Life of an auditor

Did some traveling for clients recently. Personally, I like traveling to different cities and such. But it does come with some disadvantages - a) we're literally spending the entire day with our team (including dinner), and so having a good team is key b) we just tend to work late since we usually stay only for a set number of days. The advantages are plentiful - a) you get to see different cities b) expense through decent food we usually dont get on a daily basis at home. I hate dealing with the expense police though...hey we're sacrificing our personal schedules at home for our firm, least you can do is let us live it up.

Yet another article on the move from public to private accounting. Here are a couple excerpts - "In fact, moving from public accounting to a position in Corporate America is easy, says Patricia DiNunzio, regional managing director for placement firm the Mergis Group, who works in Columbus, Ohio. DiNunzio sees specific good times to make the switch: "You either do it as a senior after two years of public accounting work, as a manager after five years, or as a senior manager after eight years," she says." "Whenever you move, pay attention to timing and don't move during the busy season, adds Sheryl Martin, executive director of firm operations for WithumSmith+Brown, P.C., a CPA firm with 11 offices along with Mid-Atlantic corridor. "I would never recommend that anyone move in the busy season," she warns. "Smile, stick it out and leave in May. It's always frowned on when you leave, but if you're leaving during tax season, you're inev...

Here's an article that expands on the security of accounting jobs in wall street As bad as the accountant tag is, and as bad as the auditor tag is, one beautiful thing about our experience is that it is arguably the most technical of the lot in the financial services field. And with businesses getting more and more complex, the accounting gets more complex, and thus barely any accountants are getting laid off. Job security is a beautiful thing.

Here's an interesting article essentially stating that the cpa jd combination is a deadly combination in the marketplace. My take - a jd gives anything that added oomph, especially an mba. An mba jd from a top school would be a killer combo. The thing with this cpa jd thing though, is that it pigeonholes us into certain jobs. I'm sure we'd get paid top $$$, but will we be happy? Now that's a different question.

"Is it tough getting a job at the big 4 after working at a smaller firm?...Any idea what GT's rep is in the states?" Personally, I don't think it's hard transferring to a big 4 firm after a year at GT, or any other firm for that matter. By GT, I'm assuming you mean Grant Thornton. It depends on the office, i.e. whether that particular regional office is in need of people. If the office needs senior associates, and you've got a couple years at another firm, you should be able to transfer. Worst case scenario -they make you repeat a year as a staff, and it has happened before. As far as Grant Thornton's rep goes, I think it's the biggest non big 4 firm, and most people in the big 4 world have heard of it. Outside of public accounting, I'd say that most people haven't heard of it, but really, a big 4 experience is so over-rated it's not even funny. But hey, we'll take it.

Sorry I haven't blogged in forever, but I've been travelling everywhere for work and my mind's been elsewhere, so I haven't really sat down to blog about it. Just wanted to pass around another website that a reader started.. http://funnyauditors.blogspot.com/ I should hopefully resume blogging soon.