hip Delivers Local
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route by becoming a Pre-Approved Training Office or
having our candidates follow the experience verification
route, we decided that becoming a Pre-Approved Training
Office was the best choice for our organization, allowing
us to attract the top talent in Vancouver. A number
of other reasons also compelled us to become a PreApproved Training Office. First, we currently
have two employees who are in the process of
earning their CPA designations whom we can
now better support. Second, we gained a greater
understanding of how the process of training CPA
candidates has changed. And third, it’s a great
way for Methanex to support the accounting
profession in BC.
Putting the program together to meet CPA’s
criteria wasn’t difficult. Because Methanex is
a public company with established financial
reporting, treasury, tax, and internal audit
departments, it was simple to create a path
that provides candidates with exposure to the
competencies they require to obtain their CPA
designation. Through the pre-approved program
route, we believe our CPA candidates will have an
incredible opportunity to gain experience in our
business while learning the basics of accounting,
tax, and finance needed to obtain their CPA
designation. The CPA candidates’ experience and
new accounting and business skills will provide
them with the platform for a long and successful
career with us. It’s a really exciting opportunity for
our organization and our CPA candidates.
We have recently completed the process of
becoming a CPA Pre-Approved Training Office
and have just hired our first candidate. During
the process, we had amazing support from our
Pre-Approved Program Liaison, Harp Bagri, CPA,
CA. He walked us through the process, explained the
steps in detail, and then came to our office and walked us
through an example of the program. Once we had drafted
our program, he reviewed it, and helped us with the final
edits. The entire process took about six weeks to complete.
The career paths for CPAs at Methanex are very broad and
have the potential to take them into non-finance roles and
to travel all over the world. Here are just a few examples.
Through his career at Methanex, Mike Herz, CPA, CA, our
senior vice president, corporate development, has held
roles in finance, corporate development, and marketing.
Vince Tong, CPA, CA, Jason Chesko, CPA, CA, and Rich
Sumner, CPA, CA, all work in operational roles in supply
chain in Vancouver. Brad Boyd, CPA, CA, started his career
on the Vancouver finance team and is currently working as
vice president, finance and business integration in Egypt.
Dean Richardson, CPA, CA, worked his way up through
our finance team, spent three years in our Brussels office
as manager, finance and is now director, treasury and
corporate finance in our corporate office in Vancouver.
Fred Lee, CPA, CA, who is a manager, financial analysis
and tax reporting in Vancouver, has just accepted a ro