Life of an auditor

When we first walk into our hallowed offices, we are given an orientation of the office setup and certain relevant areas that might be helpful to us as we proceed along on the partner-track. I remember getting introduced to the supply closet, which is like a Bertie Botts gift shop for auditors. Swipe your badge, and you have access to a vast array of supplies that will enhance your arsenal while you audit a myriad of companies. Red pencils, blue pencils, green pencils, pencils, erasers, post-its, mini post-its, staplers, mini staplers, staple removers, rulers, erasers...and the list goes on. Apparently in other companies, people steal supplies from supply cabinets for their personal use at home. I'd honestly rather not. Dealing with these familiar supplies the whole day is enough, but if i see another colored pencil at home, i'm more likely to break it into half and throw it away. Tell you what though, you know there are some brilliant marketers when they can make auditing attr...

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...