Becoming a certified practising accountant (CPA) is a real plus for your career, according to Low Weng Keong, president and chairman of professional accounting body CPA Australia.
'We strongly believe that the accountancy training we offer instils an analytical discipline that is a stepping stone to bigger things. Accounting is just one aspect of the total business and we see the bigger picture. Our graduates often don't just want to be accountants, they want to be a CEO - a CEO with analytical skills grounded in accounting,' he says.
According to Low, CPA Australia members bring to bear a good grounding in analytical and technical skills, the benefit of a broad-based training programme that is more than just technical, and the support of a great body.
'The benefit we bring to those looking for a qualification is that we are a recognised and very accepted designation or qualification among many employers and organisations. Having our designation allows someone looking for a job to have that bit of advantage in that they have credible expertise,' he says.
Under the organisation's three-year strategic plan, Low has been working with CEO Alex Malley and the management team to make sure that the CPA programme is accessible to a broader group of people than the traditional source of accounting graduates - people who started their careers as chemists, engineers and bankers, for example.
'The previous career pathways never allowed these people to benefit from a more formalised structure of accountancy training that would help them in their jobs. But now we are opening the doors to let them in,' Low says.
It's a strategy that has succeeded well at a time of increasing competition for members. 'Size does matter in the sense that the larger we are, the more impact we have in terms of attempting to have a say on issues related to and impacting the profession. If you have the size, you wield the biggest stick. If you are a large professional body, as we are, it implies that your opinions will be more representative of the profession and you are better able to represent the profession on issues,' Low says.