Career Options
ManagementAccountants in ControlEducation, risk-taking, learning and good communication skills will help junior accountants eventually land an executive-level position. by Oana Avasilichioaei |
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 [ 2009-08-24 ] |
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Anna Martini, CA, president, Groupe Dynamite.
Photo: Maude Chauvin
Many accountants work in positions of power as chiefs of industry at companies throughout Quebec and Canada. For example, Sheila Fraser, the Auditor General of Canada, has a CA designation. Jacques Van Geenhoven, the founder of the Rachelle-Béry chain of health food stores, is a CGA. And, Eric Lajeunesse, a CMA, is Ubisoft Entertainment’s Producer, a top-flight executive position in the gaming industry.
Accounting students plotting their career curves should look past the glass ceiling of traditional roles in organizations’ accounting departments. The training leading up to all accounting designations provides the basic knowledge that new graduates will need to make decisions, implement ideas and direct a company. As well: hard work, calculated risk-taking, learning from more senior colleagues, and good communication skills on the job will help them climb the corporate ladder.
Education is the bottom line
“Education equips you for your lifetime,” says Berty Ho-Wo-Cheong, CMA, the Vice-President, Finance and Administration and Chief Financial Officer of TECSYS Inc., a Montreal-based company specializing in supply chain management software. Ho became a CMA in 1985 after attending McGill University. In 2000, he obtained a Fellowship designation from the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants in the United Kingdom.“With an accounting education you are essentially in command of all the key concepts you need to understand to become a capable leader,” Ho says. He lists: accounting, taxation, economy, technology, marketing, sales and people. “You need all of these basic concepts to quickly know what’s expected of you, where a company is going and which interpersonal skills you need to work with different personalities.”
Risk-taking and networking pay off
Junior accountants entering the business world will need to continuously face new challenges and build their networks. “I was never scared of taking risks,” explains Simon Lepage, CA. After receiving his CA certification, Lepage began working for Samson Bélair Deloitte & Touche as an external auditor in 1996. This allowed him, he says, “To see all kinds of companies, management files and accounting systems.” Within a few years, however, at age 26, Lepage left Deloitte & Touche and started his own consultancy, specializing in high-tech and real estate.It was risky at the time, but Lepage urges, “You should not be scared of what other people tell you. If all professionals your age are not doing stuff like that, it doesn’t mean that it is a bad decision for you.” As a consultant, he worked directly with various companies’ presidents to develop action plans and strategies for short-term operations and long-term business orientation. In 2004, at 29, he became the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Kree Tech International Corporation, a medical equipment manufacturing company. He’s now CFO of Odesia Group Inc., an international consulting services firm, in Montreal.
Alain Laplante, FCGA, the V.P. and Chief Financial Officer of Orbit Garant Drilling, a Val d’Or-based mining services company, adds that young graduates should network to put themselves in the swim with a pool of potential employers: “You have to be involved and you have to be known to others. Your network’s very important. You can volunteer with the chamber of commerce, non-profit organizations, etc.”
Laplante practises what he preaches. Throughout his career, alongside his several management positions, he has participated in different organizations, such as being on the Board of Directors for the Ordre des CGA du Québec, being a member of the Finance Committee of CGA Canada, and volunteering as treasurer of the Abitibi chapter of the Québec Lung Association.
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DID YOU KNOW?
37% of the members of the Ordre des comptables agréés du Québec are women, representing 56% of new members.
62% of the 285 new members to the Ordre des CGA du Québec in 2008 were women.
42% of the members of the Quebec Certified Management Accountants Order are women, representing 52% of new members.
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