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Dec 23, 2017
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judr6tnfjrtjtrdjdtrj

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Last edited by CleverFelr on Dec 24th, 2017 4:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Nov 2, 2013
5697 posts
1522 upvotes
Edmonton, AB
Most worthwhile accounting firms require a CPA, especially given how many wanna-be and actual accountants there are out there now. The field is extremely saturated and accounting by itself is not worth very much. Accounting is the most popular business specialization, and business is the second most popular degree next to the BA. Getting the CPA is what you'll need to do at least, so you'd need to fulfill the Bachelor's degree requirement (you didn't specify whether you're getting just a diploma, or the degree), and then find a firm to train up with to fulfill the work experience requirement of the CPA.

The big universities' degrees are much more generalized than BCIT's programs; most of the courses you'll take have nothing to do with accounting. For instance, Sauder's BCOMM is 1/2 electives, and only 5 accounting courses aside from the 2 beginner 'intro' financial and managerial accounting courses. Sauder has the biggest name and occasionally attracts the Big 5 at its hiring fairs such as RBC Capital Markets, but that more sought-after work are hyper-competitive. BCIT is known for its more practical, real-life, job-focused training, as well as Kwantlen.

SFU is known for its good co-op program where you can get some useful work experience to put on your resume, as well as gain some connections. Unsure about BCIT's program or Kwantlen's.

A "business" degree itself is very generalized and will train you very little in true "accounting"; most of that will come with experience. I've met some accounting grads who did not know what CCA was, that mortgage interest was tax deductible, and how to do basic financial math such as calculating the contribution to the principal in loan payments; the guy said: "in the first 10 years or so, in your mortgage you're just paying interest"... now how do you think a hiring person in an accounting firm would react to such a statement?

Also, you do NOT require an accounting degree to become an accountant or CPA; the latter requires only a Bachelor's degree to begin the program.

In the end your degree/credential just becomes one phrase on your resume and one checkbox on a hiring person's long list of requirements for a potential candidate. Most seasoned skilled accountants with a solid reputation end up opening their own firms - whether accounting or some sort of consulting - or they end up in a managerial role where they are not accountants, but their experience and skills helps the organization increase its profits. The ones who do business on their own make their coin from their results and reputation, that are spread by word of mouth. The industry does not want more robots who are a human version of tax software, CRA reference book, and financial statement procedure reference book. It wants those who can be creative and help client(s) increase profits, give the shareholder public what it wants to see, and/or save them from the CRA.

Lastly, you should ask yourself if you really want to be an accountant - is that going to make you happy? In today's age if you're just looking to make a good living as an avenue to obtaining the life that makes you happy, factoring in opportunity costs of lost income from all the years of school and low salaries, plus the tuition costs, there is a lengthy list of more economically efficient ways to achieve that goal.
Accountant (Public Practice)
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Dec 7, 2017
24 posts
15 upvotes
Is BCIT a good school to study accounting? Do the grads receive offers from public firms?
First, if you want to go for your CPA, which is full of highly competitive people, you should research this. Most CPAs I know would have done the quick 5 minute LinkedIn search to find that BCIT has many grads at public firms. Or to find out how many Kwantlen places.

Secondly, every fresh accounting grad in their 20s in Canada who have never really held a full time job want to work for "the big 4" no different than how almost every law grad in the U.S. wants to work at a big firm. Working for a Big 4 firm is highly competitive in Canada (similar to how working at a big law firm is highly competitive in the U.S.), because as FirstGear mentioned the field is extremely saturated in Canada. In a country where industries like tech, law, insurance, and private medicine is lacking, you really only have 2 consistent white-collar industries: finance/banking and accounting.

So, basically every business, arts or science major has a thought of getting their CFA or CPA just like you, hoping to work for "even the big 4" or a bank. Regardless of where you go, it'll be competitive.

To answer your question about BCIT vs KPU, personally I would attend BCIT because:

BCIT has a better overall reputation as a school. They're known for extremely efficient programs, especially in the technical fields. They place a lot of their graduates at really prestigious companies (accounting firms, Amazon, Microsoft). A lot of UBC and SFU grads end up there to get a 2nd degree because they couldn't with their first. The downside to this is BCIT can be a lot more competitive than people think. Also, since BCIT programs are so "efficient", other universities may not allow your credits to transfer or may not recognize them at all. This may not be a problem now, but you may have trouble getting into law or MBA programs or grad school, if this matters to you one day in the future. However, transferring shouldn't be a problem within the province -- however, I would make sure with advisors.

KPU is more traditional and has more students interested in transferring People who go to BCIT don't usually transfer, they're there to finish their degree and finish it quick. So at KPU, your credits should transfer easier if you ever move out of province. Because KPU is known as more of a transfer school and have a high % of their student population attending out of high school with transferring to UBC/SFU in mind, their reputation isn't as good. The upside is, competition won't be as stiff. So you'll very likely have easier classes and come out with a high GPA -- super important to big accounting firms in Canada. For instance, if you come out of UBC or SFU with below average grades, you won't be able to even get past screening at big accounting firms. If you come out of KPU or BCIT with great grades, you'll still have a chance.

The vibes of the school are very different too. BCIT will have a lot of adult students and part-time students, way more people aged 30+. KPU will have more 18-20 year olds.
Deal Addict
Oct 18, 2014
2050 posts
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HK
Aim high and go for UBC.

If you aim low, so should your expectations in terms of a career/success.
Deal Addict
Feb 14, 2016
1832 posts
1223 upvotes
CPA here from a small school; my 2 cents

Odds r, its 100x harder to get into big 4 or any decent sized firms and 10x times harder to get a job in industry in accounting related field than getting into or doing a university crse in ubc or uoft of any of top universities in Canada
Embrace for shock if u think getting into school or university is hard..

Only advice I can give is coop coop coop... experience is king

Getting a decent job without going to good school is possible but getting a decent job without relevant exp is near impossible

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