I had an idea what profession I wanted to pursue – but it wasn’t accounting, it was law. I went to business school simply because I had a knack for numbers. My intention was to get a sense of business and move on to study law, as most colleges in Ghana only offered law as a postgraduate programme at the time. Although I found the concept of a debit and a credit confusing at first, I fell in love with accounting and chose it as my major at the University of Ghana. I abandoned my plan to become a lawyer and decided to pursue accountancy.
When, straight out of college, I received an offer from KPMG Ghana, I accepted without hesitation. It was my dream to work in practice. I worked in KPMG Ghana’s tax unit on diverse personal tax, corporate tax and transfer pricing engagements. I subsequently moved to KPMG US, where I work in the Chicago office, exclusively on transfer pricing.
I have the ability to juggle – even if it has sometimes been a struggle – caring for a toddler while doing a full-time job from home during the Covid-19 pandemic
I appreciate working in practice because of the exposure it provides to so many different industries. It has certainly given me a broad perspective of how differently a single concept can be applied in various ways across a range of industries. It has also exposed me to diverse areas of consulting work. These would not all be relevant to a single company if I had taken a role in corporate accounting.
I decided to do an MBA at the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School. My goal was to expand my skillset and diversify my network. My MBA cohort had 60 different nationalities represented, so that afforded me a wealth of network opportunities.
I certainly stepped out of my comfort zone when I moved to the US in 2019. It was a new country, with a new culture. I was joining a new office and a new team, taking up a fresh role with a different level of complexity and scale than I was used to. Everything was new to me. Thankfully, my team was great and made this transition very smooth. In hindsight, taking this risk was worth it because it has opened me up to new skills and experiences.
If I had law-making powers, I would make new legislation to facilitate intra-African trade. I would also try to protect indigenous Ghanaian businesses.
I really enjoy working on transfer pricing compliance and consulting engagements. I keep abreast of evolving trends in transfer pricing and international tax. I currently have an eye on the implementation of the 15% global minimum tax agreed by more than 130 countries and jurisdictions.
Rather than single out a specific achievement as my biggest, I like to celebrate small wins. I have the grit to execute complex engagements from start to finish, and the ability to juggle – even if it has sometimes been a struggle – caring for a toddler while doing a full-time job from home during the Covid-19 pandemic.
If I wasn’t an accountant? This is easy – I’d be a lawyer!
In my spare time I love to read old books. I also like to document my insights on my blog.
