Employer Relations sat down with Stephanie McDougald CPA, CGA to discuss the City of Edmonton’s pre-approved program route (PPR). Stephanie is the Acting Finance Manager and a mentor in the City of Edmonton’s PPR.
Can you give me an overview of the City of Edmonton’s program for CPA candidates?
Over the course of their 30 months in the program, candidates rotate through different areas. They spend time supporting our Business Financial Analytics section, our Corporate Accounting Reporting & Policy section, the Corporate Budget Office, and our Office of the City Auditor.
Our program has depth in both management accounting and financial reporting, which speaks well to the nature of the type of accounting work we do at the city. Our candidates complete two rotations in both of those areas, allowing them to get that foundational knowledge and experience during the first rotation, and then go back into the rotation again for a second time, allowing them to obtain the competency level that we want to see achieved at the end of the program.
We typically hire one candidate per year and currently have three positions at any given time, with candidates at different stages in the program and rotations.
What supports do you provide to candidates who enter your program?
When we hire candidates, we support them academically and financially. We commit to paying for most of the cost of the CPA Professional Education Program, and we also provide support in terms of a day off for exams. We assign candidates a mentor, and candidates have been able to develop a network among themselves. As candidates get into Capstone 2 and start prepping for the CFE, we look to see what knowledge or resources we can pass along to candidates.
Can you tell me more about how mentorship works at the City of Edmonton?
In terms of formal mentorship, we assign a mentor to each of our candidates. We prep our mentors with resources, including the mentorship agreement and questions from CPA Alberta to ask. We want to encourage meaningful conversation, which is typically started by simply asking the candidate about two things they want to work on for the next six months. It could be a theme that carries on throughout the entire rotation, such as communication or leadership. Then we talk to them about some tactical steps to help candidates get to where they want to be, and look at how we can weave that into our performance evaluations and conversations for every rotation they go through.
Informally, we also help to facilitate some check-in discussions and connect candidates with a peer mentor. Past candidates can empathize with the current candidates because they actually know what the candidates are going through. The peers have first-hand experience and can fill the gaps to make for more fulsome support. I also think it’s often easier to reach out to a peer and ask for advice and get answers to CPA module-specific questions.
Another piece we love to do is our Monthly Mentor Topic, which is often more about life skills than the financial and technical aspects of work. We look at TED Talks, webinars, podcasts, and articles for inspiration. The topics that have most resonated with the team have been around goal setting, mindset, and productivity. Everyone engages with the content individually, and then we get together and debrief. We want everyone to come and share two to three things they learned and one thing they would like to implement going forward. We invite candidates in the PPR, past candidates, and candidates in our Experience Verification Route to participate in our monthly discussions.
What are the benefits of being a CPA mentor to a candidate?
I get a lot of joy from seeing candidates’ growth. You get to be a part of their journey in a small way. They put in the effort and you get to be there to help guide and support them. Something I’ve always been passionate about is helping candidates be successful.
Ultimately, we want to help candidates find their way. The accounting field is very vast, so we’re helping them get exposure to different elements of accounting and finance. For me, it’s being a small part of their journey and being able to be that resource and that person they can develop a relationship with that will become a lifelong relationship.
Why is it important to have a strong mentorship program?
It’s critical because the enabling competencies may come easily to some and not others. When you’re starting your career, you don’t have the exposure or depth of knowledge or experience to be as confident as you want to be. Having a strong mentorship program makes the enabling competencies more achievable and meaningful. It develops a candidate’s professionalism, and there’s intentionality that comes from having mentoring conversations and building foundational skills.
Having a strong mentorship program will also help bring others into a mentorship role.
The views expressed in this post are those of Stephanie McDougald CPA, CGA. Please visit cpaalberta.ca for the latest guidelines regarding Practical Experience.
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