Okay, so most of you who just began in the audit practice hate this job. That's how many of you probably ended up reading this blog. You're probably either in or just about to begin the much talked-about "busy season". You don't think it's going to get any better. Cheer up, people.
Trust me, busy season will be horrendous if you go into work with a bad mood every time. You bring yourself down, and the team down along the way. Anyway, let's look at ways you can significantly improve your life at the auditing firms (took me 5 yrs in the business to understand this, and i'm still learning) -
a) Pick your team - This is such an important factor in determining whether you want to walk to come to work every day. I don't care if you're going with Isaac Newton, nobel laureates or the best accounting heads in the business, if they don't have people skills and tend to treat you like dirt, it's not worth it. How do you go about picking your team? Simple, ask around, talk to anyone you've liked working with, and see if they have any open spots on their other teams. Be aggressive and snoop around their schedules yourself and mention open spots if you see any.
b) Pick your clients - Even if you are part of a great team, it'll still be miserable if you hate dealing with your client, or if you hate working on certain client accounts. For example, if you hate revenue recognition, stay off software clients. On the flip side, if you like revenue recognition, try your best to get on software clients. Your goal is to want to get up every day and not dread going to work.
c) Decent Commute - Obviously something else that will help is a smaller commute. You don't want to spend 2-3 hrs of your day in your car.
d) Don't take work too seriously - You are not saving lives here. If something isn't by the book, it's okay. Just be pragmatic, use logic, and be "professionally skeptical", and you'll be fine. The company isn't committing fraud if there's a $100 honest error. And you're not in this business to find fraud, you're in this business to ensure that that the company's financials are fairly stated.
e) Schmooze - Network, network, network. You have to do it within your own company. Knowing the right people to reach out to when you need something is key.
f) Don't take work too seriously - You are not saving lives here. If something isn't by the book, it's okay. Just be pragmatic, use logic, and be "professionally skeptical", and you'll be fine. The company isn't committing fraud if there's a $100 honest error. And you're not in this business to find fraud, you're in this business to ensure that that the company's financials are fairly stated.
Enjoy busy season!
Trust me, busy season will be horrendous if you go into work with a bad mood every time. You bring yourself down, and the team down along the way. Anyway, let's look at ways you can significantly improve your life at the auditing firms (took me 5 yrs in the business to understand this, and i'm still learning) -
a) Pick your team - This is such an important factor in determining whether you want to walk to come to work every day. I don't care if you're going with Isaac Newton, nobel laureates or the best accounting heads in the business, if they don't have people skills and tend to treat you like dirt, it's not worth it. How do you go about picking your team? Simple, ask around, talk to anyone you've liked working with, and see if they have any open spots on their other teams. Be aggressive and snoop around their schedules yourself and mention open spots if you see any.
b) Pick your clients - Even if you are part of a great team, it'll still be miserable if you hate dealing with your client, or if you hate working on certain client accounts. For example, if you hate revenue recognition, stay off software clients. On the flip side, if you like revenue recognition, try your best to get on software clients. Your goal is to want to get up every day and not dread going to work.
c) Decent Commute - Obviously something else that will help is a smaller commute. You don't want to spend 2-3 hrs of your day in your car.
d) Don't take work too seriously - You are not saving lives here. If something isn't by the book, it's okay. Just be pragmatic, use logic, and be "professionally skeptical", and you'll be fine. The company isn't committing fraud if there's a $100 honest error. And you're not in this business to find fraud, you're in this business to ensure that that the company's financials are fairly stated.
e) Schmooze - Network, network, network. You have to do it within your own company. Knowing the right people to reach out to when you need something is key.
f) Don't take work too seriously - You are not saving lives here. If something isn't by the book, it's okay. Just be pragmatic, use logic, and be "professionally skeptical", and you'll be fine. The company isn't committing fraud if there's a $100 honest error. And you're not in this business to find fraud, you're in this business to ensure that that the company's financials are fairly stated.
Enjoy busy season!
Comments
I was wandering if any outsourcing of work occurs at the Big 4?
@Lifeofanauditor - I like the emphasis on 'don't take it too seriously' - my client was pleased to see me come in "so chill". Leads to good times. Even when you find something that looks off, it's easier to search for the answer (b/c it's usually just something organized in some bizarre way) than to fret that you've discovered the end of the world.
Even with experience it's important to remember that.
Still trying to subscribe to this blog in NewsGator...still receiving an error...
Any luck?
Do you have any advice to share on asking your senior for more work? I always find that I run out of work, but I'm not sure if I'll be HELPING destress them by getting some more work, or just making them more stressed out because they have to find something for me to do!
Hell yeah, it's happening as we speak. Deloitte's already got a system in place, and the Big 4 firm I'm at is starting a model where they can send all of the tedious work to a central delivery center. Many unwilling associates were pulled to staff this pilot project, and now we're getting shafted doing the grunt work for not only our own engagement team, but now we're doing grunt work for engagement teams across the country. They'll study our processes and use them to start delivery centers that they're already setting up overseas.