Accounting field offers new challenges, rewards

NO CONFLICT OF INTEREST: When Kristin Fraser first started to work at KPMG, she did not expect to last very long, but the constantly shifting challenges have kept her interested and fulfilled. / PBN PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY
NO CONFLICT OF INTEREST: When Kristin Fraser first started to work at KPMG, she did not expect to last very long, but the constantly shifting challenges have kept her interested and fulfilled. / PBN PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY

When Kristin Fraser was 22 years old, she started her first job and never left.
Today, Fraser is an audit partner at KPMG LLP, the international public accounting firm, as well as the first female managing partner at KPMG’s Providence office, where she helps lead 40 audit professionals.
When Fraser took the job 18 years ago, she did not expect to last longer than a few years. Burnout is high at big auditing firms, she was told. But Fraser’s experience surprised her.
“The job changes, and with the challenges, I didn’t end up wanting to go anywhere else,” said Fraser, who grew up in Warwick. “It’s kept being interesting.”
Fraser oversees audits for businesses of every size and scale, from international firms attempting to expand into new markets across the globe to family-owned businesses down the street in Providence.
As a result, Fraser has to keep on top of PCAOB (Public Company Accounting Oversight Board) requirements, U.S. GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) updates, and U.S. SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) and Hong Kong Stock Exchange filings. In addition, she needs to review financial statements for mergers and acquisitions, IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards) conversions and pension plan audits.
Each of these financial arenas has long and convoluted regulatory requirements, not to mention a stockpile of regulatory acronyms. To keep on top of one is a job. To maintain working knowledge of all of them is a significant challenge.
“It’s a constant education,” said Fraser, who attends more than 80 hours of continuing-education classes annually to keep up with changing standards and regulations.
Her tasks were compounded in the last year when a client decided to go public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange – the first KPMG client to do so. Fraser coordinated the global KPMG services to support the listing.
“It was a long process with really late nights,” said Fraser, who travelled to Hong Kong seven times over the course of 15 months to “make sure we were building a global network of people.”
Fraser coordinated a team of 40 to 50 people and ensured they were comfortable with the new regulations to satisfy their clients’ needs.
But the evolving standards in the United States have also kept KPMG staff “on our toes,” said Fraser. Ever since the financial-sector meltdown and the ensuing Great Recession added extra scrutiny to financial markets, Fraser said her clients have felt more stress to maintain accurate documentation. “In turn, that puts more pressure on the audit firms,” said Fraser. “It’s definitely put a lot of additional companies in the spotlight that might not have experienced it otherwise.”
The repercussions of an inaccurate audit are severe for a business of any size. The investing public looks to audit firms to hold companies accountable and ensure their trustworthiness.
“It’s definitely a high-stakes world,” said Fraser. “You cross your fingers every day that an audit failure would never happen.”
Fraser grew up in Warwick and now lives in Cranston. She attended Bryant University and earned her MBA while working at KPMG.
Her company is not the only demand on her time. She also sits on the board of directors as the treasurer for Junior Achievement of Rhode Island, a nonprofit dedicated to educating students in grades K through 12 about financial literacy, entrepreneurship and workforce readiness.
The day after her interview with Providence Business News, Fraser planned to teach a local classroom of third-graders the economics of a city. The curriculum included urban planning and architecture and the business of owning a restaurant.
Fraser said her day job was rigorous, but teaching in the classroom was exhausting.
“It takes a lot out of you, even for a half day,” said Fraser. “You’re on your feet and talking to these kids.”
Fraser previously volunteered at Dorcas Place Adult and Family Learning Center, where she was a member of the board of directors. In early 2000 as board chair, she helped launch a $2.2 million capital campaign, which culminated in the purchase of a 20,000-square-foot educational facility.
“For me, when I look at business development and my role as a managing partner, a lot of it is making sure we’re really active in the community and making sure KPMG is giving back,” she said. “I think people have started to see that more over the last few years.”
“CPAs have a lot to give, and I hope I’ve encouraged my team to do that,” she said.
Fraser has certainly led by example. She sits on the board of directors for the Rhode Island Society of CPAs and is part of the KPMG Network of Women. She is a trustee and executive committee member of the Providence Foundation. And she is a member of the Bryant University Accounting Department Advisory Board and the Rhode Island Commodores. &#8226

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