Global money maestros: Indian chartered accountants are increasingly making their mark in the mean money game

The map is not the sea, say sailors. The accounts are not the business, say CEOs. The beans are not the buzz, say marketers. But the world cannot do without maps, accounts and beancounters. So if it's part of your work routine to precision-check, double-check and reference-code-check every little entry in the books that come under your magnifying lens, spare yourself a few relaxed seconds of renewed reassurance. Your skills, as certified by The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), are in demand. Worldwide. You're in for some big money.

Ink Wanted: Red Or Alive

Good old chartered accountancy (ca), in particular, has rarely been so promising as a profession. Ask employees of the world's 'Big Four' firms: namely, Deloitte & Touche, Ernst & Young (E&Y), KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Amarendra Mehendale, 31, for one, is still getting over his good fortune. Walking along Oxford Street on a Sunday afternoon, this manager with KPMG India's Advisory Practice, recalls how he was whisked off from Delhi to the London office at a moment's notice, a couple of months ago, to plug an accountancy gap for a project there. In all, KPMG has packed 100 young CAS off to London, and it's not alone. Its rival E&Y has relocated some 150. It started as a trickle a year ago, and now has the makings of a barrage. "From being an old-fashioned chap in a staid industry, the perception of my job has changed," muses Mehendale, over the phone. "It is far more 'happening' now."

The trend has been picked up at the ICAI too, which is watching the 8,000-odd accountants it annually bestows its ca qualification on, get snapped up like never before. A spokesperson calls it the twin upshot of "a booming economy and the need to put compliance- oriented mechanism in place".

The 2002-03 downsizing undertaken by some accounting firms has not only been reversed, accountancy is also gaining from a secular upswing of the long-term trend. What's more, cooked-book-phobia is becoming a global phenomenon, post-Enron and Sarbanes-Oxley, and if there's a huge skill export opportunity for India, it's here. Number watching, globally, is now a matter of wilful corporate governance as much as mandatory requirement. Indians, says Denis Reynolds, Partner, KPMG, UK, have proven their competence. "Strong education, powerful work ethic and cultural values of Indians make them a preferred choice when it comes to recruiting for global assignments," he affirms.

The role has expanded, too. "There is a high degree of work that accounting firms are expected to do now, a detailed look at the financial statement being just one of them," says Rajiv Memani, CEO, E&Y India. Udit Aggarwal, a senior consultant with E&Y now at the New York office, is all too excited with the global exposure he is getting. "The challenge of simultaneously handling clients in different countries, cutting across work environments, cultures and time zones is an all-new experience," he beams.

Crunching Numbers

But does India have enough qualified CAS to meet global needs? India has an estimated 130,000 practicing CAS, while the UK alone has about 280,000. Most firms blame the ICAI for this strictured supply. The institute's regulations are so tight that a candidate is eligible for final examination only after a three-year 'articleship' training period. Of all those who take the test, barely 3 per cent make it, and the total numbers have not been rising despite the demand growth. Naturally, people accuse the ICAI of running an exclusive club more than a skill-supply system.

Employment opportunities, meanwhile, are multiplying in new ways. A vast field that has just opened up is that of business process outsourcing (BPO) where the process is accounting. This fledgling industry has started to attract CAS too. Does this bother the Big Four? No, says Ian Gomes, Country Managing Director, KPMG India. "The big firms are into high-end accounting jobs," he says. "We leverage our brand name through advisory role and command premiere pricing." Reckons Memani, "Unlike BPOs, with very focussed jobs, we review processes and technology, besides internal audits and due diligence." In fact, suggests Roopen Roy, MD, PricewaterhouseCoopers, "BPOs do not always require fully-qualified accountants, so nasscom and ICAI can together certify and train people who have cleared their intermediate exams, and are fit for this industry."

That's not something that Pankaj Vaish, Head, Accenture BPO, agrees with. According to him, BPO units do important work and are stealing young CAS away from the old firms on the lure of "the opportunity to work as a global player, address global needs and challenges, and also acquire people management skills".

Well, enhanced competition for scarce talent can only mean one thing: rising remuneration. Globalisation is playing a catalyst. According to the ICAI, free trade in services-starting April 2005-should blast open new opportunities. The institute, on its part, is updating the curriculum to global demand. By the current count, over 250,000 students are registered with ICAI for a shot at gaining the prized qualification. Some of them are headed big.

Samsung's Goel: Soul keeper

SPOTLIGHT
Company Secretaries

If you want to draw a fat packet and still be hailed as a 'corporate conscience keeper', try becoming a company secretary (CS). Any firm with a paid-up capital of Rs 2 crore or more must have a CS, qualified by the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI), which trains you in corporate law and much else. There are just 19,000 of this tribe in the country. "That's because not many qualify," says Sunil K. Goel, VP (Finance) & CS, Samsung India Electronics, adding, "A standalone CS is not enough; a law and a chartered accountant degree is an asset." Your job: seeing that the company adheres to all the rules. Pay: starts at around Rs 30,000 per month, rising to six digits. The CEO may not like your looking over his shoulder all the time, and you could find yourself a ping-pong ball between the board and shareholders. But you could get the CEO's job some day, too.

-Payal Sethi

COUNSELLING
Help, Tarun!

