PKF Smith Cooper professional goes extra mile by sitting audit exams in New York
Audit Associate Mohsin Sadiq has won industry praise for his dedication to his accounting exams. Taking the phrase ‘going the extra mile’ to new extremes, when his UK accounting exams were cancelled, he found the time to sit them while in New York instead.
The Corporate Reporting exam is the first of three ICAEW exams, which professionals need to receive industry accreditation. Initially due to sit the exam in Birmingham in November, Mohsin Sadiq found out that it had been cancelled due to IT problems – while the second exam had been moved to Leicester the following day.
Audit trainees greeted by this news were left with a difficult choice. Either attend a rescheduled date in two weeks, or defer until the summer. But Sadiq was already scheduled to be out of the country in two weeks – taking a trip to visit family in New York, after sitting through extensive studies and exams of almost 18 months already.
Sadiq was determined not to be left waiting to complete the process, and with the help of PKF Smith Cooper’s Operations Partner Selma Delic, he did not need to. Delic used her international connections in the PKF Global network to arrange for Sadiq to sit the exam Stateside instead – with PKF O’Connor Davies enabling him to sit the exam in one of the member firm’s office meeting rooms.
Sadiq also received support from his team at PKF Smith Cooper and the firm’s Training and Compliance Director Greg Whiting, who communicated directly with the highest contact possible at ICAEW and ensured Sadiq could sit his exam in a different country and time zone. So, while all this meant Sadiq had to sit the exam at 7am in the morning, he found out a month later that despite the circumstances, he had passed.
Speaking on the experience, Sadiq said, “Sitting for an exam abroad in New York while on vacation under unfortunate circumstances was incredibly stressful and worrisome. However, the unwavering support from Greg and my colleagues in the office motivated me to persevere. I was determined to pass and make my family and colleagues proud. I am extremely thankful for the support I received, and for the global reach of the PKF network.”
PKF Global is a worldwide network of independent accountancy firms, with 214 members operating across 150 countries. It ranks as the 15th largest accounting network globally based on network revenue.
