Laura Friedrich, FCPA, FCGA

Seeing the World Through Accounting Education

“Pursue an opportunity that looks interesting, run with it, and see where it leads you. Nine times out of ten you’re going to be pleasantly surprised if you keep an open mind and just go for it.”

This is how Laura Friedrich, CPA, FCGA, describes her experience in 2008 in Azerbaijan. With funding from the World Bank, Laura and her husband Brian were part of a CGA-Canada project team advising on the development of a professional accounting and research program as the basis for an internationally recognized accounting designation.

This approach to life – being flexible enough to pursue new opportunities even if you’re not sure where they’ll take you – is one that has guided Laura throughout her career. Indeed, it’s advice she shares whenever she speaks with students trying to figure out what professional path they should pursue. 

Laura received her CGA designation in 2001 and worked in public practice at KPMG and later as a controller for Cobra Electric. Soon, however, she found herself intrigued by an offer to work in the educational sphere for CGA-BC. It wasn’t something she was expecting, but it sounded like a great opportunity.

She enjoyed the work and one thing led to another. She moved into the education field full time, joining CGA-Canada as a Curriculum Developer and later starting her own educational consulting company with her husband. In 2003, they developed the first CGA online lecture series incorporating audio and synchronized slides. Their firm was later responsible for producing the online lecture series for all CGA certification courses used by over 20,000 students in Canada, China, and the Caribbean. 

Laura has also authored a wide variety of courses, from applications in public practice and advanced external auditing to network management, and she continues to facilitate a range of professional development courses. Laura particularly enjoys teaching CPABC’s new mandatory ethics class. 

Laura and her husband do their consulting work through their practice, friedrich & friedrich, working extensively with clients in Canada and internationally. Through their focus on accounting research, standards and education, they have conducted an impressive range of projects – from advising organizations on developing competency-based accounting education to preparing content for a World Bank project to enhance corporate governance and professional ethics instruction in business schools in five countries in Central America. 

Much of their work has focused on public accounting standards and labour mobility reform at home and abroad. Some projects include comparing certification requirements of accounting designations in different countries, developing competency-based exams and workplace assessment tools, and evaluating whether accounting programs comply with existing standards and regulations.

“Our business has evolved in ways I would never have imagined,” Friedrich says. “It’s funny, because I always emphasize to students that they need to have a plan, yet we certainly don’t overplan! We find that there are always opportunities coming at us and it’s more about the need to stay flexible, work our butts off and take on multiple deadlines if the projects are interesting. While we do try to do some planning, it’s really more about steering than having an end destination, recognizing that the destination is probably going to change.”

Laura has been recognized many times for her achievements and invaluable contributions to the profession. She has been honoured with the President’s Award for Education, the CGA Ambassador of Distinction Award, and the J.M. Macbeth Award of Merit. In 2011 she received a Fellowship designation, and was conferred Life Membership in 2014.

This article first appeared in the Winter 2011 issue of Outlook, the CGA magazine.