When seeking an employer, CPA candidates often look for an organization that provides a pre-approved program route (PPR), as it is a streamlined path to obtaining their CPA designation. While this provides an obvious benefit to CPA candidates, how does a pre-approved program benefit the employer?
Pre-approved programs are a powerful tool for recruiting and retaining top talent, increasing the focus and productivity of CPA candidates, and providing oversight and certainty as to when an employee will complete their practical experience. In addition, pre-approved programs can take many forms and be tailored to suit the seasonality or fluidity of the business operations of different employers.
For example, pre-approved programs can be designed for candidates to achieve their practical experience requirements in one business unit or area within the 30-month duration. This is common in smaller organizations where the candidate will have hands-on experience in many different areas during their day-to-day duties throughout those 30 months.
For other employers with different organizational structures, a rotational program may be more conducive to business operations. Rotational programs enable candidates to flow through different business units (e.g. Financial Reporting, Internal Audit, Corporate Tax, etc.) to gain their practical experience requirements during the 30-month duration.
Rotations can be mapped at different durations; the most common being six, 12, 15, and 18 months. These durations allow candidates to spend the appropriate amount of time in each business unit to develop their competencies while also meeting the needs of the business. To provide increased flexibility, rotations can be mapped for a range in time (for example, 12–18 months or 6–12 months) to allow candidates to enter and exit those rotations within that time frame according to the workflow of the employer.
Recently, CPA Alberta approved a PPR for two rotations, each 12–18 months in duration, which allowed candidates to enter and exit the rotations based on seasonality. In this program, a candidate would spend six months at a time in each rotation depending on the season—during the winter and spring, a candidate would join the corporate finance team to assist with the year-end audits, and during the summer and fall, the candidate would join the financial planning & analysis team during the busy operational months.
CPA Alberta will always work with an employer to determine their business needs, and tailor a program that both works for the employer and facilitates the completion of their candidates’ practical experience.
A pre-approved program should not just work for the candidate but also the organization. To find out how a pre-approved program could fit with your business needs, please email ppr@cpaalberta.ca.
