When Brock alumnus Andrew Filinski (BAcc ’20) got a call from a higher-up partner at his accounting firm, Grant Thornton LLP, he wasn’t sure what to expect. However, the call ended up bringing with it some of the best news of the year.

Filinski, a Senior Accountant who specializes in audit and public sector accounting, learned he had finished in the top one per cent on CPA Canada’s Common Final Exam (CFE).

“I felt pretty surprised,” Filinski said. “It was a mix of shock, happiness and sheer relief. For me, just passing it was the biggest deal.”

The results, released by the CPA on Dec. 3, indicated that of the 5,912 candidates who successfully wrote the exam across Canada in September, only 68 were named to the prestigious National Honour Roll.

The exam represents an important milestone for CPA candidates who face rigorous academic, practical and examination requirements before they can use the internationally recognized designation of Chartered Professional Accountant.

For Filinski, preparing for the exam included taking more than eight weeks off from his firm to complete a study program and do practice cases.

“I felt pretty good coming out of writing the exam,” he said. “I didn’t feel that there were any curveballs that I wasn’t able to handle, but I was not expecting to score as well as I did.”

Looking back at his time at Goodman, his classes with Accounting Lecturer Glenn Skrubbeltrang stand out.

“I gravitated towards the way he keeps your attention through his enthusiastic and fun attitude,” Filinski said. “Sometimes students lose sight of the big picture. He helped us think outside of the box and put things in perspective.”

At Goodman, both the School and the Accounting Department were extremely proud to hear of Filinski’s achievement.

“We’re delighted to learn of Andrew’s performance on the CFE,” said Goodman Dean Andrew Gaudes. “This is a culmination of his pursuit of excellence towards achieving his goals, alongside the commitment and mentorship from a community of instructors, advisors, Brock’s co-op program and employer Grant Thornton in Port Colborne, who saw promise in Andrew as a co-op student and retained him to become a senior accountant within their firm today.”

Fayez Elayan, Chair of Goodman’s Accounting Department, expressed how proud both he and his accounting colleagues are for having a Goodman grad reach this milestone.

“I want to extend my most heartfelt congratulations to Andrew for being named to the CFE Honour Roll,” Elayan said. “Andrew’s success is a reflection of his professionalism, hard work and perseverance, which are values we all share at Goodman.”

Goodman would like to congratulate all successful alumni who wrote the CFE this year.