Raaj Parikh is an instance of the quintessential American success story. The proud son of hard-working immigrants who moved from India to the United States to observe their American dream, he hopes to be a pillar in the company world.
A person with many hats, he began off working at Dunkin Donuts at the age of 15, earlier than transferring on to roles in retail with Sears and banana republic to finance his undergraduate research.
His love for numbers led him to pursue a level in accounting. Graduating from the University Of Illinois Chicago (UIC), in the center of the nice recession, with accountants in excessive demand, he discovered himself shortly employed at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in Chicago, Illinois.
Raaj Parikh says that he was inquisitive about what had led to the collapse of a large number of massive corporations throughout that point, and dealing in the Risk Assurance apply helped him concentrate on processes and controls.
He says, “the reason why a lot of big corporations crumbled was the lack of a strong internal control environment, which is to say that they didn’t have the right checks and balances in place.”
In his position at PwC, Raaj Parikh served many consumers in industries starting from manufacturing to healthcare expertise. He says that studying about the completely different processes of a corporation comparable to treasury payroll, monetary statements, AP/AR and stock honed his understanding of what an excellent management atmosphere actually is.
“The contrasting metrics at play were made apparent when I was able to work with sophisticated clients that had really strong control environments. Helping bring those solid practices to compromised control environments was very rewarding.” After serving at PwC for 5 years, he shifted gears and adopted one of his mentors to RSM to pursue public accounting in a managerial capability.
There, he had the alternative to work with the largest purchasers for that group. Often touring Sunday by means of Friday for many of his 20s, Raaj Parikh liaised with a big selection of clientele. From worldwide purchasers in Berlin, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Paris and London; to rural American cities comparable to Whitesville, Indiana and South Dakota.
Raaj Parikh says that the stress of such a fast-paced life and time spent away from family and friends led to him switching roles. “It is no secret that finding work-life balance in public accounting can be challenging.”
Realizing that he nonetheless loved accounting however didn’t need to work as an auditor, led Raaj Parikh to his present position as the Corporate Accounting Manager at Cushman & Wakefield, an $8B Commercial Real Estate Company.
He now oversees the accounting capabilities of over 40 entities. His employer went public through IPO in 2018 and SOX compliant in 2019 and has seen exponential progress ever since. According to Parikh, the firm has expanded by means of strategic mergers and acquisitions.
“It’s an interesting time to be at a company that’s going through so much transformation and I’m enjoying the learning opportunity.”
