The Changing Face of Accounting
www.careerinsider.ca
by J.K. Radomski
Since high school, Anita Chung has wanted a career that would allow her to travel
the world and work abroad, so she turned to accounting. Today, the recent
University of Toronto graduate is an associate with PricewaterhouseCoopers, and is
also among the hundreds of young women entering accountancy and changing the
face of a profession that used to be dominated by men.
"Accounting is not just about balance sheets and numbers. It's also about strategy,
management and problem solving," Chung says. "The skills that we gain are
transferable anywhere. Once you get into accounting, the sky's the limit."
More women are joining the accounting profession because they've seen the many
career possibilities that can spring from it, as well as its many rewards.
"It's an interesting way for women to get into business," says Gail Fayerman, an
accounting professor and past director of Concordia University's diploma in
accountancy program. "There's a higher level of job security than in other fields."
Fayerman, a CA, who has taught at Concordia for 20 years, says accounting was not
always perceived as a profession for women; at one time men filled the classrooms
almost exclusively. But today, more than half of her classes are female. She says
women have come to realize the accounting playing field is fair: "If you got certain
marks and passed your exam, it caught on pretty quickly that you would get the job
just a easily as a man would get it. There's no reason to doubt it. Women do get the
same jobs men do."
According to the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants, 27 percent of its
current membership is female, and that number is growing; the gender breakdown is
50/50 among accounting students leaning toward this designation.
Meanwhile, CMA Canada says that while 36 per cent of its designated members are
female, the split is equal for candidates who have passed their entrance exam and
are in the strategic leadership program. CGA Canada reports a similar trend. While
45 percent of its membership is composed of women, 62 percent of students
interested in this designation are female.
Michelle Causton is a director of CGA Canada and an accounting professor at
Canadore College in North Bay, Ontario. She has also noticed more and more women
studying accounting over the years.
"Accounting is appealing because women are more analytical with good
organizational skills," Causton says. "When computers freed up accountants from
math, they had more time to understand the business world and listen to what is
going on. Women also have an edge there."
According to Statistics Canada, 21 percent of men aged 25 and over are university
graduates, up from the 17 percent reported in 1991.
The growth among women was even greater. Twenty percent of adult women have a
university degree today, compared with 14 percent in 1991. Just over 78 per cent of
the total growth in university enrolment between 1997 and 2001 is credited to more
women seeking a post-secondary education.
Women also represent 47 percent of the workforce. The last Canadian census
showed women were making inroads in many non-traditional areas, and high-skill
jobs in particular. In the past decade, their numbers have doubled in fields such as
information technology, and more than doubled in business and finance-related
professional occupations.
Causton says the many cultural changes within the accounting work environment
have made a career in accountancy more appealing to women. She says employers
no longer expect their employees to put their work before their family: "Balancing
family life is not seen as being disloyal. You don't have to put your job above all else.
This change has benefited the men in the industry as well, especially where
expectations are concerned."
While more women are becoming accountants, the number of women in senior
executive positions is still less than spectacular. In some cases, this has resulted in
lower morale and motivation, and affected employee retention rates. But some
employers have caught on and implemented the same women- friendly and familyfriendly programs first seen in government jobs.
These programs offer the necessary perks that allow women to balance a successful
career with motherhood. According to Statistics Canada's Women in Canada report, a
mother misses an average seven working days a year to deal with family matters such as taking the kids to the dentist - while a father misses only one day for similar
reasons.
"We offer alternative working arrangements, leadership development programs, and
have programs geared towards working mothers," says Wayne McFarlane, human
capital leader - Canada, for PricewaterhouseCoopers. "This allows for a shortened
work week, flex time, and the possibility of working at home for part of the week.
While women - including partners in the firm - are taking advantage of these
alternative arrangements, they're also quite popular with men."
KPMG offers several such programs designed to support mothers, and working
parents alike, as part of their larger People Matters program. These benefits include
flex work, 50 hours of non-chargeable time for a variety of personal reasons,
parental leave, an adoption assistance program, and employee sabbaticals. Every
year, the firm sends a (female) person to the University of Toronto to take an
executive development program, called Judy, that is designed to help support the
career and leadership development of senior level women at KPMG.
Deloitte & Touche supports its employees, who are working mothers and parents,
with a program called Advancement and Retention of Talent People (ART) initiative.
This program offers flex time, telecommuting, continuing part-time, leaves of
absence and alternative work arrangements, which give individuals the flexibility to
customize their work schedules depending on personal and client commitments, or
peak busy periods throughout the year.
Lynda Murdoch-Furchner, a CGA and a corporate accounting manager for Aon Reed
Stenhouse Inc., has also seen this kind of flexibility within her designation.
"The delivery of the CGA program has changed. It can be done at your own leisure in
that the tools - spreadsheet programs, e-mail, and online learning - are now readily
available," says Murdoch-Furchner. "It's much easier for someone with a lot of
personal commitments to do this program, and do so at any time of day."
Aside from the financial rewards in this industry, some women view accounting as a
stepping-stone to management. Accountants today are also given the opportunity to
do more than just accounting. They're involved with IT decisions, taxation, the
business side of systems, and are even starting their own businesses.
Until a year ago, Barbara Hoffman, was a partner at KPMG Consulting (now
BearingPoint). She left the firm to set up her business, Barbara Hoffman and
Associates, bringing with her some valuable skills acquired over 12 years at KPMG.
"I left with the ability to administer a business," Hoffman, a CMA says. "That includes
some sales (skills) and the discipline required to run a practice. Now, my work fits
around my schedule instead of the other way around. It's more rewarding."
Hoffman now advises clients such as Ford Canada on tax issues, manages audits,
and does some planning and compliance work too: "Consulting is less stressful. I
enjoy the flexibility. I love being on my own. In many respects I work harder, but my
time and how I work is more flexible. I have a better sense of work life balance."
The number of women starting their own businesses to better balance their careers
and home life has been growing steadily, according to Industry Canada.
The number of women entrepreneurs in this country is double that of men, and their
growth rate is double of that in the United States. It is estimated that a third of
Canadian businesses are owned and operated by women, and have created some
1.7-million jobs.
Hoffman says being an accountant with experience gives her credibility as an
entrepreneur: "There's an understanding that I'm going to be operating on a certain
level with a high degree of integrity. As a CMA, I have knowledge not only of
accounting issues but also broader issues affecting a business."
Accountancy gives you a good foothold for a future in business, whether it's working
for someone else's company or starting your own, says Carol Ring, vice-president
and general manager of Rogers Cable, Eastern Ontario, and a past president of CMA
Ontario.
"When you enter this profession you won't be stuck in the accounting department all
your life. Women are moving out of more traditional roles and moving into
management. My daughter is looking at (working in business) and having a financial
designation. It's not a new thought for her. She thinks it's a natural thing to strive to
be a CFO."