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Excel Tip #2: How to Set Up an Automated Table of Contents in Word 2007
Posted by Kevin H in Excel Tips recently.
Three step process to setting up an automated table of contents in Word 2007
1) Type in the document the “title” (Prologue) of the first page of your table of contents
2) Highlight the title and click on the “Home” tab, in the “Styles” section select “Heading 1”
3) Click outside of your “title” and click on the “References” tab, in the “Table of Contents” section select “Table of Contents”
Poof! You should have something like this:
Contents
Prologue....................................................................................................................................1
Floor Trader
Posted by Kevin H in Trading Plan Strategy and Tips recently.
What is a floor trader. What do floor traders do?
Floor traders trade as a principal for his or her account on trading floors. In the past, this was a lucrative business. They had immediate access to information the typical American did not and the ability to go in and out of a trade before anyone else. Nowadays, computerized trading has replaced much of their worth.
The bottom line to making money ultimately depends on how much risk you are willing to take.
High risk, High reward, right? We are all too familiar with this concept.
FLOORED offers a look into the floor trading profession and the emotions involved in making millions in a matter of minutes.
This film provides a glimpse of their lifestyle and profession. It doesn't go into details on how to trade, but it does give people who are not familiar with the profession a good look into it.
Ways to Make Extra Money
Posted by Kevin H in Finances recently.
As a college student, I was always looking for ways to make extra money.
If you didn’t know already, consumer product companies have been trying to predict the needs and wants of individual consumer for as long as I can remember. They want us to buy their products and the only way we would do so is by buying what we want and need or what we think we want or need. In the past, companies have asked about individuals’ attitudes, beliefs,values and past behaviors through paper-based surveys. Nowadays, surveys are being posted on the internet through survey research data collection companies.
There must be at least fifty online survey companies out there. I’ve narrowed my focus into two survey companies that I thought paid the most often and in a timely fashion. One of which includes Opinion Outpost.
Companies who look for ways to understand their attitudes, beliefs, values and past behaviors use companies like Opinion Outpost to gather information. Essentially Opinion Outpost amasses a large amount of surveys and holds it in their database, and then it disperses it to the pool of individuals. When a survey is available to its users, Opinion Outpost will send its user an e-mail notification with the direct link to the survey. Alternatively access to these open surveys is accessible through their website interface through your individual account. The results go directly to the consumer products based company or Opinion Outpost’s client.
Each survey has what are called pre-screener questions that helps the consumer product company find their target consumer. Companies want to survey those who fit a certain criteria – including age, sex, ethnicity, income, job profession. Most times, they won’t tell you who they are looking for. So your pre-screener answers could be in vain. But the neat thing about Opinion Outpost is that even though you do not pass their screener they offer you three options. You can donate to a charity, try your chances at an instant win of $50, or enter your name in a large sum sweepstakes.
They do offer a referral bonus incentive when you refer people to the site. It’s only a dollar, so if you are interested, I’d appreciate it if you signed up under my link. Alternatively here is the direct website without the referral link. It takes as little as $5 to cash out. From my experience that is about two or three completed online surveys.
How is Phil Jackson so calm?
Posted by Kevin H in Enjoy Life, Personal Growth, Personal Growth Literature
"It was Jackson's calm on the sidelines that immediately appealed to Michael.." - From Jackson's Book
What may seem to be a big deal now, five or ten years from now, will only appear to be a drop in the ocean.
Assuming the role of an auditor requires extreme attention to details. Often times, so much so that we lose sight of the big picture. Pathetically, we then fail to remind ourselves that there is more to life than making sure we obtain reasonable explanations.
Since I can remember, I've been a basketball fanatic - following it and playing the game religiously for more than 15 years now. I've learned a great deal from professional athletes. Being cognizant of how they deal with pressure, how they carry themselves, and understanding their work ethics; then incorporating these lessons into my own life.
