed off MBA because I knew MBA can be done any point of time. Going in foreign country involved lots of money which would a huge load on my family. So, my options were to get a job or to pursue a professional degree. I knew I could join any organization as MTO with 40/50+ salary which most of my friends did. I thought if I start job now, I will be earning money and start contributing to my family.
But deep down I will not be happy as my dream of becoming CA will remain unfulfilled. It would be very difficult to pursue CA at later stage of life leaving a stable job for 3-year articleship in a CA firm. For your information, if you want to be a CA you will need to join in a CA firm first for 3 years training. During training, you will be able sit for CA exams. So I thought that I can spare 3 years of my life for my dream. Even if I donât pass, my practical experience would allow me to get a job easily after my articleship training.
At that time, I was undergoing internship program in a pharmaceutical company where one of the finance manager retired. He was a CA. I came to know that after his retirement he started an audit firm to audit companies and perform consultancy. I came to know that CA gives you right to start your business even after retirement.
So, I determined that I will pursue CA and accordingly joined in a CA firm in April 2012. By mid-2015, my articleship training was completed. Also, I was able to pass all the exams of CA and become a Chartered Accountant in these 3 years.
There are many benefits of becoming Chartered Accountants. High salary is obviously one of them. But best benefit I see is career choice. As a chartered accountant, you can join in higher positions at corporates. You can start your own audit and consultancy firm. You can switch business sector. You donât have to retire. You can earn money till you die. In nutshell, sky is your limit.
When you pursue to be chartered accountant or you become chartered accountant, you will be able to audit financial statements prepared by companies. Primary responsibilities of the auditor are to check whether the financial statements are prepared in accordance with International Reporting Standards. Auditors helps company to improve reporting quality. I call auditors and Doctor of Business. Because they diagnosis the problems within business and prescribes with ways forwards. To be a good auditor, you will have to be a good accountant.
There is a misconception among students and public in general that Accounting is boring, and Accountants works with numbers of days and nights. But in fact, role of accounting and accountant is much bigger than this. Those who have studied accounting know that cash is called blood of the business. If Cash is blood, accounting is the language of business. If fact accounting is the most spoken language across the world. How? All the business and economic entities across the world prepare financial statements to provide financial information to its stakeholders. No matter which country you are from, you will understand the information provided in the financial statements. Accountants as expert in this language will not only understand the information but also will understand the underlaying transactions and reasons behind it.
Business as an economic entity performs many activities. All these activities has financial consequence and hence are recorded in financial statements. Accountants are responsible to record these financial transactions and properly present the financial statements complying with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and relevant laws. So entire business is in accountantsâ jurisdiction. Other departments have activities only relevant to their department, but an accountant have access to all the activities in the business and have much more knowledge of the business than any other department. Thatâs why accountants are involved in making major business decisions like investment appraisal, selecting financing options, business expansion, merger acquisition and disposal.
As you may know, accounting is one of the professions that is greatly impacted by technology. Some often say that the profession is at risk. But truth is the profession is always evolving and technology is helping accountants to evolve. Accountants are no longer limited in recording transactions. They are now evolved in making strategic decisions. Accountants are now working as business advisors, tax consultant providing various compliance services. In current world, you have to be a good accountant to run a business.
Those who are now pursuing accounting study, I would highly encourage you to learn the accounting properly. Learn about International Financial Reporting Standards and International Auditing Standards. This will be helpful for you in your future career. Even if you donât pursue a professional degree, you will be able to mark your presence in the job market. You will be able to rise higher positions gradually. However, pursuing a professional degree will help you to accelerate your career growth. For example, if you join as an MTO, you might have to wait 3 or 4 years to get a 6-digit salary. You might have to wait 7/8 years to become a General Manager. However, with a professional degree, you can start off with six-digit salary and become a general manager in 3 to 4 years. Your salary will continue to increase with time at an impressive rate.
From my position as partner of an accounting and audit firm and part of international brand Ernst & Young, I see a bright future for accounting professionals. I would highly encourage all of you to study and understand accounting properly and aim to be a professional accountant. World is waiting for you!
With these words, I am closing my speech! Best wishes to you all!
Thank you!
