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Interview with a CPA who has received numerous noteworthy honours!

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Recently, CPA Zachary Huxley received a doctoral scholarship from the CPA Foundation, his 5th Foundation scholarship during his academic career.

As an enthusiastic teacher and professional, he hopes to share his love of the profession with future CPAs and continue his academic research at the highest levels.

What made you want to go through the process of acquiring the CPA designation?

It’s a bit of a mystery to me! While at secondary school, I enrolled in a DEC-BAC program in accounting sciences because at the time, I was drawn to the intensiveness of the program and the possibility of quickly entering the business world. I made the right choice; I soon realized that I wanted a career in accounting. I then set the CPA designation as my goal, so that I would be able to choose a field of expertise in line with my interests.

If you had to pick out one specific thing that the CPA designation has given you, what would it be…?

You often hear that the CPA designation opens the doors to many different careers, and that's very true! In a few years, I could have worked as an auditor and then switched to another field to develop expertise in business valuation. Right now, I am pursuing an academic career. The opportunity to choose an exciting career from the wide range of possibilities is definitely one of the designation’s strong suits.

Early in your academic career, you received a CEGEP scholarship from the CPA Foundation. Did you ever think that you would go as far as you have in your academic and professional career after receiving that first scholarship?

When I received the CEGEP scholarship, I had already decided that I wanted to become a CPA. For me, acquiring the CPA designation was the final step in preparing for a career of accomplishments. So, I never thought that I would go so far as to pursue doctoral studies in accounting!

You made it all the way to the doctoral level and even received your 5th Foundation scholarship, a doctoral scholarship. What will this scholarship help you achieve?

For me, the doctoral scholarship is a sign of the Foundation’s confidence. It lets me focus all my attention on my doctoral studies and encourages me to excel in my goal of making a constructive contribution to accounting research. When I'm finished with my doctoral studies, I am convinced that they – and by extension the Foundation’s support – will enable me to provide a more comprehensive education to tomorrow’s CPAs by developing their critical thinking, their professional judgement and their desire to expand accounting knowledge. In my opinion, these are the three keys to a changing profession.

Throughout your career, you have received support from the Foundation. What obstacles have these scholarships helped you overcome when studying for the CPA designation?

There is no question that the CPA Foundation’s scholarships have contributed to my academic development. While studying, I have worked part time to gain work experience. The Foundation's scholarships have allowed me to strike a healthy balance between the necessity of working to cover my needs and the time I can devote to my studies. If I hadn’t received support from the Foundation, I would have never been able to finish my studies without going into debt – and I will always be grateful for that.

Now that you are training the next generation of CPAs as a teacher, what is your best advice for future CPAs?

In my opinion, it is essential for future CPAs to keep an open mind. Even though the profession will inevitably continue to change, professionals who are fluent in the language of business and have developed parallel expertise, whether it is in corporate and environmental responsibility, information technology or some other area, will always be in demand. An interest in a specific field combined with accounting expertise offers many attractive job prospects.

How important is the donors’ support to the next generation? What does their support help students accomplish?

Donors’ support is absolutely essential to ensure a high-quality future generation of accounting professionals. When the job market is very favourable, students have a multitude of career choices available to them. By encouraging students to keep studying accounting until they acquire the CPA designation and beyond, donors make the profession look even more attractive and draw candidates who can increase its visibility.

What are your future challenges or plans?

Obviously, my biggest challenge for the moment is to finish my doctoral studies. Very soon, I plan to present my first research projects at an international academic conference. I will then begin another research project to finish my thesis. When teaching, I will continue to develop my pedagogical material by incorporating the latest developments in accounting research to create a more in-depth and instructive learning experience for future generations of CPAs.