Naturally, I was drawn to Phil Jackson's ten championships as a coach. How was he able to achieve such greatness in the past two decades or so? What made him so successful? These questions filled my mind. What continues to fascinate me is how he is able to maintain such a calm demeanor even in the midst of seemingly insurmountable pressures. His assistant coach once said, "He has a purpose for practically anything he does. There's times when things are about to blow up and you think man oh man why doesn't he step in and do something about this? And there's nothing but silence there."
"He's sort of a mystery to the players because he is not predictable. He doesn't overreact, or sometimes even react at all. Yet he has a firm hand. The strength of Phil is that he is always very aware of what is happening. He could see things on the bench, or in the locker room, but never moved too quickly to fix things. He would only do that after he had thought about it. Then he would do just what was needed to calm the situation and the problem."
After much research, I believe that his Zen approach to life and dedicate to eastern philosophy
Ultimate List of Short / Bear ETFs
Posted by Kevin H in Stock Picks recently.
It's not secret that the indices have been on a "bear tear" lately. I've made a significant amount of money off of short/bear ETFs. I would say right now as of June 2010, the popular ones are definitely shorting Oil/Gas, the major indices, and Euro/US dollar.
Here are a list of short/bear ETFs, which can also be found here.
Dow Jones
Short Dow30 (DOG) - 1x Inverse of Dow Jones Industrial Average
UltraShort Dow 30 (DXD) - 2x Inverse of Dow Jones Industrial Average
UltraPro Short Dow 30 (SDOW) - 3x Inverse of Dow Jones Jones Industrial Average
Short Financials (SEF) - 1x Inverse of Dow Jones U.S. Financials Index
UltraShort Financials (SKF) - 2x Inverse of Dow Jones U.S. Financials Index
Short Oil & Gas (DDG) - 1x Inverse of Dow Jones U.S. Oil & Gas Index
UltraShort Oil & Gas (DUG) - 2x Inverse of Dow Jones Oil & Gas Index
Short Real Estate (REK) - 1x Inverse of Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate Index
UltraShort Real Estate (SRS) - 2x Inverse of Dow Jones Real Estate Index
Short Basic Materials (SBM) - 1x Inverse of Dow Jones U.S. Basic Materials Index
UltraShort Basic Materials (SMN) - 2x Inverse of Dow Jones U.S. Basic Materials Index
UltraShort Consumer Goods (SZK) - 2x Inverse of Dow Jones U.S. Consumer Goods Index
UltraShort Consumer Services (SCC) - 2x Inverse of Dow Jones U.S. Consumer Services Index
UltraShort Health Care (RXD) - 2x Inverse of Dow Jones U.S. Health Care Index
UltraShort Industrials (SIJ) - 2x of Inverse of Dow Jones U.S. Industrials Index
UltraShort Semiconductors (SSG) - 2x Inverse of Dow Jones U.S. Semiconductors Index
UltraShort Technology (REW) - 2x Inverse of Dow Jones U.S. Technology Index
UltraShort Telecommunications (TLL) - 2x Inverse of Dow Jones U.S. Select Telecom Index
UltraShort Utilities (SDP) - 2x Inverse of Dow Jones U.S. Utilities Index
S&P
Short S&P 500 (SH)- 1x Inverse of S&P 500 Index
UltraShort S&P 500 (SDS)- 2x Inverse of S&P 500 Index
UltraPro Short S&P 500 (SPXU) - 3x Inverse of S&P 500 Index
