Global CPA Opportunities Article.pdf

7/30/2019 Global CPA Opportunities Article.pdf

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Certified Public Accountant.

National credential. Global asset.

By Steven Chou

Director, International Business Operations

Becker Professional Education

Where will your CPA take you?I anyone ever asks you where you think your CPA credential will take you, give them the

two word answer. The world.

Its short and sweet. And its literally true. With global business a act o lie and the initials

CPA behind your name, theres every chance in the world youll have an opportunity or

international experience at some point in your career.

CPAs. Theyre everywhere.Every corporation or accounting rm with a global presence needs CPAs with

international perspective. For audit and tax work alone, theres an extraordinary demandor CPAs to work internationally in traditional roles. But even the brieest scan o the Big

Four accounting rms websites provides ample evidence that global assignments or

CPAs can be much more ar-fung and intriguing than most people would ever imagine.

Take or example: investigating raud in Latin America. Tracking money laundering in

Indonesia. Doing tax work in Argentina. Developing a phone company business model in

Australia. Training Italian accountants in US accounting principles. Leading a global audit

team in China. Wherever you go in the world, i a business is on the map at all, chances

are youll nd a CPA involved at some level.


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Theres more in it for you than aplane ticket.

Its true, international business is ueling

the demand or CPAs. Helping to ll that

demand, however, can mean much more

or you than overseas travel and some

sightseeing opportunities.

Tom Vucinic, President o Becker

Proessional Education, has noted thatthe CPA credential not only creates

opportunities or international experience,

but that the experience gained can be

critical to career growth. Employers all over

the world recognize the value that CPAs

bring to their organizations. Over the past

ty years in our work with CPA candidates,

he says, weve seen the national CPA

credential become a global asset or those

who earn it.

Its a message not lost on young

proessionals. The results o a recent global

recruitment survey o proessionals living

abroad indicated that, young accountants

are increasingly moving overseas to develop

their careers. In act, 47 percent o those

surveyed said that career development was

their primary reason or working abroad.1

Preparing to make the journey.

So how do you land one o these plum

global gigs? On one level, its deceptively

simple because the demand is there with themajor global accounting rms and multi-

national corporations, as well as with smaller

businesses in virtually every industry. On the

fip side, landing a global assignment can be

complex simply because international business

is complex.

Issues such as dierences in international

accounting standards and principles,

proessional credentials, and licensure must

be taken into consideration. Experience

plays heavily into the equation. Oten, just

as important are the challenges related tolanguage and cultural dierences.

Preparing yoursel to meet those challenges

takes more than just a desire to see

the world. Obviously global rms and

corporations expect a mastery o accounting

and a high level o proessionalism rom

international team members. But accounting

expertise alone is not enough. They also

look or individuals who have a broad view

o the world and how social customs and

cultural diversity aect the way business is

done in other countries.

A second or even third language is

also a major assetsometimes even a

requirementi youre aiming or a longer-

term international career.

Where to look. Today andtomorrow.

Few, i any, new CPAs land their dream

international job rst thing o the bat.

Nonetheless, a number o very valuable

early career opportunities or overseas

experience and career development do

exist.

All the major accounting rms and many

large multi-national corporations have ormal

programs that prepare and groom sta

members or major global responsibilities.Young tax proessionals at KPMG, or

example, can take advantage o the rms

popular Tax Trek program, which oers

a three month international placement.

Ernst & Youngs Global Exchange Program

enables top perormers to participate in

extended international engagements.

At PricewaterhouseCoopers, a pilot program

called EPICEarly PwC International

Challengeocuses on senior associates

with three to ve years experience who have

indicated a denite interest in internationalwork. Those who qualiya high job

perormance rating is prerequisitereceive

intensive language and cultural training in

preparation or relocation.

Robin Voigt, PwCs Global Mobility Leader,

acknowledges that such programs are key

to the rms success. The international

marketplace is very competitive, we are

ocused on developing the very best o the

talent pool on a global scale. Our people

simply must have the highest skills and

qualications. Our international clients

expect nothing less.

Many independent accounting rms

also have global connections. Baker

Tilly International, a global alliance o

independent accounting rms, counts

among its members more than 120 rms

in 93 countries. Samuel Wholley, Managing

Director o Baker Tilly USA, says that its

not unusual or member rms to send sta

on both short and extended overseas

assignments with other alliance members.

Some rms, he notes, even have ongoing

exchange programs to expose sta to

global business issues.

Its a big world out there.Or is it?

