CM Autumn Template - Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario

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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
places where they were now working. Many students had gone to work for much bigger firms and felt they were not getting the practical work experience that we offered, and of course, many were putting in extremely long overtime hours. The students our office trained received a full understanding of how an accounting firm operates and the expectations of the clients. They learned that customer service was extremely important and made sure that we met the clients’ expectations. We always thought that students who work for smaller firms can receive excellent accounting experience in many relevant areas. The experience would not be the same as in a big firm, especially in the audit areas. However, in many other ways, the students would be receiving practical experience that they could use in a variety of positions if they wished to go into industry or the government, or have the knowledge to perhaps consider opening their own accounting firm. I would recommend any firm that is willing to spend time and effort to train students, to consider this possibility. Phan: Are there any other comments that you would like to share about your experience with this program? Gary: I have advocated and sent letters for the past 10 years on how I thought the training process needed to be changed. It has happened and I am very pleased. It is a win-win for students and employers alike. John Morgan, CA, CA•CIRP, CFE, CBM – Insolvency & Bankruptcy and CA Training Office Morgan & Partners Inc. provides insolvency and trustee bankruptcy services and is owned by John Morgan, CA, CA-CIRP, CFE, CBM. He also owns JJM & Associates Inc., which provides litigation support and forensic accounting services. While the CA student will primarily work at his two firms, the three-year training program also includes secondments to two local CA firms where the student will be exposed to audit, review and tax engagements. Richard: Why did you become a CA Training Office in a non-traditional path? John: Most small-to-medium sized companies need a parttime CFO, and look to their advisors to provide such a service. In order to add value, consultants need not only understand the business model but also when these businesses are getting into trouble. Exposing a CA student to an insolvency practice is, in my opinion, a fantastic training opportunity where the CA student can develop the competencies required of the profession, gain hands-on experience with many aspects of running a business – including what not to do – and develop a specialty in fraud and forensics. Richard: In developing your CA Training Program, you decided to partner with two local CA firms, neither of which were previously approved to train CA students. Why did you include these secondments and how did you develop this partnership? John: Seconding the CA student to a CA firm environment provides a more well-rounded experience, which includes understanding the integration of tax consequences from certain transactions. In addition, it enables the CA student to earn chargeable hours that will assist in subsequently obtaining a licence to practise public accounting, should that be a career path of interest down the road. The training partnership was merely an extension of a preexisting alliance between the three firms. Richard: How does this program fit with your business growth or succession-planning strategies? John: Corporate reorganizations and forensics are big and growing practice areas that require individuals being trained to think in a different way from the traditional assurance-based model. My business has grown from referrals and established networks, so grooming the talent in-house provides me with the confidence of handing over client files earlier than would be the case if I had to train a qualified CA on the specialized knowledge that can only be achieved by working in the business. In addition, there are very few licensed trustees in Ontario, so providing an opportunity for a CA to subsequently become a licensed trustee fosters a potential succession plan that would otherwise be quite limited in scope. Richard: As a non-traditional CATO, your CA students will not necessarily have the chargeable hours required to obtain a licence to practise public accounting. How does that impact your staffing needs and/or succession plan? John: A licence to practise public accounting is not required for my business and the two sole proprietors that the CA student is seconded to weren’t necessarily viewing this arrangement in terms of succession planning. Rather, the sole proprietors benefitted from an extra resource without the obligation of a full-time headcount. Of course, a viable exit strategy for any firm is to sell the business, and there is the potential for the student to obtain the required chargeable hours for licensure in order to take advantage of those opportunities. Richard: You have been involved with training students pursuing various designations. Has your ability to recruit CA students had an impact on the quality of employee(s) you have attracted? CheckMark • Autumn 2009 (Please see page 26) 25
Page 1 and 2: CheckMark T h e I n s t i t u t e o
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Page 9 and 10: Sheila Fraser, James Goodfellow and
Page 11 and 12: Canada, shared prior year on-campus
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Page 15 and 16: C H A R A C T E R S Meet Jennifer E
Page 17 and 18: Career Information News ICAO Board
Page 19 and 20: The names of the new FCAs are liste
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Page 23 and 24: (From page 19) and years of experie
Page 25: Bruce Singer, Chartered Accountant
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Page 33 and 34: How to Implement a Paperless Office
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Page 37 and 38: CA Authors Enough Bull David Trahai
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Page 41 and 42: Golfing for Charity To extend the r
Page 43 and 44: HINES, John Anthony, Victoria, BC H
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