Short Mid Cap 400 (MYY) - 1x Inverse of S&P MidCap 400 Index
UltraShort Mid Cap 400 (MZZ) - 2x Inverse of S&P MidCap 400 Index
UltraShort Short Mid Cap 400 (SMDD) - 3x Inverse of S&P MidCap 400 Index
Short SmallCap 600 (SBB) - 1x Inverse of S&P SmallCap 600 Index
UltraShort SmallCap 600 (SDD) - 2x Inverse of S&P SmallCap 600 Index
NASDAQ
Short QQQQ (PSQ)- 1x Inverse of Nasdaq 100 Index
UltraShort QQQQ (QID)- 2x Inverse of Nasdaq 100 Index
UltraPro Short QQQQ (SQQQ)- 3x Inverse of Nasdaq 100 Index
UltraShort Nasdaq Biotechnology (BIS) - 2x Inverse of Biotechnology Index
Russell
Short Russell 2000 (RWM) - 1X Inverse of Russell 2000 Index
UltraShort Russell 2000 (TWM) - 2X Inverse of Russell 2000 Index
UltraPro Short Russell (SRTY) - 3X Inverse of Russell 2000 Index
UltraShort Russell Mid Cap Growth (SDK) - 2X Inverse of Russell Mid- Cap Growth Index
UltraShort Russell Mid Cap Value (SJL) - 2X Inverse of Russell Mid-Cap Value Index
UltraShort Russell 1000 Growth (SFK) - 2X Inverse of Russell 1000 Growth Index
UltraShort Russell 1000 Value (SJF) - 2X Inverse of Russell 1000 Value Index
UltraShort Russell 2000 Growth (SKK) - 2X Inverse of Russell 2000 Growth Index
UltraShort Russell 2000 Value (SJH) - 2X Inverse of Russell 2000 Value Index
UltraShort Russell 3000 (TWQ) - 2X Inverse of Russell 3000 Index
Commodity
UltraShort DJ - UBS Commodity (CMD) - 2x Inverse of Dow Jones UBS Commodity Index
UltraShort DJ - UBS Crude Oil (SCO) - 2x Inverse of Dow Jones UBS Crude Oil Sub - Index
UltraShort Gold (GLL) - 2x Inverse of Gold
UltraShort Silver (ZSL) - 2x Inverse of Silver
FTSE / Xinhua
Short FTSE/Xinhua China 25 (YXI) - 1x Inverse of FSTE/Xinhua China 25 Index
UltraShort FTSE/ Xinhua (FXP) - 2x Inverse of FSTE/ Xinhua China
Currency
UltraShort Euro (EUO) - 2x Inverse of Euro/US Dollar
UltraShort Yen (YCS) - 2x Inverse of Yen/US Dollar
MSCI
UltraShort MSCI Brazil (BZQ) - 2x Inverse of MSCI Brazil Index
Short MSCI EAFE (EFZ) - 1x Inverse of MSCI EAFE Index
UltraShort MSCI EAFE (EPU) - 2x Inverse of MSCI EAFE Index
Short MSCI Emerging Markets (EUM) - 1x Inverse of MSCI Emerging Markets Index
UltraShort MSCI Emerging Markets (EEV) - 2x Inverse of MSCI Emerging Markets Index
UltraShort MSCI Europe (EPV) - 2x Inverse of MSCI Europe Index
UltraShort MSCI Japan (EWV) 2x Inverse of Japan Index
UltraShort MSCI Mexico Investable Market (SMK) - 2x Inverse of MSCI Mexico Investable Market Index
UltraShort MSCI Pacific ex-Japan (JPX) - 2x Inverse of MSCI Pacific ex-Japan Index
Treasury Index
Short 20+ Year Treasury (TBF) - 1x Inverse of Barclays Capital 20+ Year U.S. Treasury Index
UltraShort 20+ Year Treasury (TBT) - 2x Inverse of Barclays Capital 200+ Year U.S. Treasury Index
UltraShort 7-10 Year Treasury (PST) - 2x Inverse of Barclays Captial 7-10 Year U.S. Treasury Index
Dress for a Successful Big 4 Interview
Posted by Kevin H in Career, Life of a BIG 4 Auditor recently.
In any interview, whether it be for Big 4 or not, first impressions make a difference. Thus, dressing appropriately is not to be taken lightly. Below are just a couple "DOs" and "DON'Ts" for both men and women that I've gathered from recruiters over the years.
