While most students look forward to the school holidays as a time to relax, many accountancy students are taking the opportunity during breaks to broaden their professional horizons. The NAAT is a student club at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) that seeks to help undergraduates sharpen their auditing and financial advisory skills. we caught up with four of the NAAT’s student-leaders to learn how the club is staying ahead of the curve.
Mr Ong Zhen Yi
President, NAAT, NTU
Third-year student, Bachelor in Accountancy and Human Resources programme
“The NAAT was founded in 2007 to cater to the needs of accountancy students. Our new committee took over the club in May; what we want to focus on this year is to develop and formalise our training programme for accountancy and audit, as well as to provide new learning opportunities for our members.
“For example, we hope to give year-one students a glimpse of what auditing is like. Many of our older members will also have completed internships, and what we want is to give them chances to practice what they have learnt.
“The NAAT works with NTU’s Student Affairs Office to provide assurance to over 50-plus student clubs and societies, to make sure that funds are properly accounted for. That’s why we used the three months’ break before the start of this academic year to prepare our committee members for their roles.
“Because we audit so many student clubs, another of our priorities this year is to standardise our audit procedures, with the advice of faculty members here at NTU. On a personal note, we also want to enjoy our time together as a committee!
“Right now I’m doing the third year in my double degree programme in Accountancy and Human Resources (HR). To know why companies succeed, you need to understand different aspects of its operations; look at all sides. Accountancy and finance will show us the “hard” figures behind things, while HR shows the “softer” side that is just as important. So it’s been interesting to explore how these two aspects are interlinked, and to see how I can apply these lessons.”
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Ms Rebacca Goh
Vice President, NAAT, NTU
Final-year student, Bachelor in Accountancy programme
“I’ve always been interested in accountancy. When I was studying for my Diploma in Accountancy at Ngee Ann Polytechnic, I got the chance to do an internship with KPMG in corporate tax. After completing my diploma, I decided to pursue the subject further at NTU.
“Things are changing quickly in the accountancy scene and it’s important that we keep trying to improve ourselves. In June this year, I got the chance to do a 10-week assurance internship with Baker Tilly TFW via the SPRING Singapore Enterprise Internship Programme (EIP). As part of the EIP, we travelled to Siem Reap and Phnom Penh to learn from Singaporean companies that have set up operations in Cambodia. I found the whole experience very enriching.
“Having previously learnt about tax, I felt it was important to discover what audit entails, and that’s why the internship with Baker Tilly TFW was very meaningful to me. Audit gives you the opportunity to learn about many different industries, and I really enjoyed this exposure.
“Baker Tilly TFW is an Accredited Training Organisation for the Singapore Qualification Programme (QP) and, during my internship, the partner shared with me the importance of taking the programme, especially for the global recognition it will offer. So that’s something that I’m considering now as I start to look for a job for after I graduate.
“At the end of July, I also took part in an eight-day business study mission to South Korea for NTU undergraduates. So you could say that I had a very busy and fulfilling break!”
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Mr Gregory Ng
Business Development Director, NAAT, NTU
Second-year student, Bachelor in Accountancy programme
“I’m one of three business Development Directors at the NAAT. Our job is to build on our current partnerships and find new ones that will offer internship opportunities to our members. This is important so that we can get more exposure and experience, as well as to learn how audits work in real, practical conditions.
“One of our partners is Audit Alliance LLP; I myself completed an eight-week internship with the firm during the semester break. Other NAAT members also interned with firms through Audit Alliance LLP. Besides audit-specific opportunities, we’re also looking for collaborative opportunities with different types of firms, and trying not to limit ourselves.
“During my internship, I managed to go out for field assignments with my seniors and to learn about different companies such as those in the shipping sector, for example. Though the working hours for auditors can be long, I didn’t have too many late nights.
“Thankfully, the student response to what we’re trying to do has been good. During our first recruitment drive in August (which was supported by the Singapore Accountancy Commission), we managed to achieve our target; we now have 180 new members, bringing our total club membership to 224 members. At the end of August, we also held our IgNAATion 2013 welcome event, which was great fun.
For more photos of IgNAATion 2013, visit this photo album on the NAAT’s Facebook page.
“In fact, the response was so strong that we had to have a second recruitment drive in September. Because of this, we’ve also decided to expand the Business Development portfolio into a sub-committee, so that we can serve our members better.”
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Ms Evelyn Lim Yi Mei
External Audit Manager, NAAT, NTU
Final-year student, Bachelor of Accountancy programme
“I graduated with a Diploma in Accountancy from Ngee Ann Polytechnic. I was in the same class as Rebacca, so we’ve been friends and fellow schoolmates for many years.
“NAAT has six External Audit Managers and each of us is responsible for a portfolio of eight student clubs. We each lead a team of about 35 members to audit the accounts of other students clubs. We’ll start conducting audit work once the student clubs finalise their accounts. We’ll be experiencing the “peak period” soon as many of the students clubs’ financial year-end falls in the last quarter of the year.
“Internships provide us with great learning opportunity to explore possible career paths that we may take, as well as discover what we really want to do. When I was at Ngee Ann Polytechnic, I did a six-month audit internship with Ernst & Young Singapore. Though it was very challenging, the experience has heightened my interest and fuelled my passion to kick-start my career in the assurance industry.
“This year, I did a 10-week accountancy internship with AIMS AMP Capital Industrial REIT Management Ltd. The company primarily manages the trust account for its unit-holders. This gave me insights into how trust funds work. The experience has further affirmed my goal of pursuing a career in assurance rather than accounting.
“This is my final year of studies and, like many of my classmates, I’ve been busy applying for a job. Thankfully, I received several interview offers and have just accepted a position with Ernst & Young Singapore. I’ll be starting work in the assurance department next August. I’m really happy about this and am looking forward to doing the Singapore QP with the firm!” #
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