Looking for a lucrative and exciting career move?
Heading back to school to get your Chartered Professional Accountant designation could be your best decision.
And yes, we’re serious.
Sure, being an accountant gets a bad rep thanks to the long-held misconception of accountants being what Erica Wong, CPA, refers to as “boring, nerdy bean counters with calculators” – but it’s a stereotype that definitely doesn’t hold true.
Especially in Erica’s case. Wong is a Senior Accountant at the always-happening Cactus Club Cafe, which is a growing Canadian restaurant group. She defines career success as “being able to participate in key decision-making that impacts your organization, and being able to contribute to the growth and development of others.”
And what does she think allows her to do just that? Having a CPA.
As a professional accountant at Cactus Club, Wong carries significant responsibilities for their portfolio of restaurants. She develops relationships with key leaders at the restaurant and corporate level.
She’s also learned a thing or two about culinary culture in the process.
Here are 6 reasons why a CPA is your next great career move.
Your life doesn’t have to stop.
While heading back to the books in pursuit of a CPA is a substantial commitment, it doesn’t mean that other elements of your life have to take a major hit. You’re able to take the program while working full-time, thanks to their flexible learning schedules.
A CPA helps you manage other areas of your life.
Getting your CPA improves your life overall. “Going through the CPA program while working full-time has helped me better manage my own schedule,” says Wong. “I’m able to juggle so many more tasks in a day and I’ve gained an incredible amount of efficiency. I am able to translate the skills I acquired from the CPA program to my lifestyle and approach to problem solving.”
It’s more exciting than it looks.
One of the best things about being a CPA is that the skill is transferrable over a variety of industries and workplaces, from restaurants to production companies. “As a CPA, you can work in dynamic and exciting environments,” says Wong. “You’re working with sophisticated people and are deeply engaged with business operations.”
You do more than crunch numbers.
Working at Cactus Club has allowed Wong to be involved in many aspects of the company, aside from just the numbers. She gets to be fully involved with the people and the culture. “I love collaboration meetings and office-wide updates where we get to hear about what each department is working on,” says Wong. “It creates a sense of unity.”
It can be fun and games.
If you pick your company properly, you could find one with a dynamic corporate culture like that at Cactus Club. “Cactus has an amazing culture and does a great job recognizing and rewarding employees for their hard work,” says Wong. “For example, every year, we have an annual and a mid-year conference which is followed up by an Oscar-like awards night, with performances and all. Watching my male colleagues sing and dance to the Spice Girls during the lip sync battle this year was epic hilarity.” Other perks involve getting the inside scoop on – and sometimes getting to taste – new and developing menu items.
You’ll make friends.
Aside from the professional opportunities, heading back to class will also increase your social circle. Wong says she’s met lifelong friends in the program (none of whom are boring bean counters, thank you very much).
Clearly, Wong has no regrets in her decision to get her CPA.
“Going through the CPA program has really helped me understand the bigger picture and has allowed me to make a meaningful contribution to my organization,” she says. “The learning is practical and relevant to the business world and has helped me develop core competencies and build a solid foundation in accounting.”
So what are you waiting for? Find out more here.
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