Ahmad Asadullah talks to Student Accountant about his job as chief accountant, CPS, at Weatherford Oil Tools Middle East Ltd in Dubai
Despite having only started his accountancy career in 2001, Professional Scheme student Ahmad Asadullah has already reached the position of chief accountant. Ahmad works for CPS (Completion & Production Systems), a business division of Weatherford Oil Tools Middle East Ltd which is itself a part of Weatherford International Inc – the world’s fourth largest diversified upstream oilfield service company.
Ahmad gives full credit to ACCA for his career success. ‘The most important thing on my CV is the fact that I am an ACCA student,’ he says. ‘It has broadened my horizons and opened many doors. My ACCA studies have given me the knowledge and tools I need to achieve excellence in my job.’ Ahmad began his career after graduating from the University of Karachi with a Bachelor of Commerce degree, which he followed with a Foundation course with ICAP. Ahmad’s first employer was chartered accountants Husain Rahman & Co, a member firm of Deloitte and Touche. ‘I started as a trainee in 2001,’ he explains, ‘and in just one year I had been promoted to semi-senior auditor and accountant, and had been given many audit and accounting assignments.
‘I was very grateful for the support I received from my seniors during the two years I was with the firm. I was able to further my accounting studies with the Pakistan Institute of Public Finance Accountants, and I received valuable training. My responsibilities included book-keeping and the preparation of monthly reports and financial statements for our clients, many of whom were well-known global brands. I was also involved in planning and undertaking various statutory, investigative, and internal audits.
‘In 2003 I joined Weatherford Oil Tools as an accounts assistant, and moved to Dubai. While in this role I designed a system to capture outstanding purchase orders for monthly accruals, and drafted the procedure manual and various forms now used by the company. After two years I was appointed accountant for a subsidiary of the company, Gas Services International (GSI), with full responsibility for the financial reporting function, including processing payments, preparation of sales and rental invoices, and customer dispatch.
‘In 2005 Weatherford sold GSI, and I was given the task of preparing all the due diligence reports required by the new owner. Once the acquisition was complete, I stayed on for a further six months, assisting in financial reporting, cash flow forecasts, budgets, payroll, and supplier payments.
‘In 2006 I was promoted to chief accountant at CPS, which has bases in the Middle East and North Africa. This is a very challenging and demanding post, but one which I am really enjoying. I now oversee the finance team and also liaise with operations management. I am also working as a finance super user for the J D Edwards implementation team, which is currently installing a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system in our company.’
Ahmad has nothing but praise for ACCA: ‘My ACCA studies – both from books and from resources on the website – have helped me feel very confident in my new role. My boss, regional controller Mohammad Ghazali has been very encouraging – he is an ACCA member himself. My family is also very supportive of my studies, and during my exams.
‘ACCA has enabled me to approach my work from different angles, and thereby identify areas that could be improved or changed. ACCA studies are not only about financial and accounting processes but also cover IT systems development and implementation, and this has proved very useful. A key advantage of the ACCA qualification is that it makes you a broad financial specialist – I definitely have ACCA to thank for my latest promotion.’