- Hi! I am Anirban Ghosh, a senior professional at a large information technology company.
- I had set out to pursue CA, but due to some reasons, I had to quit it. It was a very tough decision. However, I did not give up on my dreams and chased what I wanted to be in life.
- Today, I am a qualified ACCA, CPA (US), CFE, and CISA. And the best part is, “I achieved all this while working full time.”
- Here’s my story.
Tracing My Ancestors: How I Began My Career in California
It’s difficult to discuss the parts of your life that were probably not your best. But I suppose it is important to share my story because the initial struggles were followed by a lot of success based solely on some of the ALTERNATE PATHS that I have taken.
I was an average student in school. I would get the marks to reasonably pass the exams, but I would be nowhere near the top scorers in the class. But I was very passionate about doing well in life!
When I was in college, I came across the big question: What do I do after B.Com? In 2001, the typical options in India were an MBA or CA, a CWA, or a company secretary.
I wasn’t great at math, so CAT was ruled out. CA stood out in terms of marketability and overall opportunities. As a result, I decided to pursue Chartered Accountancy through the ICAI (Institute of Chartered Accountants of India).
I registered for CA and started with my articles. Those days, you would start articles immediately and take your intermediate exams (now IPCC) after around 1.5 years or so. I joined a leading CA firm for articles, and with dreamy eyes, I started on my journey. This was a good firm, but the stipend was very low at 450–600 rupees per month.
Although I didn’t need the money for myself, around the same time my dad had just started a business, and there was a lot of instability. I am the eldest son; the pressure soon came to me, and I realized that I had to step in to support my family.
Mentally, I was not prepared to give up on CA, but continuing with articles with no salary was leading to a lot of stress. After a series of difficult conversations, I finally decided to give up CA, with only half of my articles completed.
I had already taken the CA Intermediate Group 1 exams and cleared them, so leaving CA was the hardest thing to do, especially after clearing the exams!
Leaving CA Midway and Making a Leap Into the Corporate World
I joined a leading BPO and started in an operations role. I had seen much bigger aspects of finance and accounting during my article days, so I knew this was not going to take me very far.
I moved to another team that was doing “investigations of payments and transaction anomalies.” Here we had to use “Data Analytic Tools” to detect anomalous payments. And the auditor in me was supercharged.
My auditing background helped me see the big picture when compared to others. The other thing that worked well was that I learned to use the ACL Data Analysis Tool purely by accident, which was not known to everyone else in the team. As you will read further, this was a turning point in my career.
My department head, who was also responsible for running the Global SOX program, offered me the chance to join that team. But there is a condition: I had to get some certification to be part of that group.
Being an American company, I knew that some of the international certifications like CISA or CIA could get me through the door.
Pursuing CISA
I needed to do the CISA as that was a niche area in IT auditing, which even many qualified CAs take up additionally as it is a rigorous exam with a good market standing and strong demand.
With just 3 months to go until the exam, I enrolled in the course and toiled hard (after work) to prepare. I passed CISA in my first attempt, and my boss kept up his promise to move me into the SOX Testing Team.
I was now part of a team that had only CAs, many of them with past Big Four experience. I was smitten by their background and felt that someday I should try to get into one of the Big 4 myself.
Starting a Career in Forensic Auditing
Fortunately, I got a call from one of the Big 4 inviting me to join them in their “forensic accounting” practice. I was perplexed as that had “nothing to do with my qualification in IT auditing.”
But I was wrong. They were only interested in my data analytics tool experience, not my qualifications. This was a HUGE life lesson for me: people will hire you based on your skills and how you express yourself, not your qualifications.
Getting on this team opened up a new career path for me. After spending some time there, I joined another Big 4 firm as a senior consultant in their forensic practice. Again, my qualifications didn’t matter as much as the experience that I had gained at the earlier firm.
Eventually, I felt that now with forensic auditing experience, I should pursue some kind of qualification in this domain. I was aware of the CFE certification, which is the leading qualification for fraud investigators globally. I decided to pursue it while working and eventually cleared it (4 papers) a year later.
