Life of an auditor

What's with the people who love patting themselves? Come to think of it, what's the terminology used to describe someone like that? "Look at my reviews, they know I'm good". "Now the solution that I recommended"...repeat that 10 times over a 3 hour meeting. "The partner said that I was one of the best here". Maybe it's insecurities..maybe it's competition? Okay, I understand insecurities...but competition? Come on now, this is auditing...even if you're albert einstein you still have to have the organizational skills of an administrative assistant to do well in your first few years. Heck, even if you are "really good", there's no real competition between your fellow auditors. You are not going to gain anything out of it. This is not a Jack Welch organization where only the cream of the crop survive. There's a saying that floats around within our firm, and I'm sure..at some other companies too.."All the musc...

$5000!!! $5000!!! That's the amount two of the big 4 (PWC and EY) are paying new hires if they pass the CPA in their first year of eligibility. KPMG and Deloitte don't pay anything yet. Although KPMG did present a check for $1,000,000 before game 4 of the world series to some charity, so they do have the money. Note that these figures may well be wrong, and please correct me yet. Now that's a pretty darn good incentive to buckle down and study. Heck, if this was the case earlier, most people my level would have been bogged down in their becker and bisk books to get through the exam. The firms realize that this is the best form of motivation for their pencil pushers. There is a huge shortage of CPAs in this country and it's difficult to find time to study the further you are in your career, so not only did some states change the rules so you could sit for your CPA while you're wearing diapers, but the firms have started offering some really good incentives to their ...

It amazes me that the big 4 get away with such a ridiculous salary structure. Props to the accounting firms for perfecting such a structure. It makes sense though, they hire so many graduates now that replacing entry level employees is not much of a problem. Where it hits them is when seniors/senior associates and above start quitting. They can't be replaced immediately. The stress and number of hours they put in is not reflected in their salaries. That is why, sometimes, we are curious by and do not mind those myriad calls by recruiters with offers from "financial service companies" with offers 30% above our salaries and way less hours. That's when a work-life balance and higher salary requirements really kick in for us. I'm okay with the salaries offered to the staff associates for the first two years. But after that, the salary levels are absolutely dismal. By that time, most would have had or in pursuit of their CPAs, and thus are highly lucrative targets for ...

I'm surprised that nobody's talked or written about the life of auditors, the very people loathed by companies, and loved by...well, not many. We're the ones who bug company personnel for invoices and documentation...and more documentation. We then ask questions that either make us look stupid or make the controllers and other accounting personnel look stupid, since they probably are clueless about how what they do affects the entire company. But, that's for another blog. Now, how does one become an auditor? You know how kids grow up wanting to become astronauts, doctors, presidents and athletes. Well, nobody grows up wanting to become an auditor. We only major in accounting in college because people tell us that unlike art history or basket weaving, it will lead us to a guaranteed job, which means money. We then have the Big 4 - PriceWaterHouseCoopers, KPMG, Ernst and Young, and Deloitte and Touche - who pounce on college campuses across the nation and recruit some fre...