Two employees of KPMG Bermuda have successfully completed their accounting designations.

The professional services firm said Matthew Viney earned a Chartered Professional Accountant – CPA Canada designation, and Christopher Alexander earned an Associate Chartered Accountant – ACA UK designation.

Mr Viney joined KPMG Bermuda’s audit department in October 2017, where he focused on insurance, after graduating with a degree in business/accounting from Mount Saint Vincent University.

He said: “I am excited to have successfully completed the CPA Canada exams. Thank you to my friends and family for their support and understanding while I invested many hours into studying over the past couple of years. Thanks also to KPMG and the graduate committee for their support and guidance throughout this process.”

Mr Alexander joined KPMG Bermuda’s audit department in October 2018, also focused on insurance, after graduating with a degree in accounting/finance from the University of Bristol.

The firm said Mr Alexander is the first KPMG Bermuda staff accountant to have obtained this ACA designation since KPMG was authorised as an Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales authorised training employer in February 2017.

He said: “I am incredibly proud that after three years of hard work, I have successfully passed all my ACA exams to qualify as an ICAEW Chartered Accountant. It was a challenging process but one I am grateful for and, in which, I learnt so much.

“I would like to thank my family, friends, and colleagues as well as KPMG, especially those involved in the lift off programme, for their continued support and guidance – it would not have been possible without you. I am excited to see what the future holds as I now carry this designation for the rest of my career.”

Steve Woodward, managing director and head of the KPMG Lift Off Programme, added: “KPMG in Bermuda registered as an ICAEW Training Office for the ACA designation four years ago, as we were seeing an increasing number of our Bermudian recruits graduating from UK universities.

“It’s a fantastic achievement by Chris in becoming the first successful ACA writer to pass through our Lift-Off Programme.

“The ACA and CPA Canada final examinations are both extremely challenging, so we congratulate Chris and Matt on their success and look forward to seeing them continuing their career development with the firm.”

KPMG said each of its newly qualified employees has taken part in the firm’s Lift Off Programme.

It added that nine Bermudians are in various stages of achieving the CPA CA, CPA US and ACA designations.

During the past five years, KPMG said it has seen 10 Bermudians achieve their professional accounting designations.

The firm said the programme has three robust curriculums – a summer internship/co-op placement programme, the KPMG scholarship programme, and a graduate trainee programme.

All three curriculums are available through an application process which can be found by visiting www.home.kpmg/bm/liftoff