ICAS’s top Scottish accountants under 35 in profile - John Waterson of KPMG

Thirteen Scottish-based accountants have been named among ICAS’s 35 Chartered Accountants (CAs) under 35 for 2017.

For the next 13 days Scottish Financial News will be profiling each of the Scottish representatives.

Today we profile: John Waterson CA, 34, Director, KPMG LLP, Glasgow who is nominated in the Leadership and Influence category.

Mr Waterson qualified as a CA with ICAS in 2007, having started with KPMG in Glasgow in 2004. Prior to this, he qualified with an Honours degree in accountancy at 20, and subsequently took a year out to teach English as a foreign language in China. Whilst working with KPMG he has completed international secondments in Australia, Papua New Guinea and the Bank of South Pacific. He is currently a Director in the Financial Services Practice.

“Over twelve and a half years later, I am still with KPMG, having travelled and worked in many different roles and three different international secondments. Throughout my entire career I have strived to lead, mentor and act as role model.

In my current role as a Director in the Financial Services Practice at KPMG in Scotland, I lead and sign the audit opinions of a number of clients, from a FTSE 100 listed entity through to smaller private equity vehicles, and many others in between! I have a unique position to empower, develop and challenge the next generation of ICAS graduates, and I take this very seriously.

Having graduated in 2007 following three years in Financial Services Audit in Scotland, I undertook my first international secondment to Brisbane for six months.

This was followed in 2010 with a long term, three-year secondment to Melbourne. My time in Australia also included a spell on secondment to Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea to the Bank of South Pacific a memorable experience over 12 weeks!

Across all my international secondments, with the different people, reporting frameworks, client cultures and operating styles, I loved the task of overcoming new challenges and building my experience. This varied from mentoring local staff in Port Moresby to writing accounting advice for various clients in Melbourne.

Working overseas, being promoted and receiving excellent feedback from the leadership of the KPMG Australian firm informed my desire to come back to the UK and work in a leadership / people oriented role. On return from international secondment in 2013, I have worked across a number of different service lines in both Internal and External Audit, as well as serving (2013/14) as people leader, leading a diverse team of 40 staff on all operational, people & talent, compliance and finance matters. Open, honest communication has always been a key part of this.

In my current role, I also mentor both client and KPMG management in a variety of topics from business development and technical accounting to general career advice.

With respect to training, coaching and the development of talent within the firm, I have written and delivered a variety of bespoke training and presented at numerous seminars. For example, I co-wrote and delivered training to clients and internal management nationally to help bridge a skills gap with respect to the quality of report writing. This received excellent feedback and is being run on an annual basis with me remaining as course director. Financial Services talent event I planned and delivered a flagship talent event for FS Audit UK (80-100 people), noting the importance that such talent events have had on my career as a nominated emerging leader at KPMG.

Simply put, there is no way I would have the career and success I have thus far enjoyed without my CA qualification. The CA qualification has empowered me with the confidence, knowledge and technical ability to grasp and exploit many opportunities all over the world. It has led me to an extensive network of contacts globally which I can leverage when required.

The network I have established has been a significant foundation in my career success. I am now well established in the FS industry in Scotland. A large part of this has been through building relationships that last with ICAS members e.g. Lord Smith of Kelvin at the UK Green Investment Bank plc, where I spent a year on secondment.

I also sit on the Institute of Chartered Accountants Scotland (ICAS) Corporate and Financial Reporting Panel which provides access to senior figures in Scottish business and also affords real insights to clients. For example ICAS’ interpretation on Fair, Balanced and Understandable and the evolution of corporate reporting.

The CA qualification has also afforded many business development activities, as a result of dramatically increased audit tendering. This has allowed me to mentor and coach many of our junior staff in a commercial manner, separate to the day to day world of audit delivery. My involvement in significant business development successes e.g. Standard Life external audit, various listed investment trusts is once again founded in the basic values and principles I learned in acquiring my CA.”