How to become an Auditor | Learn with Mr. Nikhil Kochhar

Today we have with us Mr. Nikhil Kochhar. He is currently working as a manager with Ernst & Young Germany in the audit department. He is a CA and has completed his bachelor’s in commerce from SD College, Chandigarh. Nikhil has over 7 years of experience and for the last 3 years, he has been part of EY Germany. He has also worked with Barclays Shared Service Center as a financial analyst for a brief period of time. Let us learn more on how to become a successful Auditor with our rxpert.

1. What was your mantra when preparing for CA exams?

Answer: The mantra was always clear to be focused and to keep my head straight toward achieving a milestone and the title of a Chartered Accountant. That was what I was looking up to. But I think there was one more which needs to be kept throughout the journey of any professional qualification irrespective of a CA I would say self-motivation. I think it is very important. It is because in general life it’s easy to motivate others but it’s difficult to motivate yourself. So I think in any qualification if you face a failure, that’s when self-motivation comes into the picture. Even I faced it too.

Most of us have faced failure in life, but it’s how you come back. And I think that was my main mantra. I think just qualifying as a CA but various challenges you face during your professional life as well. These should be followed throughout. Mine was self-motivation that I have to push myself ahead to achieve everything I wish for and meet the goals I set for myself.

2. Can you tell us some of the differences between people practising CA privately and those working in organizations?

Answer: It’s definitely a personal choice. Most of the candidates such as me as well, because we have to go for articleship which is training which we have to do during the tenure of becoming CA. During my period it was 3.5 years currently it is 3 years. But most people decide during their studies or articles what is their field of interest and what they want to proceed further with. Whether you are a practising CA or a professional CA working in an organization both have their own challenges and objectives. Field of interest in one thing which is really important that where you want to focus.

This is also an important decision while which organization you are working with. So if you are working with a firm of CA or any other organization, so I think that is the objective overall. And that’s how the differences are, the value of signature of we say of Chartered Accountant. As the PM also stated recently, the value of a signature of CA is even more valuable. So I stand to that, so when you practice it, of course, you get that. My objective was always to work in an organized sector.

I think whether you are a CA in practising one or a CA in the corporate world, it matters how you are contributing. For every CA, the objective is to contribute toward better economic conditions for the country. No matter what you are practising and dealing with which organization. So I think both of them have equal challenges and differences going forward when you pursue them. But the ultimate objective what I feel from the professional side of the view is the same.

3. What motivated you to choose financial auditing as your career?

Answer: In my introduction, it is mentioned I started working as a financial analyst initially in Barkleys. So I think right from my schooling I was mostly interested in accounting. That was my base to choose CA as my professional qualification. During my bachelor of commerce and professional qualification of CA, I developed an interest in 2 areas mainly. They were accounting and auditing. That’s where I started. I always wanted to be more focused and knowledgeable about these 2 areas. For me, it was during my course of study when I decided that I wanted to focus on these subjects and move further with them in my journey.

I tend to have both now. I started as a financial analyst and now I am working as an auditor for the last 6 years. So I am working in both fields and I really like it and how much motivated and developed I am from the organization’s point of view to which I can contribute. That was the motivation for me to move forward. For every professional watching this, I just want to say that it is important to choose your area of interest and how you proceed further with that.

4. What, in your opinion, is a necessary condition for a consistent quality financial audit?

Answer: As a Chartered Accountant what I have seen, is not just practising CA it is very important that you are updated about all the changes and development happening around the company and auditing field, the company you are working with, Depending upon your nature of the client. So I think one way is to be aware of all the changes and the various sources available for that. And no we are moving from the traditional audit approach to digitalized audit throughout. Young professionals could be a great addition to that and me as well I always tried to learn and develop myself as a digital auditor.

So I think every CA or every professional focuses it to aware and updated. Also, it depends on the GAAP, i.e. generally accepted accounting principles that are applicable to your clients. So whether you are working with international clients is IFRS which is an international financing reporting standard. If you are working for Indian clients like where we have US clients which are US GAAP, which will be the main area for delivering audits for any profession,

5. How does the auditing of businesses in India and developed countries like Europe, Canada or the USA compare in terms of audit quality?

Answer: Because I have a mix of experience working for a global division I started my journey as an auditor, and then I worked for some part of India practice as well. So I also audited Indian clients. Now I am part of the German team, so I am auditing international clients as well. I would say the overall structure and responsibility are the same. Whether it’s developed countries, POV CA or any other professional it’s the same. It definitely changes as per the local rules and regulations for which country you are responsible and GAAP as I explained before.

But in auditor terms, if I say true and fair view, that’s what every CA is focusing on whether it’s a developed country or developing economy. As a professional, we always focus on the objective is to delivering quality audits irrespective of the country definitely as per local rules and requirements that we do. Overall, everyone tends to deliver a quality audit throughout.

6. Is there any specific license or exams to be cleared for Indian professionals to practice auditing in other countries?

Answer: Firstly it is very important to understand that we are talking about 2 types of things when we move outside India. One is you are definitely having a license, that is you are practising as we do in India. There is a practising CA and the other one working in the corporate world or any other organization. As I moved from one another organization over here in Germany, the license is not required. But as I am doing practice, so every country has their own rules. But definitely clearing Indian Chartered Accountancy gives you an edge to pursue further. So there are some additional requirements depending upon the country.

