Accountant clearly confused about her pay

In the banking sector, the management structure is flat and straight forward. No one bothers you as long as you do your job and you are competent. It’s about being forward thinking and solution orientated, getting the work done within requirements and in the most efficient way possible. It’s about the outcome rather than the process.

Accounting is the opposite. The structure is very hierarchical and you get constantly reminded of your lack of importance when you start out. That is until they need you for something. When I interviewed for my current job, I left nothing out, and included all my previous qualifications, some of which had lapsed accreditation. These went hand in hand with the experience on my CV, not to mention my capabilities: aka the balance between work and study.

A few months ago I had to prepare my half-yearly review, including milestones etc. As it was a templated firm-wide form, one of the questions was: “What are you doing to fulfill your my CPE requirements?” I had completely forgotten about this component of my professional life.

I blindly wrote my previous stock answer; namely to do as much training as I could to get up my CPE hours. But during my review I was virtually mocked because I hadn’t realised that, not being CPA/CA qualified, I had no obligation to fulfill this requirement.

I was, however, questioned about how I even knew about the CPE obligations. I explained that I had to fulfill them during previous roles. My reviewers (who didn’t originally interview me and hence didn’t know my background) told me I should have tooted my own horn earlier around the office and announced my qualifications everyone.

Damned if you do…

I realised then that in accounting, you can’t win. If you try to engage and use your skills, you get put in your place. If you keep quiet, you don’t sell yourself enough. Anyway, I grabbed the opportunity and said that because I was an under-utilised resource, I would like do more to help to grow the business.

A week later my manager followed up with me advising that I actually had different CPE requirements to others in my position. This prompted me to make an appointment with my doctor regarding my chronic foot-in-mouth problem. It hadn’t even crossed my mind that I wouldn’t still be accredited, but of course, if you don’t fulfill the CPE requirements, at some stage you lose your accreditation. I madly tried to check status of my qualifications to see where I stood, but have I over promised and under delivered?

This brings me to the issue: when I previously applied for jobs, should I have included all my accreditations on my CV? And what about those colleagues who couldn’t find work for a few months during the GFC and hence were unable to fulfill this requirement? Should such qualifications still remain on their CVs if, through expired accreditation, they are no longer valid?

I recently meet a friend who is thinking of returning to financial planning after having two children. She said her DFP studies are currently worthless because she took this time out, despite having experience in a number of financial institutions. Is there any way around this? Let me know in the comments box below.

The Inbetweener is a financial services employee in Australia. The views expressed in this blog are hers and not those of eFinancialCareers.