Deanw
6th Jul 2005, 11:50
Business Day 6 July 2005:
Aviation-loving, travel-mad bean counter proves you can live your passion
Sanchia Temkin
APASSION for the tourism and aviation industry makes Brooks Mparutsa a perfect fit for his role as executive director at the Airports Company SA (Acsa).
“I had a brilliant accountancy teacher at school, who opened up my entire world. By the time I left high school, I knew what I wanted to do; there was no question in mind,” Mparutsa says.
After passing his board exam, Mparutsa was appointed senior audit manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers, but the travel bug bit hard and he left the professional services firm after seven years.
“Having worked and studied at the same time, I wanted to see the world and broaden my horizons, so I applied for secondment to the US. But because of the PricewaterhouseCoopers merger, it was put on hold,” he says.
Mparutsa subsequently joined South African Airways, a “classic job” for someone wanting to travel. “You get to see the world and do something you love,” he says.
He then joined Stanbic Africa, first in Johannesburg, and later in Tanzania, first as head of finance for east Africa and later in the corporate banking division.
But again the aviation industry beckoned. “When the opportunity arose to join Acsa, it was with no hesitation that I returned to the industry, something I enjoy tremendously. Aviation is difficult to get out of your blood,” Mparutsa says.
He says aviation offers the challenge of financing long-term assets in a business environment that is dynamic and international.
For instance, the introduction of the A380 Airbus will change the industry for both airports and airlines, and particularly for hub airports such as Johannesburg International Airport, he says.
“What also makes aviation so exciting is that it is not necessarily an accounting challenge you have to face,” Mparutsa says.
“When you make a decision to buy an aircraft or invest in airport infrastructure, it is a decision that cannot easily reverse in year two or three. What other businesses call long-term, we call short-term.”
He says Acsa’s planning team is working on projects that might come to fruition in 20 years’ time, and planning to meet customers’ long-term needs in an industry that is sometimes fickle in the short-term is a difficult balancing act.
Decisions have to be carefully weighed and the challenge is to ensure the balance sheet is properly structured to finance long-term assets while maintaining an appropriate level of flexibility.
He says airports need to be regarded as more than just runways and buildings. They are gateways between countries and more than just a destination at which travellers arrive or depart.
“Airports are shopping malls; we compete against the likes of Sandton City. Somewhere in the region of 43% of our revenue is non-aeronautical,” he says.
Though Mparutsa is responsible for Acsa’s financial management, he does not want to be seen as an accountant. He wants his team to be regarded as business partners and not as bean counters.
“Sometimes, accountants assume that readers and users of our work are also accountants, which is a big mistake. Investors, shareholders and stakeholders are not accountants,” he says.
“I think we’re becoming more rules-based, and when the rules say this we have to follow the rules. We may have forgotten who the users are when an audit report is tabled or financial information is presented.”
He says accountants should ensure that what they produce fairly represents the position the business takes. “When I think back to my audit days, fair presentation was something for which we really strove. I sometimes think we’ve forgotten about fair presentation,” Mparutsa says.
He is concerned that purely accounting considerations are used to drive business decisions. He believes good business decisions should be accounting- neutral.
While the accounting profession needs to look at its relevance in a rapidly changing world, he still believes it is one of the best careers in the business world.
“The important thing is not to look at the narrow definition of an accountant. There are so many things you can do with an accountancy degree. It is an entry point, not an end point,” he says.
Aviation-loving, travel-mad bean counter proves you can live your passion
Sanchia Temkin
APASSION for the tourism and aviation industry makes Brooks Mparutsa a perfect fit for his role as executive director at the Airports Company SA (Acsa).
“I had a brilliant accountancy teacher at school, who opened up my entire world. By the time I left high school, I knew what I wanted to do; there was no question in mind,” Mparutsa says.
After passing his board exam, Mparutsa was appointed senior audit manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers, but the travel bug bit hard and he left the professional services firm after seven years.
“Having worked and studied at the same time, I wanted to see the world and broaden my horizons, so I applied for secondment to the US. But because of the PricewaterhouseCoopers merger, it was put on hold,” he says.
Mparutsa subsequently joined South African Airways, a “classic job” for someone wanting to travel. “You get to see the world and do something you love,” he says.
He then joined Stanbic Africa, first in Johannesburg, and later in Tanzania, first as head of finance for east Africa and later in the corporate banking division.
But again the aviation industry beckoned. “When the opportunity arose to join Acsa, it was with no hesitation that I returned to the industry, something I enjoy tremendously. Aviation is difficult to get out of your blood,” Mparutsa says.
He says aviation offers the challenge of financing long-term assets in a business environment that is dynamic and international.
For instance, the introduction of the A380 Airbus will change the industry for both airports and airlines, and particularly for hub airports such as Johannesburg International Airport, he says.
“What also makes aviation so exciting is that it is not necessarily an accounting challenge you have to face,” Mparutsa says.
“When you make a decision to buy an aircraft or invest in airport infrastructure, it is a decision that cannot easily reverse in year two or three. What other businesses call long-term, we call short-term.”
He says Acsa’s planning team is working on projects that might come to fruition in 20 years’ time, and planning to meet customers’ long-term needs in an industry that is sometimes fickle in the short-term is a difficult balancing act.
Decisions have to be carefully weighed and the challenge is to ensure the balance sheet is properly structured to finance long-term assets while maintaining an appropriate level of flexibility.
He says airports need to be regarded as more than just runways and buildings. They are gateways between countries and more than just a destination at which travellers arrive or depart.
“Airports are shopping malls; we compete against the likes of Sandton City. Somewhere in the region of 43% of our revenue is non-aeronautical,” he says.
Though Mparutsa is responsible for Acsa’s financial management, he does not want to be seen as an accountant. He wants his team to be regarded as business partners and not as bean counters.
“Sometimes, accountants assume that readers and users of our work are also accountants, which is a big mistake. Investors, shareholders and stakeholders are not accountants,” he says.
“I think we’re becoming more rules-based, and when the rules say this we have to follow the rules. We may have forgotten who the users are when an audit report is tabled or financial information is presented.”
He says accountants should ensure that what they produce fairly represents the position the business takes. “When I think back to my audit days, fair presentation was something for which we really strove. I sometimes think we’ve forgotten about fair presentation,” Mparutsa says.
He is concerned that purely accounting considerations are used to drive business decisions. He believes good business decisions should be accounting- neutral.
While the accounting profession needs to look at its relevance in a rapidly changing world, he still believes it is one of the best careers in the business world.
“The important thing is not to look at the narrow definition of an accountant. There are so many things you can do with an accountancy degree. It is an entry point, not an end point,” he says.