Business Professional for Men
DOs
- Matching suit jacket and slacks (dark in color)
- Tie
- Collard shirt (light in color, preferably white)
- Black dress socks
- Dress shoes
DON'Ts
- Short sleeves
- Open collars
- Flashy shirts or ties (be conservative)
- White socks
- Sneakers or sandals
Notes:
- Wear your suit jacket during your interview unless your your interviewer isn't
- Tie should end at the belt buckle
- Make sure clothes are pressed and pants are hemmed
- No facial hair or keep it clean
- No cologne - interviews are usually held in small rooms, you'll never know if your interviewer like your cologne or can't stand it
- Keep last button of your suit unbuttoned
Business Professional for Women
DOs
- Matching suit - can be pants or skirt
- Collared shirt (pastel color or white)
- Closed toe dress shoes (3 inch heels or less)
DON'Ts
- Sleeveless blouses/tank tops
- Mini skirts
- Sun dresses
- Sneakers or sandals
- Collar of shirt should be kept outside of suit collar
- Make sure clothes are pressed and pants hemmed
- Skirts should be knee length
- Keep hair neatly kept and out of your face
- Light make up
- Clothes should not be tight
- Stockings are optional
- No flashy jewelry
- Earrings should not be long or dangly
Personal Library
Posted by Kevin H in Literature recently.
My ever growing collection of books from personal development to stock trading to business development.
"The reason reading is so important: there have been millions, billions, and gazillions of people that have lived before all of us. There is no new problem you can have (with anything) that someone hasn't already solved and wrote about in a book." - Will Smith
So You Want to Begin a Career in Accounting
Posted by Kevin H in Career, Life of a BIG 4 Auditor recently.
When you think of an accountant, typically, you think of someone who prepares tax returns or is a pure number cruncher. While this might have been true in the past, nowadays we have Microsoft Excel to help us crunch numbers. In addition, stricter government regulations such as the implementation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act have paved the way for greater demands in different careers within the accounting field. Below are a few sub-categories within the accounting field to consider.
Audit: Auditors perform procedures to ensure company's financial statements are free from material misstatements. In addition, they ensure that the financial statements accurately reflect the financial performance of the company they are auditing. Banks and lenders request companies be audited because they want to be reassured that companies they lend to will be able to pay their debts. Public companies file reports such as the 10K and 10Q with the SEC. Investors factor into their decision making process the information in these reports. Naturally, companies will have an incentive to overstate their assets and understate their liabilities. Therefore it is important to have a third party, such as an auditor to ensure that the banks and investors are protected.
Tax: Tax professionals prepare tax returns both on an individual and corporate basis. This includes international, federal, state, and local tax returns. In these economic times, companies are looking to reduce their tax liabilities and make better investment decisions. Tax regulations are constantly changing. This is largely due to the direction the government decides to take the economy. For example, the housing market has been on a decline in recent years. In order to mitigate this situation, the government has decided to provide tax credits to first time homeowners to boost the housing market. Tax professionals are aware of such recent developments and would be able to effectively advise individuals.
Information Technology (IT) : As the world moves towards more and more sophisticated software systems, the need for individuals with IT knowledge continues to grow along side it. Accounting systems' design complexity has increased in recent years and require extensive knowledge to troubleshoot. Professionals continue to design and implement advanced software systems. Individuals with skills to manipulate, design, and implement such systems are extremely valuable to companies.
Internal Audit: Although similar in duties to an external auditor, internal auditors focus on ensuring their company's internal controls are functioning properly. In some cases, they will perform similar procedures to that of an external auditor. An internal auditor is directly associated with their company and thus not considered a third party. Therefore, companies will have to employ another company to ensure their financial statements are free from material misstatements. Where internal auditor's value lies is in the fact that they will be able to large issues before they reach the external auditors. Therefore, cut down the work needed from external auditors, effectively reducing audit fees.
Forensics: Accounting professionals perform procedures to detect white collar crime such as fraud, tax evasion, and embezzlement.
