How CPA knowledge can impact tomorrow
Advertorial for CPA Australia
By Nina Hendy
Accountants are much more than number crunchers. As CPAs, they’re having an impact on everything from the music industry to climate change.
Picture an accountant. If you see someone hunched over a calculator or a spreadsheet all day, working out profit and loss, you’re a bit behind the times.
Many members become CPAs because they want to make a positive impact.Credit:iStock
“Accounting these days is not just about numbers and spreadsheets,” says Dr Jane Rennie, General Manager of Media and Content at CPA Australia. “The modern accountant provides strategic knowledge and business insights to help businesses, governments and communities succeed.
“There’s a perception that you have to be good with numbers, or that CPAs just do taxes. But the key strengths modern accountants need are emotional intelligence, strategic thinking and influencing skills. It’s not about your ability to put numbers together. It’s the insights that you can offer.”
CPA Australia is one of the world’s largest accounting bodies, with more than 170,000 members working in more than 100 countries and regions. In Australia, more than 25,000 of its members work in senior leadership positions.
The organisation’s CPA Program produces CPAs: certified practising accountants. It’s a globally recognised designation that equips accountants to step up their careers or explore new possibilities.
“The world’s your oyster if you’re a CPA, because you’re not limited to one thing,” Rennie says. “Accountants work in every sector. There are CPAs in the music industry, there are CPAs working with governments who combat climate change, there are CPAs working in design and creative industries. CPAs really are just absolutely everywhere. There’s probably one within 50 feet of you right now; you just don’t know it.”
Sustainable solutions
The people who become CPAs are incredibly diverse, Rennie says. Most will study the CPA Program after they’ve finished university, but it’s also designed to be suitable for people at any stage of their careers, and there are alternative pathways into the CPA Program if your degree is not in accounting or completed internationally.
While people become CPAs for different reasons, they can all benefit from the opportunities that it opens up. “The CPA Program is designed to create business professionals and leaders,” Rennie says. “We make sure that it positions CPAs to work wherever they desire.”
Many members become CPAs because they want to make a positive impact.
“A lot of members have a very strong ethos of working in for-purpose industries or working for not-for-profits,” Rennie says. And with countries around the world increasingly making it mandatory for businesses to report on sustainability and climate change, CPAs are in prime position to make a meaningful contribution on those fronts even if they’re not working in the not-for-profit space.
CPA Australia offers a standalone micro-credential on sustainability reporting. Organisations are increasingly being required to report on their approach to sustainability. The key for organisations is how to integrate a focus on sustainability as part of their strategy, business model and risk profile. . “Knowing how to create value through sustainability is an essential 21st-century skill for accounting professionals,” Rennie says.
CPAs often find themselves in influential positions, Rennie says, where they really can make a difference. “CPAs are trusted advisers to business and the government. They are at the forefront of advising governments and businesses on managing climate change and sustainability.”
Loyal network
The CPA Program is flexible and can be studied in different ways and at difference paces: from part-time distance learning to combined post-graduate degrees, you can choose your own journey.
“It is challenging,” Rennie says. “It’s not to be taken lightly. And it does require ongoing maintenance. However, it demonstrates that you are committed to lifelong learning. It’s a sign that you are a very high performer.”
One of the benefits of the CPA Program is the strong and loyal CPA network; members support each other, and overwhelmingly opt to retain their CPA Australia membership for many years – sometimes even beyond retirement.
“There’s a really strong sense of professional community among members,” Rennie says. “We have a social network called CPA Member Connect, and there are over 20,000 CPAs on there. I see members on there all the time asking questions, and a barrage of other members coming up with answers to help people not just with technical issues, but also about career progression issues, and leadership and strategy questions.”
The CPA Australia Mentoring Program also provides a way for members to support each other. “Our mentoring program is just growing and growing,” Rennie says. “A lot of members say, I’ve got so much value out of this program, I want to give back.”
Impact tomorrow by starting your membership application today, click here