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Before carving out a glittering career in the diamond industry, James Wong played an instrumental part in the Canadian Government, consolidating its financial statements and apportioning the assets and liabilities of the Northwest Territories of Canada.

His illustrious career path includes extensive periods at PricewaterhouseCoopers and KPMG, working in the auditing field. In the late 1990s he also participated in the formation of the new government of Nunavut, the newest and largest of the provinces and territories of Canada.

Despite these very notable achievements, he cites his greatest challenge as being able to strike the right balance between his demanding workload and studying for his ACCA exams.

"It was a constant struggle to find time to do both things at the same time, particularly because you have to pass all four subjects at the same sitting for each professional stage of the exam," says James.

Until September 2003, James Wong worked as the Principal Project Controller for Diavik Diamond Mines, a subsidiary of the internationally-renowned mining conglomerate, Rio Tinto. In this capacity, he helped oversee the construction of the second diamond mine in North America. He now runs his own accounting and consulting practice in Yellowknife, in the Northwest Territories of Canada, illustrating the diverse career opportunities afforded to students of the ACCA qualification.

"Career advancement came immediately after I was professionally qualified. The time and effort spent obtaining the qualification is well worth it and the return is tenfold. I cannot see any better way to invest your time that would give you a better return in terms of career development."

For James, the future for the profession is clear.

"New members should uphold the professional reputation which ACCA members have built over the years. In the next 100 years I would like to see wholesale compliance by accountants with the highest ethical standards and independence rules. We have to maintain the trust and confidence of the investing public. Once we lose our credibility and fail to fulfil this important responsibility, the whole economy and capital markets will turn to chaos. This would have a significantly destructive impact on everyone of us."