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Conspiracy of Fools

Jumping off my negativity track in this entry, this past week has actually changed my perception of this job, well…at least a little bit. Dealing with/Understanding slightly more complex accounting issues is much better than ticking and tying pieces of paper. Sure it can be tough to put your head around what companies do at times, but the frustration that accompanies staff-level work is just as painful, but not as stressful.

Also, I’d like to recommend the book “Conspiracy of Fools” by Kurt Eichenwald. It’s a book that details the rise and fall of Enron. For the .02% of the auditing populace who don't know, the Enron debacle changed auditing forever.
And trust me, this is not a dry read. I’m barely through with the book, but it is so engrossing that I find it hard to put it down at times. This is a book you have to read as an auditor, especially for those who don’t like what they do. It has honestly made me respect my job more, at least for the time being. The accounting tricks they pulled off at Enron are absolutely astounding. I had to go through what they did at least 3-4 times to understand it. Again, this is not an auditing book, nor is it really an accounting book, think about it more as an entertaining fiction novel, except it’s true, yet unbelievable. Like they say, sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.
Read it, and I promise you it will encourage the discouraged and frustrated auditors, to trudge on for a little longer. Oh and set up time aside for it, it’s up there with those huge Harry Potter books in size, albeit more entertaining and more scandalous.

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