Making the honour roll: Lazaridis grad awarded Ontario Gold Medal for CPA exam

Nov. 13, 2024

Lazaridis School of Business and Economics graduate Nicole Cullen was awarded the Ontario Gold Medal as the top Ontario writer of the May 2024 Common Final Examination (CFE). The CFE is administered by the Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada (CPA Canada) and represents the final hurdle to becoming a CPA. Cullen’s Gold Medal brings the Lazaridis School count to 11 – the most of any business school in Ontario.

Cullen graduated from Wilfrid Laurier University in 2023 from the Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) and Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Financial Mathematics double degree program. Cullen also earned a Graduate Diploma in Accounting (GDip) at the Lazaridis School before taking the CFE. The 12-week GDip program is completed following a student’s undergraduate degree and provides a fast track for students who want to earn their CPA designation.

While Cullen’s path to becoming a CPA seems clear now, that wasn’t always the case. She wasn’t sure what career she wanted to pursue, but her older sister had earned a Lazaridis BBA, which seemed like a degree with much potential.

“In high school, I was undecided about what I wanted to do, but I always did well in my accounting classes and found them interesting. I figured that no matter what I wanted to do later on, a business degree would be something that could support whatever career endeavours I pursued,” she says.

Laurier and the Lazaridis School were easy decisions for Cullen. Her older sister had earned her BBA and always talked positively about her experiences. Once Cullen was on campus, she quickly recognized that accounting was the right choice.

“They were definitely the courses that I tended to gravitate towards. Many of my friends in the double degree program also pursued accounting. I did my co-op placements in accounting, too, and decided to pursue it from there,” Cullen says.

Cullen decided to enrol in the Graduate Diploma in Accounting program at the end of her fifth year. Two of her roommates who were also in the double degree program had signed up for it, making it feel like a natural next step.

“My professors in my undergrad helped to provide a strong accounting foundation and inspired me to pursue my CPA designation. I knew then that doing the GDip program would set me up for success for taking the CFE. Everyone that I had talked to that had done it found it helpful,” she says. 

Darren Henderson, associate professor of Accounting and the GDip academic director, said prospective CPAs need to complete the CPA Professional Education Program (PEP) before taking the CFE. Students who successfully complete the GDip program get a jumpstart on the PEP by skipping the program’s first four modules. 

“GDip is specifically designed for students pursuing CPA designations and fast tracks them along their path to becoming a CPA,” Henderson said. “Our program focuses on honing case writing skills, which are essential for success on the CFE, and take time to develop. We start from day one and work hard to ensure that by the time you leave the program, your case writing skills are excellent and you're prepared for success on the CFE.”

In addition to the GDip program, Cullen says her double degree program courses set her up for success with the CFE.

“My time at the Lazaridis School helped me manage the prep work for the CFE because studying for the CFE is very taxing. You’re studying for five to six weeks straight, so being able to handle doing two degrees at the same time and having heavy course loads definitely helped me develop great studying skills,” she says.

Cullen wrote the CFE in May but had to wait until August to learn her result. That meant waiting three months to find out how she scored.

“I just wanted to pass,” Cullen says. “I still dreamed I failed it because it was such a challenging exam. It's so mentally draining on you that I think afterwards, it's hard to evaluate how well you did.”

When she finally received her results in August, Cullen simply wanted to know if she passed or failed.

“I was excited that I passed, and then I found out I was awarded the gold medal for my score. I definitely didn't anticipate it.”

Helena Keirstead, one of Nicole’s instructors in the GDip program, said she wasn’t surprised to see Cullen do well on the CFE.

“Nicole was such a pleasure to have in my Advanced Audit class in the GDip Program. She had a quiet confidence about her and was an extremely dedicated student who was always prepared for class and engaged with the content regularly through insightful discussions,” Keirstead said.

Today, Cullen is in the CPA rotational program at Sun Life Financial and is working as a financial analyst in the company’s expense management team. The program allows new graduates to experience different roles within the financial services leader as they earn the required hours for the CPA designation.  

“It’s a fantastic opportunity because it provides the hours I need to complete my designation while giving me a variety of experiences. Once you’ve completed the program, you will have worked for three completely different teams. It sets you up to choose what you want to pursue for your first role as a CPA,” she says.

When it comes to the next generation of future CPAs, Cullen says the Lazaridis School offers the right combination of small class sizes, expert instruction, and community.

“You get a ton of different experiences and exposure to many different things. The co-op program gives you real-world experiences, which other universities do not always offer. For those at Laurier today considering pursuing a CPA, I would say the GDip program was crucial to my success,” she says. “I walked into the program essentially knowing nothing about what the CFE even looked like. The professors guided us through the semester and set us up for success.”

Celebrating CFE Gold Medal recipients at the Lazaridis School

The Lazaridis School welcomed Cullen to the network of 11 CFE Gold medallist alumni at an event on Nov. 7.  Pictured left to right: a few of our previous Gold Medal recipients including Simon Parmar, Anna Nowak, Josh Huff, Lorcan Duffy, along with Dean Kyle Murray, guest of honour Nicole Cullen, and Gold Medal alumna Sarah Hadley.