Even in Germany, a German CPA is a taxed advisor exam that they do is authorized to sign on the financials that we issue for our clients. Similarly, if you go to Canada, there is a CPA, is required to do that. But it’s not like you need to start from the base again when you move outside India. It’s just when you need to get a license, you need to prepare for some additional exams. If I talk about any other professional qualification you want to pursue even after CA. I cleared CA long back, but now I want another professional qualification like ACCA.

In ACCA it’s a total of 13 exams. Which is an associate of CA basically, which is also a part of the auditing and accounting field. It is mostly required in a big organization. So there is a total of 13 exams, but if I am a CA I am exempted from 9 exams, I just have to give 4 exams additional. So obviously any professional course you do irrespective of CA, gives you an edge and plus point in pursuing any other exam or working outside India. But of course, you need to give an additional exam to get a local license for that country. I think it is very important, when you shift outside India you need to be very clear, about whether you want to work there or practice there and based on local rules and regulations prepare for additional exams and then get the license.

7. How difficult was it to handle clients and manage accounts during the Pandemic? How have things changed post-pandemic in terms of client handling?

Answer: In terms of auditor I am also very interested in having face-to-face conversations rather than in virtual mode. But the situation was challenging not only for auditors but for clients as well because nobody was going to the office and it was definitely a challenging and different environment. I think in this phase we also learned how virtual mode was important and the no of tools and other things which developed during this phase, which are actually useful now as well. For example, we had additional tools for sharing purposes for having those meetings which we developed during this phase.

So I think this all together led to a different environment. So I not only always see the negative part of it, from a working point of view, but I also see a positive part. With all the technological advancement and everything now, you are accessible for working from home as well, which is a plus point. So I think it was challenging but later when it comes to what was delivered it was enhancing our quality and improvements in overall technological variations as well.

Now I think things are getting better, back to normal even in Europe. I hope everyone is safe and healthy for sure so that we tend to meet in person and then it has a different aura and viewpoint when we sit together and work. Even, if you are working in a team of 10 people, but actually not met those 10 people just virtually working with them, it’s different for sure. But when we are working together and sit next to each other, that creates a different environment.

Overall I would say, it was a challenging dynamic for sure because we were able to develop new things which were useful in future and updated that these things can be resolved by this thing as well.

8. What skills are essential for students planning to make auditing their career?

Answer: First of all, in spite of the skill, firstly is the area of interest that they need to focus on. Skills I think when you are pursuing a professional course there are certain requirements from the standpoint of the studies. There are most of the professional courses which might start after your schooling that is 12 standard, after your bachelors as well. But the most important thing is what is your area of interest and which is the area you need to focus on and be more knowledgeable about it.

I think it’s very important how patient and determined you are, as CA tests how patient you are. That’s one thing to be a skill in your personality and determination and self-motivation as I said for any professional qualification of course. Apart from that auditing whether it’s ACCA, CPA, or CA you tend to achieve that from qualification. But if someone clears their bachelor’s and then wants to pursue their main structure in the target of something in Auditing. There are various courses in auditing, you can do a specialization as well, there are a lot of courses for CA of India.

In terms of IFRS, Indian standards as well that you can do or auditing standards. So I think every institute has its own page and you should focus on that. Always better as a professional that you are aware and what is your focus area. These are important skills from my perspective that you need to have for moving forward with the plan that this is the course that you want to pursue. How I will be contributing with my work life and study life and everything.

9. What opportunities are available for freshers to choose auditing as their career?

Answer: There are various qualifications available which are Chartered Accountancy, ACCA, and CPA, and even anyone can have these certified courses. I would definitely recommend the upcoming professionals to focus on digitalization which is very important. Nowadays, we are having a lot of courses on that. Most people and organizations that are working globally are focusing on data-driven audits. So it’s very important for every professional to focus on these upcoming opportunities that they have in near future.

Digitalization is one of them that they can then opt for the courses. How data is structured, as I said traditional audit is a past story. And digital audit is new in the picture along with the traditional procedure that we used to do. So i think that is one focus area that they need to focus on. Not just achieving professional qualification entirely, but if they perform a certain certification, you can have a good experience in that.

So I think apart from long-term professional qualifications that take a long time such as CA which we start after school, there are a lot of certified courses that professionals can do. This is an important key that no matter how qualified you are, how well you have done in your work environment, or how much experience you have, it’s always good to do learning at any stage of life. It always keeps you one step ahead of your peers. It is very important you see those you want to develop in yourself as personality and how much you can contribute to your organization.

10. What is the quote you live by your life?

Answer: There cannot be just one quote. I live by multiple quotes for sure. I think the one I always lived by when I was preparing for the professional course to work hard and successful follow. That was the first one I always looked up to. Another one is we must find positivity in the bleakest situations of life and always live by the principle of gratitude. So I personally believed and saw in life that you always respect and acknowledge people who have given huge contributions right from your journey starting and where you are today.

So I always acknowledge my teachers, not just in my college but in school. Because they were which made the base. Then college, exams that I appeared for my CA, then post qualification even my mentors. So gratitude is very important whether you are a professional or not, gratitude is one thing everyone needs to have. Be thankful and always respect people who have given you or contributed to any part to your success.

So these are the 3 quotes that I work by and definitely focus on the positivity side, working hard and acknowledging and having that gratitude so that I always move forward.