CPAs on CPAs: Across the generations

Calvin: Nice to meet you, Natalie. My name’s Calvin Klontz. I’m a legacy CPA—a CPA, CGA. How about you?

Natalie: I am a CPA. I was in the first graduating class of the new CPA designation, so I wrote the CFE [Common Final Examination] in 2015—the first CFE—and I received my letters in August of 2016.

Calvin: It’s a lot of work to achieve that. What made you want to become a CPA?

Natalie: In university, I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my career, which I think is really, really common for a lot of business students and even a lot of accounting students. I have two uncles and a cousin who are also CPAs, and they encouraged me to look into pursuing my letters. And, as luck would have it, I was able to get an interview with a Big 4 accounting firm before the normal recruitment cycle and got an offer earlier than expected. I figured this would be a good starting point for my career, and I didn’t think I would necessarily still be in public practice 11 years later, but here I am.

But what these letters have allowed me to do is take a risk and try a lot of different types of work that exist within our profession until I found something that spoke to me and that I felt I could do the rest of my career.

Calvin: That’s great, and that’s what I find as well with the CPA designation—it opens doors for other opportunities.

Calvin Klontz CPA, CGA

Natalie: What inspired you to pursue your designation?

Calvin: I was working for a non-profit and doing their finance, and I had taken accounting, but I hadn’t pursued a designation. I wanted to upgrade my skills so I could provide better financial information for that organization.

Natalie: Did you find your designation then allowed you to explore other roles in the non-profit sector that otherwise wouldn’t have been available to you?

Calvin: Oh, yes. And when I retired, I became an ambassador for the community. I did a bit of consulting and various roles, but I was very active with CPA Alberta and Community Ambassadors. We introduce CPAs to non-profits and help them achieve positive outcomes. I’ve met so many CPAs who are doing so many different things.

I think that’s what I like most about the designation—there are so many things you can do as a CPA. The hard thing is imagining what you want to do next.

Natalie: What have you noticed has changed in the profession over your career?

Calvin: Technology. I remember when to do basic accounting automation you’d have to have a huge room with a huge computer, and the money to pay for it. But now you can do it with your smartphone. There’s so much more assistive technology to make it easier to collaborate and communicate and integrate with others.

But also the transition of accounting standards. We have this broad mix of best practices so that you can communicate with others in the same kind of way, and that has been challenging, but it also shows the high value of the profession. We can be trustees of important things.

Natalie: It’s also this idea within our profession that there’s always room for constant improvement and constant growth, and we see that with every new accounting amendment or every new standard. There’s always going to be something that pops up that needs an answer or should be addressed.

I think this ability for our profession to not only be adaptable but also to improve on our own work, our own standards, is something that’s really impressive.

Calvin: How do you think the profession can continue to appeal to new generations?

Natalie Pon CPA

Natalie: I think the most important thing the profession could be doing is outlining the various career paths that exist as a CPA. I think the stereotype still exists—that accountants are stuffy, and they sit in offices, and they only do tax returns—but that’s just one part of the profession. It doesn’t reflect what a lot of us actually do day to day.

I think highlighting things like being able to jump into business operations or entrepreneurship or management and leadership positions are all really interesting career paths that some people might not associate with having a background in accounting.

Calvin: Yeah, I would say tax or assurance work is maybe 20 per cent of what accountants do, but that’s mostly what we see, isn’t it?

There are CPAs who are experts in governance. They think and breathe and eat and dream governance. There are CPAs who are trained corporate directors; there’s accounting work. CPAs can do anything you can imagine, I think. For example, an organization in the music industry needs a CPA who understands them, so if you have a music background, you might have a big advantage.

Natalie: Another example of that is on the CPA Canada Board of Examiners. I recently joined that organization, and it’s quite incredible to see just how many different skill sets have been brought to the table. We have to be able to represent all the different competencies tested on the CFE, whether that’s financial reporting, assurance, management accounting, tax, or finance. Not one of us holds all of the knowledge in all of those categories. The profession is made up of people who work together and knowledge-share and collaborate.

To switch gears a little: is there a piece of advice you would give to an aspiring CPA?

Calvin: Don’t quit. It’s not for the faint of heart to become a CPA. To get the designation is a lot of work. It’s tough, and some days, you’re going to think, “Why am I even here?”

But that’s today, and tomorrow’s a different day, and in the long run, it will be worth it.

Natalie: The juice is worth the squeeze, so to speak.

I also would tell aspiring CPAs to not be afraid of taking a risk. There are so many things you can do with the designation, with that backbone of knowledge. Don’t be afraid to try something new and go outside of your comfort zone. The sky’s the limit for whatever you want to do in your life.

Editor’s note: Calvin Klontz CPA, CGA unexpectedly passed before this article could be published. Calvin was beloved by the CPA profession and his community, and he was a strong advocate for not-for-profit organizations, especially Edmonton’s Food Bank, Goodwill Industries of Alberta, and Edmonton Circles of Support and Accountability. He will be greatly missed by many.