I have been self-employed as an independent marketing consultant for the last 10 years. For 15 years prior to that, I held senior marketing positions with multinational firms and spearheaded campaigns for many well-known brands. While self-employment does have its charms, I am now craving to go back to a work environment with lots of people around. My accomplishments as a consultant are significant, but recruiters won't touch me, and headhunters say that I am overqualified. I have tried to communicate that I am a serious candidate who wants to make a long-term commitment. Please help.

It is difficult to make a reverse change in the consulting business, and even more so if you have been out on your own and not worked with a big name. Given your experience in marketing, you could consider advertising as an option. If your consultation work involved market research, advertising could provide you with good opportunities. For other jobs in marketing, sales or the like, target medium- or small-sized companies. As you have been into consulting for a considerable while, this is the time to leverage any clout that you may have had with your clients. It could be that one of them gets interested in employing you.

I am a 36-year-old MBA working as a manager with a leading player in the tourism industry. The problem is that despite all the hard work that my team and I put in, the management refuses to recognise our efforts. Ergo, I feel it's time for me to move on. With 10 years of experience in the travel trade and three years in the media, and an additional diploma in sales and marketing, what are the options open to me except hardcore sales and marketing?

You need to introspect a bit before you start looking for a job. Do you want a cushy job, something offbeat to do or do you want to be in the services sector? If you do not want to get into sales, look at the travel trade, hospitality or event management sectors. You have the qualifications and the experience. However, wherever you go, you will have to start afresh. Recognition doesn't come easy and it is not necessary that your efforts will be immediately lauded in the new company. You will have to work to prove yourself in terms of skill and value.

I hold a BE (computer science) degree and am working with a UK-based mobile phone company. Before this, I worked for two years as a software engineer (embedded systems) with an MNC in Noida. I recently got an offer from a US-based company in the same field. However, I am apprehensive of accepting it despite having been offered excellent remuneration since I am in the dark about work ethics in the US. Also, I do not know whether a stint in the US would be more fruitful in the long run compared to my present job in the UK. Please advise.

It is natural to be apprehensive about relocating to another country. However, that should not prevent you from taking up an offer if it enhances your career. A stint in the US will definitely add value, especially if the assignment you are going for is comparable or better than the present one. Since you already work with a UK-based firm, a stint at an American company would surely give your resume a boost. As far as compensation is concerned, look at it in the context of the cost of living there. Depending on the location in the US, the cost of living can vary drastically. As for work ethics, there are probably fewer holidays in the US than there are in the UK.

I am a 26-year-old mechanical engineering diploma holder working with a BPO in its technical support team for the past two years. Right from the beginning, I felt that I was overqualified for the job. So I applied to a few engineering concerns. But the ones that responded clearly considered me a fresher, giving little importance to my experience in the BPO. How do I convey the worth of my experience to them or to potential employers, or conversely, get a better deal in the BPO?

Do remember that you have a diploma and not a degree in engineering, which might be the bigger reason for your not being considered for engineering jobs. Apply to medium-sized companies and go in for additional qualifications in management or in software. You could then look at a completely different set of jobs. In your current organisation, you could try getting transferred to a division where you know there is growth and opportunity. That might take you away from your engineering background, but it might not be a bad thing.

Answers to your career concerns are contributed by Tarun Sheth (Senior Consultant) and Shilpa Sheth (Managing Partner, US practice) of HR firm, Shilputsi Consultants. Write to Help,Tarun! c/o Business Today, Videocon Tower, Fifth Floor, E-1, Jhandewalan Extn., New Delhi-110055..

Remote Refinement
Education outsourcing approaches critical mass.

Virtual education: Remote-testing the textbook

Remote testing has been around for years, but now education is getting serious about actual two-way learning-done across oceans. A teacher in Okhla or Gurgaon could actually engage students in the United States or the United Kingdom in more than just a superficial manner. Light e-interactivity has been around, but this is about linking the most thoughtful parts of the mind. Possible?

Yes, says Career Launcher, which began with it in March 2004, and has some 100 teachers in India working on students in the US and the UAE. Technology has enabled a high degree of personalised interactivity. Flexibility, too. "A particular teacher could be teaching the same thing to students from different grades at one time," explains Anirudh Phadke, who teaches us students (this job requires special voice training too). The UAE students are used to 'classroom' addressals rather than individual attention. "The business is nascent in India," says Satya Naraynan, Chairman, Career Launcher, "but there is tremendous potential, especially in India itself at the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and MBA levels."

-Amanpreet Singh

Domestic Domicile
Why firms are letting people work right at home.

Accenture's Rekha Menon: Home is where work is

Don't tsk-tsk Rekha Menon, head, geographic Services, Accenture, for having to work till about 10 at night every now and then. She is responsible for strategic planning, hr and recruitment across all of Accenture India's local businesses, and, as she says, "I am going to be working from home." It's part of the firm's flexiwork initiative designed to maximise utility all around, be it the business or people's own lives.

Secure telecom technologies are enabling the remote execution even of high-end jobs that involve sensitive data. And with information so well-digitised, Menon just has to log on and get cracking. Of course, some parts require 'face time' with colleagues, clients and so on, for which she has to check into office once in a while.

While employee satisfaction is the idea at Accenture, a similar initiative at Hyderabad-based HyperSoft Technologies is looking at crushing costs. "Making people work from home saves the trouble of transport, food and other infrastructure," says Dadi Bhote, Executive Director, HyperSoft. In an efficiently-mature firm, people are paid for generating value, not warming seats.

-Supriya Shrinate