CPABC in Focus November/December 2014 | Page 23

The Next Generation Needs Your Expertise Pre-approved mentors Each candidate enrolled in the Pre-Approved Program (PAP) has a mentor assigned by their employer. There are 203 mentors registered in the program, but many of them are mentoring multiple candidates, as roughly 300 mentors are actually needed for students currently enrolled in the PEP program. The program would benefit by having additional mentors to meet its existing requirements, and we expect that as many as 750 could be needed to meet future ones. Experience verification mentors Candidates in the Experience Verification (EV) path are responsible for finding their own mentors. Since the majority of growth in the profession is expected to come from this training pathway, there is an urgent need to find mentors who are open to working with any suitable candidates. Roughly 250 mentors are needed for EV candidates currently enrolled in the PEP program, and we currently have 439 EV mentors registered in BC. But while our current needs are being met, we anticipate requiring as many as 1,400 EV mentors in the near future. studiovision/iStock/Thinkstock As explained in the accompanying article on BC’s labour market needs for professional accountants, CPABC needs to focus significant efforts on growing the profession. In order to fill the positions created by economic growth and attrition (due to the number of CPAs who will be retiring), the new CPA PEP program will need to attract more students than the combined legacy programs previously accommodated; in turn, this will require a significant increase in the number of CPA mentors—members in good standing who will guide aspiring CPAs in achieving the required competencies, with a focus on developing the essential skills for ethical behaviour, decision-making, problem-solving, communication, and leadership. In upcoming issues of the magazine, we’ll provide updates on our progress in meeting the objective of securing enough mentors to meet the needs of candidates in the CPA program. Required CPA Mentors 1600 1400 1200 1000 800 600 400 200 In the near future, as many as 750 and 1,400 mentors could be needed for the Pre-Approved Program and the Experience Verification path, respectively. Find out more The number of mentors needed is directly linked to growth of the program, which we expect to be substantial. The above numbers basically allow us to meet our present needs, but we must continue to grow in order to meet the future needs of the profession. For more information about the mentoring program and/or to register as a mentor, please visit bccpa.ca. 0 PAP EV Current Needs Future Needs (12-24 months) Orange line indicates current number of registered mentors. ”Future needs” figures will be lower if mentors take on more than one candidate. CPABC in Focus • Nov/Dec 2014  23