Hi All,

I am toying with the idea of looking for work in Bermuda/Cayman for one of the big 4 accounting firms and train to become a CPA or CA. Has anyone done this? What was the experience like?

I am currently a CMA with 3 years financial analyst experience in the Canadian health care sector.

The Bermuda CA institute is part of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants, so if you become a CA you'll actually be a Canadian CA.

If you have a free choice I'd do both : CA first then do the IQEX exam to become a U.S. CPA.

However if you're already a (Canadian?) CMA are you sure you wouldn't be taking a backward step in starting a CA training contract?

If you're Canadian CMA have you thought of taking up (U.K.) CIMA membership based on mutual recognition?


Presumably you're aware of the visa situation and the difficulty of getting permanent residence/citizenship in these places?

Yes I am a Canadian. Thinking about trying internal or external auditing to gain experience so why not go for the CA as well.

Instead of working in Canada for a CA firm, I thought it may be beneficial and fun to work abroad to obtain the designation and gain some international work experience.

I would only be interested in something in Bermuda for 2-3 years so a visa is all I would require.

Not sure it would be a step backward in obtaining a CA contract. Learning new skills is always a benefit.

I wasn't trying to discourage you from doing CA. It's a good option. I think my only point would be that if you already are a CMA and have some years post qualification, the question you should ask is would a CA firm expect you to re-start right at new graduate level.

Maybe that would be ok if you were training in the audit route, but perhaps you should look for CA training in a specialism that might suit your background a little better. Perhaps a firm would let you train as a CA but start you above entry level but that depends on how flexible they are.

The other issue to bear in mind is whether it will be possible to get a work visa to cover a CA traineeship role in Bermuda.

I don't know what the Bermuda CA institute does, but the Ontario CA institute has a special program for Canadian CMAs looking to become Ontario CAs:
http://www.icao.on.ca/Admissions/CGA...0page1355.aspx

Hi

I have just spent the last 3 years working in Bermuda (I was already a Scottish CA when I got the job in Bermuda). I would certainly recommend Bermuda as a good place to work for a couple of years. However, one thing to watch is the visa requirements. In Bermuda, if a job is advertised and a qualified Bermudian applies the job must be given to the Bermudian. In Bermuda as with everywhere else, Trainee CA jobs are sought after and I never meet someone who was doing the CA program in Bermuda who was not bermudian. But I suppose you could be lucky, but it usually works that the people who get jobs in Bermuda are already CA's and that how they get the jobs (with the intention that they then train a bermudian).

Hi again,

I have been in contact with a few firms and they do not seem to offer much info on training to be a CA. They more or less want to slot me into a CMA type position which I am thinking about.

I'd look at other places like the Caribbean to become a Canadian CA but I think my best bet is to just stick in Canada unless I get lucky of course.

As far as I know the Canadian CA qualification is not offered outside Canada, except in Bermuda (for historic reasons the Bermuda CAs were set up as a provincial institute within the CICA).

Although it might be worth asking the Big 4 firms in places like the Cayman Islands what is their standard training route for graduates. It may well be ACCA.