Written by Joey Qin
About the Author
Current Position: Senior Consultant at EY
Education: Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics at the University of Waterloo (Computer Science Minor), Master’s degree in Accounting at the University of Waterloo, Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) Designation
ACE Consulting Group Involvement:
Associate (2014-2015)
Executive/Sr Director (2015-2016)
Board of Directors (2016-2017)
What were the top three highlights of your student life at the University of Waterloo?
Well I am biased and I have to say ACE was one of the highlights. I guess back then, ACE was quite different from what it is now. I think we were a lot more focused on bookkeeping and accounting rather than consulting and helping businesses improve. Still, it was nice to connect with startups around KW and learn about their business, see what entrepreneurs go through, and explore what cool ideas are out there. It was also great giving them a hand in helping to run the core business aspects. ACE also offered great mentorship as the mentors were previously in our shoes – they always gave us tips, advice and resources to use, which helped us progress through the years. The friendships I made at ACE lasted throughout my university experience, and to this day, I am still very good friends with them. I am very fortunate and glad that I was a part of ACE.
A second point on what was enjoyable at Waterloo was the co-op experience, where many followed the traditional path of accounting of going to a Big 4 firm, getting their hours, and fast-tracking their CPA. However, I used co-op as a learning experience to test different industries and roles to see what I enjoy or did not enjoy. I did my first two co-ops in tax and audit at a mid-size accounting firm, and the last two at an insurance company. Testing out different areas made me realize what my strengths were, what I needed to improve on, and what I could see myself doing full time. Co-op definitely led me to where I am today.
The last thing I enjoyed at Waterloo was the community aspect. I loved how everyone was so close together. I lived at V1 in my first-year, and it was extremely convenient to walk a few meters to hang out with your friends. There were also many restaurants, clubs and bars around the area where you could meet new people.
How has being a part of ACE impacted your professional life and/or career trajectory?
Great question! I think ACE helped me build some of my technical skills, such as bookkeeping and marketing research – these were technical skills that I was able to use later on in my co-op terms. More importantly was the soft skills I learned, such as interacting with clients, learning how to professionally communicate with them, and how to analyze and put together a deliverable. I am an introvert by nature and these opportunities were invaluable in my personal growth and transition into client-facing jobs. ACE shaped the way I looked at companies and made me realize how many different things are out there in terms of different industries and more. ACE also made me appreciate startup and tech companies, as I learned about the hardships they had to go through to get their company off the ground. In turn, that aspect led me to my consulting roles with tech and finance companies. All of these components really shaped my professional and personal journey.
What is your favourite ACE-related memory?
One of my favorite memories was around my third or fourth year where we had a weekend getaway around the Collingwood area at a rented cottage. During that time, I was on the Board of Directors, so there were a lot of new and old faces. We spent the weekend playing board games, watching a lot of TV (including being forced into watching horror movies), and doing outdoor activities. That weekend was overall an amazing bonding experience, and it helped me get closer to a lot of the other ACE members.
Can you describe more about your experience being a Consulting Associate at Capco? What is one thing that you learned from this opportunity that you use in your current endeavors?
Consulting is a very different path from what accountants normally take. When I thought about going into consulting, I knew it wouldn’t help me get my CPA hours, but rather be more of an alternate route to try something new and see what it was all about.
Capco is a management consulting company, where they do traditional strategy consulting but also digital and technology transformation, which is what makes it stand out in the industry in comparison to other management consulting firms. I was fortunate enough to undergo many different projects at Capco, focusing more on strategy projects. For example, if our client was a bank, we would look at their process and identify any key points or issues they may have. Then, based on that, we would create a future-state idea, where we would make recommendations on how they can automate manual tasks and achieve cost savings. Ultimately, we would present that deliverable to the client or stakeholder.
I also had the chance to experience some unique and rewarding projects. One of my first projects at Capco was related to cybersecurity – we looked at the banking industry and the capabilities that banks have if they were to get breached by a cyberattack. We assessed where gaps existed and what needed to be done. Since it was my first project, I was assigned to do market research for the banking system and payment system. I looked into their interconnectedness and considered what would happen if a bank goes under default – for instance, can it still process payments and meet qualifications? From there, I helped put together a resiliency assessment where banks can assess their own capabilities and determine how they can improve going forward. I also assisted in creating a white paper on how cyberattacks can impact them and potential solutions to strengthen their cybersecurity, which was shared to the banking industry.