My Hidden Desire to Pursue CA Continued
But I must admit, being around CAs without having any relevant qualifications was affecting my confidence. I was regularly meeting clients who were very senior finance leaders, and I always worried if one of them would ask, “When did you qualify as a CA?”
With two international certifications after my name (CISA and CFE), I felt somewhat confident. I had also progressed to becoming a manager in a leading IT company’s internal audit department by this time.
While I was doing quite well and getting another promotion in a couple of years, I was getting into more areas of finance and accounting and leading qualified accountants as part of my team. I realized that to build a career in more senior finance roles within the company or even outside, I had to have a strong accounting qualification, come what may.
The CA dream was still burning somewhere in my heart, I guess. Eventually, I decided that I would pursue a “CA equivalent course,” but an international option rather than an Indian one (because that required three years of study, which I couldn’t afford). That is when I decided to pursue CPA USA.
Working Full-Time and Studying for the CPA (US) Exam
I have read a lot about CPAs from the AICPA; it’s the largest accounting body in the world.
With a majority of top American multinationals setting up offices in India, it made sense to pursue a course that they recognize in their own country.
Although the exam format was largely multiple-choice, I felt it would be easy. But soon I realized that it was not just the exam; the logistics of travelling to a foreign country to write the exams were not all simple or cheap.
As there is no exam centre in India to give CPA exams. The passing requirement was also not easy. We had to score 75 out of 100 to pass the papers, not 50 like we are used to in India.
Further, the American system required 16 years of education, whereas I had 15 years in the Indian system. So I had to first take an additional tax course to gain the required credits before becoming eligible for the CPA exam. But I went ahead and decided to take the plunge, as my options were limited.
Around 2 years later, I passed the CPA exam while being fully employed in a large IT MNC!
My confidence was soaring as I had a CA equivalent certification plus two more certifications in specialized fields. I got a promotion again.
ACCA Exam Preparation While Working Full-Time
Meanwhile, IND-AS/IIRFS was in the news. When I started looking, I found that ACCA, UK, has a certificate course and a diploma course on IFRS. The diploma course on IFRS was more extensive, and I found that the exam paper was the same as their professional ACCA final paper on accounting.
I just thought, why not look at the exemptions I am entitled to if I take up the full ACCA qualification (rather than just a diploma in IFRS)? And to my surprise, I noted that I was eligible to claim 8 exemptions out of 14 papers due to the CPA. That meant I only needed to pass six more papers to become a full-fledged UK professional Chartered Accountant!
What I also liked was their exam format, the ACCA. All the questions were detailed case study-based, which meant that I would not just do rote learning but have to apply the concepts in business scenarios.
Having done it once with a CPA, I was not worried about my chances. I decided to go for it, and in about 3 years or so, I had qualified. Again, ACCA was completed while working full-time in the company at a senior management level (Director, Finance).
“How Important Are Certifications?”
I now had a CPA, an ACCA, and two international certifications, CISA and CFE. While it may seem that I took a longer route to reach the same destination as any of my friends who would have continued with CA, the point is, that I could have also gotten lost along the way, which I didn’t.
Do I think it’s only my qualifications that got me where I am? NO!
But at the same time, not having the qualifications would have drastically reduced my negotiating power at the table for greater responsibilities as well as remuneration!
“What Lessons Have I Learned in My Journey So Far?”
I would like to give you three key takeaways from my journey:
- There is life beyond California. While CA is the most powerful accounting qualification in India, it is not the be-all and end-all of your chances. I carved a particular path. Others may choose a different path altogether. But it’s worth considering other paths.
- There are no age restrictions for studies. The limit is what we define for ourselves. But you have to have a plan in mind and work in alignment with that.
- The CA certificate is a great starting point early on in our careers. But remember, it’s just the starting point. It is your performance at work, your communication and presentation skills, and your ability to solve business problems and build relationships at work that equally matter.
- I would like to end this long note by wishing all the readers, especially young students, a bright career. As the Nike saying goes: “Just do it.”
CA is the most preferred or respectable accounting qualification, but it’s not your only option to succeed. There are multiple alternatives out there that can make you successful in your career.
