CM Autumn Template - Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario

Small Firms Share their Experiences with Training CA
Students in Non-Audit Engagements
Small and mid-sized firms have many questions about the
relatively new option of training CA students in nontraditional
paths. To help answer some of the most
frequently asked of these questions, Richard Pitticco, CA,
CFA and Phan Du, CA, the Director and Associate Director
of the Institute’s CA Training Offices (CATOs), have
interviewed and profiled below two small CATOs that are
currently training CA students in non-traditional paths.
Gary Booth, CA – Sole Proprietor
and CA Training Office
24 CheckMark • Autumn 2009
Gary Booth, CA, is the sole
proprietor of Gary Booth CA
Professional Corporation. The
firm has been approved to
train two CA students in a
non-traditional path where
students will work on review,
compilation and taxation
engagements.
Phan: Why did you become a
CA Training Office in a nontraditional
path?
Gary: We have been hiring
university co-op students for the past 10 years. These co-op
placements were between four to eight months long. We
spent a lot of time and effort in training our students in many
areas, such as preparation of financial statements,
bookkeeping, personal and corporate tax returns, and
numerous other jobs as they come up. Depending on the
length of the co-op term, some students would work on
review engagements and be able to complete a
straightforward one. We had many students who would like
to return to our office for a second or third co-op term, or
work for us after they had graduated. Unfortunately, this was
not possible since we were not an approved training office.
The situation was that our students were getting great
training and enjoying the work, but the efforts they were
putting in were not getting recognized, as none of their
hours counted towards their CA designation.
Phan: How does this program fit with your business growth
or succession-planning strategies?
Gary: We have now signed up a student in our nontraditional
path who worked for us about two years ago as
a co-op student. We are in the process of hiring another
co-op student who also worked for us about two years ago.
If we had not become a CA Training Office, these students
would not have been able to join us.
Phan: As a non-traditional CATO, your CA students will not
be eligible to obtain a licence to practise public accounting
upon becoming a CA. How does that impact your staffing
needs and/or succession plan?
Gary: The students are well aware that we are a nontraditional
CA training office and they will not automatically
be eligible to obtain a licence to practise public
accounting. However, since we are now able to satisfy our
staffing needs, we are able to increase our audit and
review engagement work. We are hoping that we will have
sufficient assurance hours in the future to satisfy the
assurance requirements for our students so that they will
be able to become eligible to obtain a licence at some
point in the future.
Phan: Has your ability to recruit CA students had an
impact on the quality of employees you have attracted?
Gary: Since becoming a CA Training Office, we have had a
significant increase in the number of students applying, as
well as those with years of experience.
Phan: Are you concerned about your ability to retain the
students post-qualification?
Gary: At this stage, we are not concerned about our ability
to keep these students once they have qualified. What we
have found is that our staffing requirements are now much
easier to resolve and the candidates who are applying are
top quality. Also, our initial training of co-op students is
paying off in that they appear eager to join us after
graduation, and want to work for us at least until they
qualify.
Phan: What has been the best experience you have had
with training students?
Gary: The students enjoyed training with us because the
work was varied and they had the opportunity to become
involved in the entire job from beginning to end. For many
of our non-assurance clients, they would do the
bookkeeping, then prepare the financial statements and
corporate tax return, and then meet the client to go over
the financials. The students, I found, were eager to take on
a lot of responsibility, and would do what was required to
ensure the job was completed accurately and on time.
Phan: Do you have any advice for other small CA firms or
sole proprietors who are thinking about becoming a CA
Training Office?
Gary: Before we were an approved CATO, students
frequently would keep in touch after their co-op term and it
was very interesting to hear what many had to say about the