Inspiring Future Accountants and Professionals

Many accounting students aspire to be future accountants after the completion of their degrees. Fully aware of this carrer option and path, MDIS Business School (MBS) organised an industrial visit to CPA Australia, one of the world's largest accounting bodies, on 24th September 2013.

Upon arrival at the CPA Australia office located in the Central Business District, we were greeted by Mr Lucas Lam, Senior Relationship Manager of CPA Australia in Singapore and his colleagues.

Mr Lam encouraged us to fill up the CPA Passport Forms found in the folders distributed, which would entitle us to free associate memberships and updates on related CPA Australia events and happenings. We also learnt that CPA Australia does not only focus solely on accounting knowledge but also looks into honing staff members' personal effectiveness, business, leadership and technical skills.

We were also introduced ot Mr Lee Hock Hai, Group CFO of Decillion Group, who shared his vast experience working as CPA, both in Singapore and abroad. Mr Lee encouraged us to put somet houghts into our future career plans and to be disciplined and motivated to work towards these aims, and with the option of working ina ny cPA office, located all over the globe; in Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

Possible Pathways

There are two possible pathways toward the designation of certified public accountant, one of which requires the candidates to take the foundation and professional segments whilst the other is direct entry to the professional segments.

In additon, graduates of the Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Accounting & Finance awarded by the University of Bradford, which is being fully accredited by CPA Australia, are likely to get exemptions for the foundation modules and proceed for the professional pathway.

Modern Applications and Tools

Mr Lam also introduced The Naked CEO, brainchild of MR Alex Malley, CEO of CPA Australia. By logging into The Naked CEO website, we would get the opportunity to meet Mr Malley virtually and pick his brains on any matters related to our studies or career.

There is also an application called Boardroom Tycoon which contains articles on entrepreneurship, asset management, recruitment, dealings with companies and related aricles, which can be downloaded from the App Store or from Google Play.

After the sharing session, we had a mingling session over some refreshments before we said our goodbyes and returned to MDIS.

We are grateful and wish to thank MDIS Business School (MBS) for advocating such out-of-classroom learning experiences and inculcalating multi-faceted knowledge and skills in us.

This article is contributed by Megawati Wijaya, who is pursing the Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Finance, University of Bradford, UK.