Shakerin, Lee and Toh wanted to strengthen the reliability of financial reporting. Their research subsequently won them the Best Paper Award in 10th Asia-Pacific Business and Humanities Conference 2016.

Lim passed a stringent selection process to be chosen as one of 80 seminar leaders for the Harvard H-Lab summer programme. For a month, she taught 15 to 18 year-old students in the Japanese town of Obuse.

KUALA LUMPUR: Transparency and good accounting practice has never been more crucial in today's global business climate of end-to-end responsibility. 

The fall of corporate giants like Merrill Lynch & Co during the 2008 subprime crisis – caused by the misrepresentation of risk on mortgage-backed securities – and Enron – over mark-to-market accounting malpractices – served a significant wake-up call, underscoring the need to be above board in all dealings. 

At UCSI University's Faculty of Business and Information Science, the correlation between the accounting practice, economic vitality and public trust, has long been acknowledged. Academic and students work hand-in-hand to address challenges in the practice and their efforts frequently pay off.

The recent success of Lee Pei Ying, Toh Chin Yau, and their lecturer, Shakerin Ismail, is a good example. Seeking to identify the factors within an organisation that influence the quality of financial data, the trio won the Best Paper Award at the 10th Asia-Pacific Business and Humanities Conference 2016.

What began as a regular classroom exercise evolved into something far more significant for the trio and their paper is currently in review to be published in a high-ranking journal by World Business Institute in Australia.

Taking it all in his stride, Shakerin said that the award was testament to the good work that was being done at UCSI to promote the best accounting practices.

"By identifying the influencing factors, organisations will have concrete insights into how they may make necessary adjustments or changes in their governance to generate more reliable financial information," said Shakerin. "This will subsequently enhance their credibility."

This research also provided Lee and Toh with an enriching learning experience and a chance to hone critical competencies beyond textbook knowledge.

"Winning this award was the best moment in my study life," said Lee. "Research requires a lot of discipline but during the process I learned a lot in technique, teamwork, and communication skills." Lee recently graduated last month at UCSI's 29th convocation but has already secured employment as an Audit Associate at KPMG back in May.

"This paper was a challenge and we couldn't have completed it without each other's support," said Toh, who opted to pursue his ACCA qualification. "I'm really proud that our work has been recognised and is valued by the accounting industry."

This collaboration is one of the fruits of UCSI's holistic approach to education, which emphasises a keen industry focus.

UCSI is running Malaysia's most extensive academic-industry network, having secured over 3500 internship partners to offer advantageous industry exposure to students.

Each study year, UCSI students are sent for a two-month internship with some of the best names in the industry. This includes KPMG, Crowe Horwath, Price Waterhouse Coopers, Ernst & Young and most major banks in Malaysia.

As a result, students are intimately familiar with not only working fundamentals but the current challenges that corporations are facing. Thus, they are better positioned to create applicable solutions upon their graduation.

Additionally, these experiences also lead to the development of the top skills which are in demand for accounting professionals.

"Being technically strong isn’t the whole package anymore," said Prof Dr Ooi Keng Boon, Dean of FoBIS. "Today's professionals must also possess competitive career skills such as critical and analytical thinking, leadership and communication skills to perform well in their workplace."

It helps too that UCSI is home to a thriving culture of inquisitiveness and discovery.

Lim Czi Xian, who read her degree in finance and investment, is a multidisciplinary powerhouse whose list of self-initiated achievements includes a chemistry certificate from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a summer spent teaching philosophy in Japan under Harvard’s H-Lab 2015 programme.

"My dream is to make significant contributions to society and I want to learn all that I can so I am well prepared to do so," she said. "UCSI has been great in connecting me with opportunities and my lecturers were really helpful."

During her time at UCSI, Lim interned at HSBC Bank, participated in the Credit Suisse HOLT Valuation and CIMB ASEAN Stock Challenges, attended an intensive Blue Ocean Strategy programme, and was a university delegate to ASEAN regional summits for three consecutive years.

"UCSI is about providing education that is balanced, relevant and visionary and we design our programmes and student growth opportunities around this goal," said Prof Dr Ooi. "We want to provide our students with all the elements needed for them to be the best in their profession."

UCSI’s degrees are renowned for their globally professional competencies and emphasis on skills development. Currently, its Department of Accounting and Finance offers BA (Hons) Accounting, BA (Hons) Accounting and Finance and BSc (Hons) Finance and Investment programmes.

As a testament to its esteem, FoBIS also has an excellent relationship with accrediting and professional bodies. These include the Association of Chartered Certified Accountant (ACCA), Certified Practicing Accountant (CPA) Australia, the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), the Chartered Tax Institute of Malaysia (CTIM) and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW). This has resulted in professional papers exemptions for its accounting degrees.

All these ensure that UCSI’s accounting graduates will certainly possess a leading edge for enhanced employability.

To find out more about UCSI University's Faculty of Business and Information Science, contact us at 03-91018882 or www.ucsiuniversity.edu.my/onlineenquiry. Our KL campus is also open daily for extended counselling sessions, inclusive of weekends and public holidays.