ITB December 2024/January 2025 - Magazine - Page 37
What attracted you to the accounting profession?
I started studying marketing when I first entered university, but my father,
who was an accountant, encouraged me to try accounting subjects.
Although I was not too excited about it at first, my first accounting lecturer
was incredibly humorous and had a great way of connecting with people,
which made me really enjoy it.
MASHUK TAHER ASA
After moving to Australia
from Bangladesh in
2009 with a scholarship
to study business at
the University of South
Australia, Mashuk Taher
joined food and beverage
company Cucina Classica.
Fast forward 15 years,
and he is now CFO.
How do you think the profession should evolve and what needs to change?
Ethics is a big issue for the industry, so I think accountants need to work
within a strong ethical framework. I also think that accountants need to take
more time to really understand their clients’ business and the industry they
are working in, so they can provide more informed and valuable advice.
What are the obstacles and opportunities of the profession?
I think accountants need to embrace technology or it will become an obstacle
in their career.
Sustainability presents a huge opportunity, and I think accountants will
be expected to understand sustainability accounting in the future.
How do you see your career evolving?
I am focusing on building my leadership and technical skills, and I aim
to leverage my financial skills to contribute to the broader strategic
direction of a business. This includes influencing decisions across multiple
areas of business.
What attracted you to the profession?
When I started my business degree, I thought about areas like project
management, but I had an amazing accounting lecturer and I think that was
what really got me interested.
How do you think the profession should evolve and what needs to change?
I think we will need more experienced accountants to mentor and provide
knowledge in different ways, because technology is replacing the low-level
accounting tasks that have helped juniors to learn the basics.
FELICITY SCOTT ASA
A principal management
accountant at Fortescue
in Western Australia
and a member of CPA
Australia’s Resources
and Energy committee,
Felicity Scott thinks
accountants should look
beyond the bottom line
when providing business
support.
What are the obstacles and opportunities of the profession?
The perception of accounting needs to change. I still get eye rolls from
people when I say I am an accountant and they are like, “Oh, can you help
with my tax?” We need to find ways for the industry to collaborate with more
educational institutions and get professionals to teach classes, so they can
inspire people to think about the possibilities of a career in accounting.
I think accountants can become the gatekeepers of data and analyse it
to help businesses make important decisions. It is not always about the
bottom line — it is about using data ethically and providing business support
and guidance in an ethical way.
How do you see your career evolving?
I stepped into the corporate world this year after working in smaller
companies that provide support services to the mining industry. I would love
to step into a CFO role one day. I love the business strategy space and being
able to tell a story with the numbers.
CAREERS intheblack.cpaaustralia.com.au 37
