Event: Special Interest Group Panel
Date: March 7, 2018
Interest Group VPs:
Ka Lok (Lois) Chow – ACFE VP
Elvin Paik – IIA VP
Sunny Sharma – IMA VP
Katherine Diep – ISACA VP
Panelists:
Representing ACFE - OC Chapter:
Kim Chatani, CPA, CFE, CISA, FCPA, CGMA, CFSA
Gabriela Colden, MBA, CFE
Representing IIA - OC Chapter:
Raj Sawhney, Director of IT Audit at Focal Point, MS, MBA
Representing IMA - OC Chapter:
Clyde W. Sleigh II, MBA, CPA, CMI, CMA
Representing ISACA - OC Chapter:
Chris Thompson, Risk Assurance Director at PwC, CISA, CIA
Kim Chatani:
Vice President of ACFE
Was previously an audit partner at Arthur Anderson in Chicago
He left before the firm went under
Was also a consultant at KPMG
Currently he serves as:
Audit committee chair of a bank
Teaches at UCI
Says students interested in joining forensic accounting should actually join public accounting first to get exposure to clients, companies, and see how they operate
Accounts like receivables, inventory, and sales are more common to have fraud take place
These accounts directly affect the bottom line of the company
Getting exposure to companies at a CPA firm will help give people experience and interest in forensic accounting
Cyber security is one of the biggest trends, and threats, in accounting
This threatens actual people and clients
Hacks have the potential to wreak havoc on financial markets and individual companies
Cyber is just another form of fraud
Cloud is another trend that people need to focus on
This is another potential way for fraud to occur and is a giant threat
Advice to students:
"You need to network even when you don't think you need to network."
"Don't burn bridges."
Gabriela Colden:
President of ACFE
Founder of the Arch 360 group
A consulting firm focusing on the financial industry
Was previously a partner at a consulting firm in ChicagoStarted college as a Financial Engineering major in Europe, but when she moved to the United States she pursued a MBA in Finance
Joined a committee on foreign relations, and this is where she met professionals at a consulting firm where she ended up working at
She was exposed fraud examining here and was inspired to pursue her career as a fraud examiner
After moving to California, she decided to find a consulting firm four years ago using her expertise in fraud, finance, and business
Advises students to:
Ask yourselves if this job is really what you want to do
"Your choosing not only a job, but a career" - Gabriela
Raj Sawhney:
Director of IT Audit at Focal Point
Previously worked at Deloitte and KPMG consulting
A lot of the work he does is focused on the finance and operations side of businesses as
"This line of business gives you the best of both worlds, because I'm exposed to the IT side and operations side of a business" - Raj
Started at Edison working consulting, then moved to Deloitte
He wanted to get as much experience as he could before moving from a private company to a public firm
"The experience you get at the big four really stays with you." - Raj
Now he has his own consulting practice where he consults with clients he used to work with at public accounting firms, but works for a private company
Recommends taking basic courses about how IT security works (ERM), or how applications are developed, will give students a huge leg up
Technology is becoming more important in day to day lives of people in the accounting industry
CASP - Security engineer certification that gives you experience with firewall building
$6.76 Billion associated to IT fraud last year
"That number will probably grow this year." - Raj
Because everything is done online, and things are moved to the cloud, individuals are no longer restricted by boarders to commit fraud, only experience
If the criminals are more experienced then the cybersecurity team at a company, there is a huge risk of the company being threatened
Advice to students:
Add value
Its different depending on which company/department
Know the politics of the organization
If you can't gather people to support you, then you won't make it far in the organization
Clyde Sleigh:
CSUF Alumni (Class of 83)
Pursued an MBA at CSUF too (Class of 89)
Previously worked at
Arthur Anderson
PwC
Was an advisor to the California BOE after working at PwC
The target group for the IMA is for CFOs, Controllers, and cost accountants were in the same range of professionals he wanted to network and work with
This is why he pursued and got involved with IMA
Also, he had a very good cost accounting professor at CSUF who inspired him to get more involved in IMA
IBM and Maersk is developing a third company which is creating new ways to monitor how to ship products across the world
Recommends students who have a major or minor in marketing and graphic design to pursue a career in the accounting industry because they're actually in high demand
Smart Contracts
Advice to students:
Make time for yourself
Don't neglect your family or friends
Be involved professionally/privately with other groups like a charity or a church
Chris Thompson:
Previously worked at Arthur Anderson
UCR Alumni
Worked as a mortgage originator before joining PwC
Works as Risk Assurance Director at PwC focusing on IT Audit
Sees many clients have ERM tools in place already, but only the Board knows about it
Management is unaware of ERM tools or how its used and implemented
Therefore, company operation's are not monitored properly
As technology, like AI, get more developed they will be more ingrained into public accounting
AI can never replace people completely because they lack human judgement, and there will always be a need of human contact within the industry
"You still need people how know when and how to apply rules, and that's when you need people with accounting expertise." - Chris
Advises students to ask themselves the following five questions:
"Learn what subjects matter to you"
"Learn what the work is and if its interesting to you"
"Know what you're actually doing at your job"
"Assess the people you'll be working with"
"Where is the organization going"