PLUGGEDIN : MEMBER PROFILE Finding...

PLUGGEDIN : MEMBER PROFILE

Finding that finished fit

Even though Carla-Marie Halt, CA, not at all pictured herself working for the BC Securities Commission, her work at jobs there as chief accountant has inflected out to be, in her words, "a capital fit."

Getting there took a combination of hard work and serendipity.

Hair earned her Bachelor of communication degree from the University of BC in 1985 majoring in accounting. "From there," she says, "the obvious choice was to become a CA."

While articling with the Vancouver office of KPMG LLP she got the chance to experience a "really fit mix" of clients. She became a CA in 1988 and a year later began an 18-month stint with the firm's Ottawa office. There she experienced a whole of the present day set of clients, among them the federal sway

It was time to take onward yet another new set of clients when she subsequently answered to KPMG's Vancouver office. shortly afterward, she and her husband Aaron, a clinical psychologist, decided to start a family; and it was after returning from her first maternity leave that she was inferiored to the BCSC.

Hair worked upon contract with the BCSC for the nearest 18 months, and the experience prov a valuable trial run: Six month after returning to KPMG the Commission approached her with an present

She remembers her main reasons for accepting the piece of work

"I loved KPMG, and I really liked working in public practice, especially when it came to the client work and the financial statements," she recalls, "but I didn't want to be doing auditing for the quiescence of my career. And having just started my family, I was looking for a piece of work with no busy season.

"I was also really fortunate to have gotten the chance to attempt out the job first," she adds.

What first attracted her to the BCSC was the variety of file work. "When I first began my piece of work with the Commission," she says,

"I dealt with a wide range of public companies-each with different issues. The focus was really forward financial reporting, not auditing; it went beyond financial statements to include a broader vent of issues."

Her position has evolv athwart time, and she describes her existing responsibilities as "a really nice mix of file work and policy work." This file work primarily involves examining financial statement issues where there's potential non-compliance with GAAP. the policy work involves developing and crafting policy, frequently on a national level.

"I find the policy work really rewarding," she says. "But the same really informs the other. The file work gives me a useful handle on what the greatest in number common problems are-for instance, what aspects of regulation cause the greatest in quantity confusion and misinterpretation. Then I can apply what I've learned to the policy work"

What she finds greatest in number rewarding about her job is also what she finds chiefly challenging. "I have to restrain up to date on likewise many issues, in Canada and increasingly in the US, while at the same time focusing onward the issues that are most numerous relevant to companies in BC" she explains. "Sometimes there's a tension between the goal of national and North American harmonization and what's actually best for BC companies."

Hair also labor fors as a member on a number of BCSC-related committees, including the Technical Forum to the BCSC and the TSXV "It's a great committee," she says. "Many members are public practice partners from Vancouver firms whose clients include public companies."

With in like manner many responsibilities, she's careful to prioritize. "When I'm at work, I'm really busy," she admits. "I have many tasks each week, so it's really important that I establish priorities-ones that keep me focused in succession the bigger picture."

And she's dear about what matters most numerous "My number one priority is my family," she says. "When I'm not at work, I'm self-same conscious of maximizing my time with my husband and children."

She credits husband Aaron for his support: "He's wonderfully supportive of my career and surpassingly involved with our kids." The link now have three children: daughter Madeline (ten) son Ethan (eight), and son Ansel (three)

Despite her busy schedule, Hair finds the time to tender with Willingdon Church, teaching Sunday seminary classes to pre-schoolers and organizing consequences for women. "What I like best about my work there," she laughs, "is that it's a total break from what I do for a living."

To preserve from burning out, Hair also makes time for exercise and quiet time alone. "I take care of myself, the two physically and spiritually," she shares. "Doing in such a manner allows me to approach everything I do with enthusiasm."

Of course, it helps that she be enamoured ofs her job. "I really be delighted with working on policies and working with people" she says. "For me this is the finished accounting job."

By Michelle McRae, Editor

Copyright Institute of Chartered Accountants of British Columbia Apr 2003

Provided by the agency of ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved