Career advice

Practical guides for a Hong Kong career

Curated writing from operators, recruiters, and HR leaders — written for people building real careers in HK.

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CIMA and HKICPA collaborate to create new opportunities for accounting and finance professionals

The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) and the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (HKICPA) have entered into a new 5-year agreement to accelerate the growth of the accounting and finance profession in Hong Kong by approving mutual examination paper exemptions (MEPE) from both CIMA’s CGMA Professional Qualification and the HKICPA Qualification Programme (QP).

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Tips for the would-be financial controller

Becoming a financial controller can be a springboard to a management position. Finance directors and higher executives increasingly rely on financial controllers to assume responsibility for internal finances.

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Forward-looking analysis

Hong Kong CPAs with financial controller experience can expect to be in demand. Chris Choi, an Institute member, is part of an emerging “flying squad” of financial controllers who parachute into new or distressed companies at the request of private equity firms, risk consultancies and others in need of sound advice.

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Pathways to prosperity

Former and current financial controllers – as well as those who train and hire them – say a number of factors have made the position a more vital one. They include: • Regulation: The financial controller began to assume greater importance a decade ago, according to research by EY, with the imposition of post-Enron legislation designed to promote transparency. • Globalization: The desire for access to Hong Kong and China by multinational corporations has created more financial controller roles at the regional and group senior levels.

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Institute course to help careers

To help meet the demand, the Hong Kong Institute of CPAs is planning to launch a financial controllership course in 2014 to accelerate the transition from auditor to financial controller.

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Eyes on the whole board

Once middle-level employees who only focused on the numbers, the role of financial controller has become broad and strategic. George W. Russell reports on how the job has changed and how the Institute plans to develop its members’ skills in this challenging field.

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Keeping your options open

With Hong Kong’s business environment becoming more complex, accounting firms have expanded and so have specialist opportunities for CPAs. Jemelyn Yadao finds out how accountants are getting into the most in-demand fields All accountants might believe they are a part of a special profession, but many are trying to stand out from the crowd even more, by entering the more rarefied world of specializations.

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Transitional tryouts

Switching roles to find your specialism needn’t always be complicated, suggests Galaxy Chan, a partner at KPMG China and a member of the Hong Kong Institute of CPAs, citing her own smooth transition. Some firms, such as KPMG, provide employees opportunities for short-term internal transfers if there are vacancies. “If you are unsure that you want to make a permanent commitment in your department or want to try a different one, the human resources team can arrange a short-term secondment,” says Chan. “After that, you can always go back to your [original] department.”

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Tips for Successful Networking

“Being interactive is one of the basic requirements for an accountant engaged in advisory services, like myself,” says Eugene Ha, a partner at Grant Thornton and a Hong Kong Institute of CPAs member. “Making connections with clients, intermediaries and the wider business community is part of what I do every day. It’s fortunate that I am quite a natural talker as well, with an outgoing personality. Networking is in fact an enjoyable role to me.” Here are a networking natural’s top tips for making new connections. DO…

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Climbing out of a Social Rut

It’s not just what you know, it’s who you know that matters, says the adage. Successful accountants tell Robin Lynam how careers can be boosted with a little networking ability In accounting, as in all professions, those who rise to the top tend to be those who are good at their jobs. That, however, is seldom all there is to the story. Successful professionals have usually managed to build up a broad-based network of contacts and connections, many of whom have been instrumental in helping them serve their clients, build their profiles and enhance their reputations.

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Special skills

Meanwhile, the growing popularity of forensic accounting is ascribed to the development of anti-fraud and anti-bribery legislation around the world, imposing more responsibilities on business owners. Few CPAs in Hong Kong are specialized in this area, but many Institute members believe that the demand for forensic accountants is stronger than ever. “This industry is really going,” says Alick Fong, manager of corporate recovery and forensic services at Mazars and an Institute member.

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Special offers

Compared with a decade ago, the career paths offered by accounting firms are wider and more varied. Here are some of today’s most popular accounting specializations in Hong Kong. Corporate finance These specialists not only inhabit the glamorous world of initial public offerings and other fundraising measures, they also have acquired grassroots knowledge of valuation and credit analysis. The right specialist is a person with initiative and a knack for problem solving.