International Focus: With exception to countries like the United States, much of the world is under IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards). Globalization has moved the United States to consider IFRS Standards. There have been advanced talks regarding the inclusion of IFRS standards in the CPA exam. Professionals with IFRS experience will become valuable to companies within the United States as well as across the globe in the coming years.
Consulting: This involves financial planning, organizational restructuring, and management tactics. Individuals will leverage prior years' data and knowledge of the current business environment to plan for the future.
General Accounting: Accountants are responsible for general ledgers, trial balances, financial statements and other general accounting issues. Often these same individuals will be responsible for closing the books at year end. Furthermore, it is not uncommon to see reconciliations from the detail listings to the trial balances be a part of their duties.
Day in a Life of an Auditor at a Big Four
Posted by Kevin H in Life of a BIG 4 Auditor recently.
The following is a description of a busy season day as experienced by an Assurance Associate at one of the Big Four firms:
7:00am - I roll out of my bed and hit the alarm simultaneously. I head to the kitchen and mix some instant oatmeal mix with hot water and grab a piece of bread. As I wait for my oatmeal to cool, I dress for work and make sure I have my laptop, wallet, keys, phone, and sack lunch. Seven minutes in, my oatmeal has not cooled yet, but in the interest of time, I decide to finish it anyways. Afterwards, I brush my teeth, do my hair, and shave.
7:30am- I realize that I am already late, so I rush out of the house only to unsurprisingly hit freeway traffic.
8:30am - After navigating through the heavy traffic, I arrive at the client site. We were given badges for entry into the gated building on Monday. I open the gate with the badge and then walk through another door that requires a badge for entry.
8:45am- I walk into the audit conference room the client has situated us in for the three weeks. I find that two other associates have already arrived. I quickly find my seat and set up my laptop and internet connection. I take out all my necessary writing utensils and notepad.
9:00am - After scanning my emails for anything needing an immediate response, I note nothing pressing. What a let down. I kid. Typically, I check all my e-mails as I receive them on my Blackberry or like some girls like to call it Cranberry, but I left my phone uncharged the day before. Next, I go down my amassed question list for the client and make sure I understand what I am asking the client and prepare myself mentally for the push back they might give for my requests for supporting documents.
9:25am - I walk upstairs, track down one of my client contacts, and then casually ask her how she is doing this fine sunny morning. After about three minutes of smooching, I crafty segue into my long list of questions. First up on the list is having her explain the variance in unbilled AR balance when comparing prior year figures to current year figures. As I ask these questions I am taking brief notes and asking follow up questions as to receive clarification. I thank her for her time and rush to meet with another client contact.
10:30am - I track down another one of my client contacts on the same floor. This time it's with regards to an AR confirmation discrepancy. The client's customer returned a confirmation for $2M less than the invoice amount. I gain an understanding of the situation and why there is a $2M dispute. The client explains that the customer believes there was a system error that recorded on the invoice more of the product than was requested and delivered. However, the client believes otherwise. I scribble notes on my notepad, so I can interpret the information at a later time.
10:50am - I follow up with a third client contact regarding payroll controls testing. The first time around I did not receive proper support for an employee termination. The control reads that terminations require two levels of manager approval, while I only received support showing one level of manager approval. The client says that they mistakenly left out the information in the support she has sent previously. Just wonderful, I think to myself. She says she will have to follow up with her contact in New Zealand.
11:00am - I update my list of follow ups with the three client contacts I had just conversed with. Some of my other client contacts are pushing back and I will have to return in the afternoon when they believe they will have more time. I set up an appointment with one of the client contacts to meet later today at 4:30pm
11:30am - A whole morning is almost gone just from chasing the client around for support and explanations. I get back to the audit conference room and my senior asks me for a status update. I give him a status update including what items are open and the reason for them being open. I also explain to him about the progress I've made in the morning. He acknowledges and thanks me for the update.