When you look at the world through thelens o a CPA, it doesnt take long to

discover that accountingthe

language o businesshas a way to go

beore its truly an international one.

Accounting principles and standards

vary rom country to country, sometimes

signicantly, which can create serious

challenges or companies that routinely

cross international borders to do business.

To help nd workable, long-term solutions

to the complexities o international

accounting, both the US FinancialAccounting Standards Board (FASB) and

the International Accounting Standards

Board (IASB) have committed themselves

to developing a common set o accounting

standards that will enhance the quality,

comparability, and consistency o global

nancial reporting.

So what does that mean to accounting

students planning their careers? Obviously

it would require new knowledge and

skills with implications or education and

credentialing. It also makes the CPAcredential even more important. Because

it is globally recognized and respected,

CPAs will remain in the oreront o the

proessionas leaders, innovators, and

citizens o the world.

A global view from abroad.

Fadi Ganni, Managing Director o the

Morgan Group, represents Becker

Proessional Educations sizable presence

in the Middle East, India, and a portion o

Europe. He sees rsthand the growing

global demand or CPAs in both domestic

and non-domestic rms and corporations,

As the most valued accounting

qualication in the worlds leading

economy, the CPA credential is respected

globally. It can open doors anywhere in

the world to a wealth o opportunities or

moving up the ladder at a aster pace and

at higher pay.


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Rapidly increasing registration in Becker

Proessional Educations CPA Exam

Review programs internationally conrms

his view. Becker now oers CPA Exam

Review opportunities in 40 locations in

Europe, Middle East, Asia Pacic, India,

Latin America, and the Caribbean. Beckers

commitment to student success on a global

scale was underscored by the release o its

rst English/Chinese bi-lingual sel-studyreview course on CD. In other countries,

Japan and Korea or example, the English

language course content is supplemented

with lectures in the local language.

A personal achievement in a trulyglobal sense.

Its sae to say that the CPA credential can

be a critical stepping stone to advancement

and proessional achievement in accounting.

Increasingly, outside the United States, it is

seen as a passport to success in all areas othe global economy.

Listen to the voice o experience. Melissa

Luo, a native o Taiwan, came to the United

States to study accounting and passed the

CPA Exam eight years ago. Recently she

served as the global coordinator or the

audit o a multinational client o one o the

Big Four accounting rms. Shes looking

orward to an extended assignment in the

Asia Pacic region next year.

My work has opened windows or me that

I never imagined. I see the world dierently

now. Ive worked with people rom many

dierent countries and cultures, and I hope

to keep doing it. But, she adds, the path to

becoming a truly international accounting

proessional is a personal one, not someone

elses. Where you go depends on your vision

o how you t into the world. And only you

can dene that or yoursel.

Commitment and a plan.

Karl Hackenbrack, director o Vanderbilt UniversityMasters o Accounting (MAcc) program, oerssome practical advice to students who want to ma

themselves more attractive in the internationalmarketplace. In addition to excelling in your acadeprogram, o course, he says it takes commitment aa plan:

Readandabsorballyoucanabouttheglobalcapital markets and international business.

Studyandmasterotherlanguageskills.

Travelinternationally,justtoexperienceothercountries and cultures.

Pursueawell-rounded,liberalartsundergraduaeducation.

TaketheCPAExamassoonaspossible.Andpass, o course.

How important is passing the CPA Exam?Critical says Hackenbrack. In act, VanderbiltsOwen Graduate School o Management runs acollaborative program with Becker through which

MAcc students complete an intensive Becker reviecourse immediately ater graduation and then sit othe ull CPA Exam. Many universities oer similaropportunities.

1 http://www.accountancyworldwide.com/mediacoverage_2007.htm

2009 DeVry/Becker Professional Development Corporation. All rights reserved.

A:09-873:01:3M:07/09

For more information about

Becker Professional Education

visit becker.com

or call +1.877.CPA.Exam

(+1.877.272.3926).


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prepared forYouve got this test covered. Becker Professional Education has

helped accounting professionals pass the CPA exam with confidence

for more than 50 years. With Becker you can:

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Join over 400,000 successful candidates who prepared with Becker

Tailor our program to the demands of your busy life with live, online

and self-study formats

Log on to becker.com/cpa and prepare to succeed.

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time. I could not have done it without

Becker. The materials are great and

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Thanks so much to everyone at

Becker for helping me pass.

- CPA Candidate and

Becker Alum

* Becker Professional Education students pass at twice the rate of all CPA exam candidates who

did not take a review course from Becker, based on averages of AICPA-published pass rates.

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Global CPA Opportunities Article.pdf