CPA designation: Gateway to a multi-faceted career

Raveena Mital CPA (Aust.), Principal Consultant at Mazars in India credits her CPA Australia designation for preparing her for a career in management consulting.

Raveena Mital CPA (Aust.) believes being a CPA helps to fast-track your career and reach leadership positions more quickly. 

Mital enrolled in the CPA Program in 2014. “The CPA Program appealed to me because of its global recognition across all Commonwealth countries.”

“With a CPA designation, you are technically qualified in your field, have global exposure and develop great soft skills.” 
Mital is a Juris Doctor (International Taxation) postgraduate from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. 

More than a number cruncher

“As a CPA, something that I find interesting is that you are very, very diverse,” says Mital. “You can adapt to any case or any situation that you are in and it need not be just purely accounting.”

Mital shares that the hands-on, holistic knowledge gained through the course has given her the skills needed to do dynamic roles in her career. 

“I have been able to work in diverse roles, first at a Mumbai startup doing financial modelling and now research and management consulting at Mazars, which is a global accounting and advisory firm.” 

The diverse subjects that Mital studied in the Program were Ethics and Governance, Financial Reporting, Strategic Management Accounting, Advanced Taxation, Global Strategy and Leadership and Contemporary Business Issues. 

Mital says her knowledge about the contemporary business issues, communication skills and global outlook developed as part of the CPA Program is not just applicable in the accounting world but also in other parts of life. 

For example, Mital won Miss Indian International Hong Kong in 2012, Alee Miss India Delhi and was a finalist at Miss Capital of India in 2017. 

“I am a proud CPA who is also affiliated with the fashion and glamour industry,” says Mital. 

CPA Australia places a lot of emphasis on soft skills, not just the technical skills, says Mital who also leads corporate communication initiatives in her current role. 

“As a CPA, we are more than number crunchers,” she says. 

Develop a global perspective 

For Mital, the capstone, Global Strategy and Leadership, was by far the most engaging subject in the CPA Program.

“Providing solutions to a client is not restricted to where a client is based,” says Mital.  “We have to be very mindful of what the external business environment is because most businesses today have international operations and stakeholders across the world.”

Mital, who received a high distinction in four subjects, offers advice to other candidates: “the books and the resources you're getting from CPA Australia are your lifelines.”

She adds, “But you have to understand the concepts and apply your own experiences and prior learnings into what you're reading in the book.”

Know your objective

Today, CPA Australia works with over thirty Recognised Employer Partners in India to provide members with access to learning and development opportunities.

Mital advises prospective candidates looking to attain the CPA designation to know how they want to utilise the designation, whether it is looking to work overseas, improve professional development or find leadership opportunities. 

“A CPA is seen as someone who is like a management consultant, where you are expected to not only know the books of account and financial statements but also management and legal. That's a deadly combination.”

Ankur Malhotra, Director, Mazars in India, says, “For our corporate consulting roles, candidates who have a CPA designation stand out in terms of their technical knowledge and leadership skills. On top of this, we have seen CPA professionals make an added difference in terms of working independently, delivering holistic client engagements and thinking out-of-the-box solutions.”

Open doors to a global network

As a member of CPA Australia, Mital attends networking events and local discussion groups, and she says she meets many interesting people in the global network.

“I feel that we have a very big network we can rely on whenever we need to, which gives us the strength to share our experiences, learn from each other and have access to a lot more opportunities.”

Most of all, Mital says, “Being part of the CPA fraternity gives me access to world-class corporate training to leadership training sessions.”

Join the next Become a CPA online information session  on Saturday 21 November from 11.00 am to 12.30 pm to find out how to become a CPA Australia member like Mital. 

You could also learn about our Mutual Recognition Agreement  with ICAI.