By Andrea Terrill CPA
In this blog post, Andrea discusses how the support from her employer helped her succeed as a CPA candidate. Andrea is currently a Finance Officer at Parks Canada. She passed the May 2021 CFE and obtained her CPA designation in September of the same year.
In 2014, I received an offer to be a Property Controller at the Sawridge Group of Companies. Prior to taking on this role, our CFO encouraged me and everyone else with the same role to enter the CPA Professional Education Program (CPA PEP) as an Experience Verification Route (EVR) candidate. To motivate us further, she invited a CPA Alberta representative to explain the path to becoming a CPA and the EVR reporting process at one of our team meetings. I found the presentation extremely valuable as it helped me understand the timelines and requirements to succeed as an EVR candidate.
I started CPA PEP at the same time as three other property controllers, and other colleagues started before and after us. We were fortunate to receive mentorship from our CFO throughout the program. She was approachable, and we had an established and good working relationship with her. Because she worked directly with us on a daily basis, she knew the specific knowledge depth we needed to achieve in our technical competencies. She was also familiar with the EVR program and guided us on our practical experience reporting throughout our CPA journey.
My employer had a CPA education contract for the CPA candidates that worked at the organization. This transparent document outlined all the supports they offered, as well as what they expected from candidates.
The supports included:
- Paying for a candidate’s CPA courses, exams, and enrollment fees;
- Allowing candidates to take three paid days off for module exams—two for studying and one to write the exam;
- Providing candidates up to a month off (without pay) to study for the CFE; and
- Providing candidates the CFE exam week off with pay.
This support reduced my emotional and financial stress levels, and allowed me to be more productive at work while also focusing on my studies.
I also had a great relationship with the other property controllers enrolled in CPA PEP. Those of us taking the same courses organized study dates where we discussed our notes and shared knowledge on different topics.
To pay it forward, I also decided to share my experiences—including challenges and achievements—with candidates just starting out in CPA PEP. My hope was to better help them understand what to expect in the program, which, in my experience, can reduce a candidate’s anxieties.
I am grateful for the support I received from my employer while pursuing my designation, and I am happy to pay it forward to the next generation of CPAs!
The views expressed in this post are those of the guest writer, Andrea Terrill CPA. Please refer to cpawsb.ca for the latest guidelines from the CPA Western School of Business.
