CA vs. CA'

[bunzofsteel]

Hi Everyone,

I am in Accounting at the U of C and I have recently completed a Co-op workterm at one of the big four Accounting firms. I plan to pursue as a Chartered Accountant (CA) for my career.

I was wondering if working for the industry would be worthy in terms of gathering experience? I understand that there's a new route introduced, called the CA'...and I was wondering what are you guys' thoughts on this compared to the traditional CA?

[wrcftw]

Originally posted by bunzofsteel
Hi Everyone,

I am in Accounting at the U of C and I have recently completed a Co-op workterm at one of the big four Accounting firms. I plan to pursue as a Chartered Accountant (CA) for my career.

I was wondering if working for the industry would be worthy in terms of gathering experience? I understand that there's a new route introduced, called the CA'...and I was wondering what are you guys' thoughts on this compared to the traditional CA?

there is a new stream? I wasn't aware of that, whats it all about?

[Chandler_Racing]

Originally posted by wrcftw


there is a new stream? I wasn't aware of that, whats it all about?

I believe and don't quote me, but assuming you're working for a large company (ie. Suncor, BP, Exon, government, etc.) that when you work directly under a group of CA's that this time is now considered articling (30 months of practical experience). With that said people were also telling me the requirements have changed significantly from the 2500 Audit hours, 30 months, and 100 tax hours from before.

[in*10*se]

amateurs....

http://casb.com/index.php?catid=193

[wrcftw]

pshh, good luck passing the UFE with no practical audit or tax experience...

[dingmah]

Originally posted by bunzofsteel
I was wondering if working for the industry would be worthy in terms of gathering experience? I understand that there's a new route introduced, called the CA'...and I was wondering what are you guys' thoughts on this compared to the traditional CA?
Off the top of my head, I know that the ICAA has allowed Telus, Nexen, Canadian Western Bank, and the Brick to become CATOs. Basically, you can earn your CA experience requirements at these companies.

What makes them different is that, once you get your letters, you can't actually do any public auditing, because you're considered an "industry only" CA. You can earn your public audit hours, but you will have to earn it at a traditional CA firm.

This route actually benefits many people, because everyone wants to jump ship into industry ASAP once they get their letters. The problem is that the corporate companies usually only hire 1 student per year.

If you do get hired by a corporate CATO, it can put you at a huge disadvantage, because you won't have the peer & office support to get you through CASB successfully.

[dingmah]

Originally posted by wrcftw
pshh, good luck passing the UFE with no practical audit or tax experience...
They still have to fulfill those requirements, except it'll be internal. But yes I agree, it will put those students at a disadvantage.

[in*10*se]

Originally posted by wrcftw
pshh, good luck passing the UFE with no practical audit or tax experience...

everything can literally be learned in your casb modules, and in your ufe summer when you write the past exams... you'll realize this when you're done ... everyone comes from different experiences, whether it be from a small firm, big firm, audit, tax, industry, u of c, u of l, ubc, mru, you will ALL be on the same page when you write that exam... some might be farther ahead when you start studying/mod 6... but when you write that exam... no one has an advantage.... its you against the world ;)

[bunzofsteel]

Thanks guys! I guess I will go with the traditional CA route as some of you said; the UFE is based a lot on audit...unless they plan on changing the UFE to adjust for the new CA'.

Have any of you actually taken the UFE? or any CASB modules? Do they reflect what you learn at school; or a lot of it is based on your practical experience at a CA firm?

[in*10*se]

Originally posted by bunzofsteel
Thanks guys! I guess I will go with the traditional CA route as some of you said; the UFE is based a lot on audit...unless they plan on changing the UFE to adjust for the new CA'.

Have any of you actually taken the UFE? or any CASB modules? Do they reflect what you learn at school; or a lot of it is based on your practical experience at a CA firm?

There is a focus on assurance (not just audit, but reviews, compilations etc) but also alot on the application of the principles of accounting (known as Performance Measurement (PM)). Also theres other areas you need to know, mgmt decision making, IT, tax, control and risk management. You cannot pass the ufe without passing each of these areas.

wait until you do casb modules ... that'll reflect what you learn in school and apply it to case based situations that are supposed to reflect real life. Like i said in the other post, most of it will come from your module work in casb and your summer studying...

and man.. if you have so many questions... go to casb.com... all the answers are they you lazy ass... :p

[Chandler_Racing]

Originally posted by wrcftw
pshh, good luck passing the UFE with no practical audit or tax experience...

Before writting the UFE, I had ZERO tax experience outside of tax courses in school. All of the files I worked on, had a tax team prepare the working papers for both Future and Current Income Taxes. All I was required to do was review the TAR memo (Tax working paper files) and ensure the amounts tied into the financial statements, or have someone else tie them in. The tax requirements are to be honest rather basic on the UFE.

Same goes for audit, not that hard to remember assertions, how they impact the financial statements, and procedures to address the risk. These can all easily be learned in MPAC or CASB

[tenth]

Originally posted by wrcftw
pshh, good luck passing the UFE with no practical audit or tax experience...
Tax on the UFE is very basic and a very small part of the exam, but I agree with you on assurance. Learning through coursework isn't the same as getting the understanding through hands on experience. As much as I hate public practice, I don't see how I could ever recommend the CATO route. Do your 30 months, pass the exam, and then get out.

[wrcftw]

True, the tax component is of CASB (at least until I dropped out lol) was pretty basic. I worked in the tax department for 8 months....people do some crazy shit in there that I'd never even dreamed of...yikes.

[bwling]

I'm not convinced that the new CATOs are a good idea. The work experience students are exposed to at the firms cannot be replicated in industry.

Maybe it's just the old guy in me who thinks the way I went through the program is better...just like the geezers before me who thought that CASB modules would turn out less qualified CAs. I guess we will find out in a couple years when the first batch of CATO trained students write the UFE.