Not-so-secret diary of a CPA (part III)


I was having a seven course lunch at the Marina Mandarin Hotel on 18 April 2009 courtesy of my $160 (including cost of Members’ Handbook CD-ROM containing FRS etc) annual subscription fee and noted that it was the largest gathering of Certified Public Accountants (CPA) in Singapore.
The 520 people there comprised of aspiring CPAs who [...]

Not-so-secret Diary of a CPA (part IV)


Tools of the Trade
Every professional worth his salt will have to be equipped with the tools of his trade. As a non-practicing Certified Public Accountant (CPA), what are the tools of my trade?
Over my 15 years of doing external, internal and IT audit, I’ve realised that the following tools are very useful for any aspiring [...]

Not-so-secret diary of a CPA (part IV)


Tools of the Trade
Every professional worth his salt will have to be equipped with the tools of his trade. As a non-practicing Certified Public Accountant (CPA), what are the tools of my trade?
Over my 15 years of doing external, internal and IT audit, I’ve realised that the following tools are very useful for any aspiring [...]

Not-so-secret Diary of a CPA (part V)


What is your stereotypical view of a Certified Public Accountant?
Someone who is meticulous in figures? Likes to dot every ‘i’ and cross every ‘t’? Someone who is obsessed in ensuring that debits = credits?
Or is the accountant someone who has every won a table-topics trophy at the division level, who has spoken at more than [...]

Not-so-secret Diary of a CPA: (Part VI) CAATs other other beasts


One of the areas that I encountered in my career as an auditor is this animal know as CAATS. It’s not the meow-meow animal we all know and love but CAATs is an acronym to refer to Computer-assisted audit techiques or audit tools.