Pictured: Karen Leishman
A trainee accountant has come top of the class in one of the
profession's most prestigious qualification.
Karen Leishman, who works at Cooper Parry, which has offices in
Nottingham, Derby and Leicester, came first from students across
Leicestershire and Northamptonshire in the Professional Stage exams
of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales
(ICAEW)
This is third time that Mrs Leishman, from Loughborough, has
topped the tables after coming first in Leicestershire and
Northamptonshire for audit and assurance and financial accounting
(AAT Top-up Paper) in December 2008. Last November she came third
in the Advanced Stage exams.
She said: "Just passing these exams is a huge step so coming
first is a real achievement. These exams are some of the toughest
professional exams around and give me a great platform on which to
build my career.
"My long term aspiration is to become more involved with
training and mentoring other team members who are still studying. I
am looking forward to continuing to develop my relationships with
clients, as well as learning more about how the different
departments within our firm interact to work as an effective
business partner for clients."
Karen, who works in the audit team, was presented with her award
at the LANSCA Annual dinner at Leicester Tigers Stadium which was
attended by Lord Digby Jones and ICAEW president, Clive
Parritt.
She was awarded the prize after she got the top score in the
professional stage of the stage of people in Leicestershire &
Northamptonshire who completed that stage between December 2009 and
December 2010
Karen joined Cooper Parry in 2008 having had a career break for
several years Prior to this she had worked in admin and marketing
including two years in San Diego.
Ed Rands, audit partner in the Leicester office, said "This
result is a remarkable achievement and is a testimony to the
dedication and hard work of Karen.
"We are all extremely proud of her and would like to
congratulate her on this accomplishment and hope this is the start
of a long and successful career in the profession."
The Professional Stage includes six written exams - Audit &
Assurance, Financial Accounting, Taxation, Financial Management,
Business Strategy and Financial Reporting - while the Advanced
stage consists of three written exams - Business Reporting,
Business Change & Case Study.
For more information about Cooper Parry, please visit their
website here: www.cooperparry.com