Chartered Professional Accountants of B.C. knows the numbers on job openings

For those looking to launch a new career, accounting appears to be a fairly safe bet.

According to the provincial government’s WorkBC website, “financial auditors and accountants” rank first on the list of expected job openings for occupations usually requiring a bachelor’s, graduate, or first professional degree.

“It’s a major selling feature for students,” Lorena Christensen, director of business development with the Chartered Professional Accountants of B.C., told the Straight by phone.

According to the province, there are expected to be 11,600 openings over the next nine years.

CPA Canada’s most recent compensation survey puts the median salary for CPAs in B.C. at $100,000.

The CPABC oversees licensing of chartered professional accountants, as well as their education. To achieve a CPA designation, students must complete a two-year professional education program administered through the Chartered Professional Accountants Western School of Business, culminating in a three-day national exam.

“It’s graduate level, so you have to have completed a bachelor’s [degree] going into it,” Christensen said. “You take it part-time while you’re working.”

Students will only be admitted into the program if they’re employed in a position with relevance to the profession. According to Christensen, the CPABC will provide them with a mentor, sometimes within the student’s own organization, to help them through the process.

To graduate, the student must have 30 months of accounting-related work experience.

“You have two core modules—what we call Core 1 and Core 2—that’s your financial reporting and your strategy and governance,” she said. “It’s a combination of online learning, self-study, and then classroom learning as well. You write an exam at the end of it before you’re allowed to move on to the next module.”

Each module lasts a semester. For the subsequent two modules, the student chooses two electives, which can be in such areas as assurance, performance management, tax, or finance.

That’s followed by two capstone professional modules, including one that’s entirely focused on helping the student pass the final exam.

“It takes on average about 25 hours a week to study for the CPA Professional Education Program,” Christensen said.

Meanwhile, another 10,700 accounting technicians and bookkeepers are expected to be required in B.C. by 2025, according to the WorkBC website.

These ranked fifth on the list of job openings usually requiring a diploma, certificate, or apprenticeship training. These positions pay a median hourly wage of $19.23.

Students seeking to secure these jobs can improve their chances by obtaining an advanced certificate in accounting and finance (ACAF) through a CPABC program lasting up to two years.

While this does not provide a CPA designation, it demonstrates that the person has graduated from a program created by CPA Canada.

Christensen said there’s no requirement for a bachelor’s degree to enter the ACAF program, which involves about 15 hours a week of study.

She also emphasized that not everyone who becomes a CPA is employed by a large accounting firm. Most CPAs work in the public or nonprofit sector, whereas others have joined high-tech firms.

“I have a CPA as well,” Christensen said. “I’ve never had a traditional accounting role, yet I use my designation and my education all the time.”