In one of my last projects at Capco, I was on the product side of things, almost like an extension of the product manager for a Canadian bank. The client was trying to implement a rewards system, so we helped them write a lot of the terms and conditions, design the gift card and the package for clients, and mapped out different scenarios for clients who wanted to obtain their respective rewards. This project was also quite unique for me, as it was a great opportunity to be on the internal side of things and see how the product is developed inside-out.
Overall, I am very glad that I was able to be a part of a variety of different projects at Capco, as I know several people who were stuck on one project for two years. Having these different projects helped me expand my knowledge base into different industries, such as cybersecurity and banking. It also helped with figuring out how to manage different stakeholders – while some were more difficult than others, it was a great experience to interact with various levels of stakeholders across various projects. All of these skills have been transferable to my current role, and also brought me out of my shell. I always found public speaking and presenting quite daunting, but my experience at Capco helped me work on those abilities.
What impact do you think your background in math and computer science has on the work that you do today? Do you feel that it gave you a different perspective on the accounting and finance work that you’ve done during co-op and after graduation?
Of course, I’m not using calculus or anything in my work, but I think my background in math trained my logical thinking and the problem-solving aspect – for instance, how I analyze a problem, and how I find a solution for said problem. On the other hand, my background in computer science helped build a foundation for my understanding of technology, how systems work, and how data gets transferred between systems – this was really useful when I was working at Capco, since there were many instances where we needed to communicate with developers and figure out how to consolidate a data system or create one that works efficiently. Having a technical background made it a lot easier for me to get a gist of things and understand technical components.
I think of accounting as a basic, core type of knowledge and skill that is integrated with other aspects to make a bigger impact. For example, previously as a Financial Analyst at The Co-operators, we looked at financial statements, but we also projected financial statements to see where the company is going in five years. Applying basic accounting skills to model and derive benefits of the future is something I find quite interesting, but even more valuable when integrated with my background in math and computer science.
We see that after graduating, you switched from working in a consulting role to a financial analyst role. Can you tell us more about what prompted that change, and how you transitioned from one position to another?
When I was doing MAcc, I got the offer for consulting – with this opportunity present, I decided to put a pause on my hours for accounting and decided to try a new industry. I always knew that I was always going to come back to accounting, finish the hours, and then obtain my CPA, but I wasn’t in a rush to do so. Thus, I spent a year and ten months at Capco. During the last few months, as I was approaching the two-year mark, I started thinking about my next steps. I started to see all my friends getting their designations and letters, and that’s when I decided it was time to transition back to accounting.
However, before I started applying and looking for an accounting-related position, I decided to try submitting my consulting hours to CPA to see if they would accept it or not. I submitted my hours under the strategy and governance section, since it was a little more vague and hard to achieve. Upon submitting my report was when I got my offer as a Financial Analyst at The Co-operators through a friend referral. I was then stuck in this weird position where there was a possibility my consulting hours would be approved, meaning I wouldn’t need any more hours. At the same time though, there was also a risk that it wouldn’t be approved, and this was a risk that I didn’t want to take. Thus, I took the financial analyst position and went into it thinking that I was going to complete my hours.
It turns out that my consulting hours that I had submitted to CPA ended up qualifying after a few tedious back-and-forths. However, I have no regrets about pursuing the position, as it was a good change of pace with a different company and culture, and allowed me to go more into numbers and financial analysis. Compared to consulting, this was also a position where I was able to leverage my background and technical skills. As for the position itself, there were drastically different types of responsibilities – as an FA, a lot of the responsibilities are in regards to planning and budgeting, monthly analysis for variances, and explaining said variances to business partners.
At the end of the day, I took a very unorthodox pathway to obtain my CPA. I do have a lot of friends who stayed at one firm the entire time in co-op, but it’s important to remember that there isn’t a right path – it’s important to determine what you want to get out of it for yourself. Do you want to explore? Do you want to fast-track? I would encourage people to try different things to learn what they like and don’t like, while expanding their knowledge through different industries and roles.