Canadian Accountants Should Find Jobs Aplenty in Tax Preparation and Law
At a time when more Canadian financial professionals are looking for jobs outside of an often-saturated capital markets sector, opportunities in accounting and tax preparation have continued to grow significantly.
As we recently reported, the employment outlook on Bay Street seems particularly promising these days for those able to focus either on risk or wealth management as opposed to trading and investment banking.
Accounting is another growth area these days.
Toronto’s total employment in the accounting and tax prep fields has increased subtantially—up 43 percent over the past five years to 39,340 positions last year, the Financial Post reports.
Recruiter Janice Detta Colli, managing director with Boyden Toronto, observes that she began her recruiting career with Ernst & Young from 1997 to 1999 where she focused on acccounting/finance roles.
“Since that time, the need for finance executives has not waned—it has grown,” Detta Colli tells eFinancialCareeers. “With globalization and the increase in regulatory controls, the need for finance executives within audit, risk and advisory services will continue to increase. The universities have long recognized this trend and have continued to enhance their curriculum to prepare the new graduates for roles where they will need to be good at the components of finance but also understand the broader business environment and strategies."
On the accounting and professional services side of the Street, Donna Khawaja, director of talent management and operations at Ernst & Young LLP, tells the Financial Post that the firm’s recruiting efforts are as hardy as ever:
“If you think about what Ernst & Young does, audit work will never go away,” Khawaja says.
Consider law firms needing accountancy work. Apparently, Canadian law firms offer one promising route for accounting professionals who also have a law degree. A recent advice piece in the Globe and Mail quotes Nancy Stitt, director of student programs at top Toronto firm Goodmans LLP, saying that a degree from a prestigious law firm is not a prerequisite for such a position.
“We want the best students overall, regardless of which law school they’ve attended. We’re looking for diverse educational backgrounds and work experiences, and we consider everything from extracurricular activities to various professional designations," she explains. “In boutique areas such as M&A, securities or tax law, an accounting designation could be a great asset. In general, students with an accounting background could promote their understanding of complex business concepts as a bonus.
"The best advice I can offer is to work hard, attend various law school clinics, special lectures and conferences, and focus on your grades, since that’s one key constant across all students. Great academic marks in your first year can open up great job opportunities. Firms usually hire second-year students for the summer based on their first-year marks, and summer jobs can often lead to articling positions at the same firm,” Stitt says.
Kari Abrams, director of student recruitment and development at Blakes, Cassels & Graydon LLP, tells the Globe and Mail that: “In our commercial litigation practice for example, having someone with a CA or CMA background could be helpful in terms of their ability to interpret financial statistics.
“Everyone who comes into our law firm as a student, however, rotates across different practice areas so they can see what is best suited to their skills, background and interest," Abrams says.