11:45am -I document what I had just learned from the client in my accounts receivable unbilled step. I do a quick self check to ensure that I've addressed the tailored procedures, all the document links are linking to the intended areas, including firm templates and filled them out completely, and documented my work to the extent in which it can be readily re-performed by another auditor. I mark the step complete, knowing that I will be receiving coaching notes when I senior reviews the step.
12:00pm - I grab my sack lunch I brought from home from the client's fridge. I eat my lunch in an unused conference room and savor my quick twenty minute break away from the computer. Some of the team members decide to eat at their desks, while others are still on the phone with their client contacts.
12:20pm - It's back to work before 12:30pm and I continue to work on my assigned steps. One of the steps I am assigned is the search for unrecorded liabilities step. I've been in contact with the client, but have not been able to obtain the correct disbursement listing. The client is unsure as to how to generate a simple disbursement listing. I ask the client to follow up with her contact and figure out the situation before getting back to me. In the meantime, I have the payment and invoice support to perform procedures to the extent possible.
2:30pm - I continue to document procedures I performed in my assigned steps and build on my list of follow up questions for the client. I set up an analytics template, which includes developing an expectation and investigating any differences that may result from our expectation and actuals. There's a variance between the expected amount and the actual gross accounts receivable for the current yea. I do a quick scan and search my support and think if I have been made aware of anything that would help me explain the reason for this difference. One possibility could be that the recent downturn of the market has decreased sales and thus lead to a decrease in accounts receivables. Another possibility is that the client's competitors may have established more favorable credit terms, thus reducing business for the client. I chalk these down as possibilities, so I can suggest reasons for the variance, which would make me sound intelligent in front of the client. I write a reminder note to myself that I will have to follow up with the client.
4:30pm - My 4:30pm appointment is here, but the client is still on the phone when I walk by her cubical. How rude I think to myself, but as auditors we are mostly numb to this by now, so I quickly dismiss it. I wait for the client to get off the phone.
4:35pm - She finally has time to and gets right to the point and asks what I need from her. I told her that I need the support that I've been asking for for the past week or so. I scan my list of follow up questions and note that I have a few for her. I fire away and quickly make notes of the client's responses. Further, I try to gain an understanding of when to expect the support. The reason I push is because I know my senior will push me and ask me why I have not received the support. As a way to cover my bases, I push the client a little bit.
5:00pm - I get back to the audit conference room and notice that it is already 5:00pm. Unfortunately it is busy season and we are only half way done with the day. I hope to get out by 10:00pm. I've been assigned to take care of dinner. Luckily for me we use an outside delivery service. All I have to do is pick the restaurant and then the service will send each of my team members an email in which they will be able to order from a menu. After they place their orders, it will send the orders to the selected restaurant and a driver will deliver the food to us at a specified time. I arrange for the email to be sent to my team members.
6:00pm - I continue to audit and document my understanding that I gained from the client. I scan the database and see that the senior has left me coaching notes. One of the coaching notes pertains to if we have performed a bucketing test for the AR aging or not. I document that in the scoping document in step 9210, we deemed it unnecessary as we have controls reliance over the system report. I ask the senior if he has time to go over some of the other coaching notes he has left for me.
8:00pm - By now all the client contacts have left for the day. It's just the audit team and the janitors now. Our food arrives on time and the engagement team takes over a difference conference room to have dinner. We take about thirty minutes to eat dinner. It is a good break from the computer screen. One of the associates asks if anyone has any big plans for the weekend. He obviously is unaware of the fact that the entire time will be working through the weekend. That is quite alright because the senior quickly reminds him of this.
8:30pm - It's time to get back to the computer. Now that the client has left, I have time to do some more audit work. I also update my list of follow up questions and note the progress to the right of each line item. I document all that I can with what I've learned from the client and continue to do detail testing for my cash steps. Yet another status update with the senior and at this point, I've amassed a list of questions for my senior as well. Many of which include the testing approaches we are taking this year. Others are simply documentation preference questions- whether or not he wants the step description as well as the step number in the documentation.
10:30pm - I still have a lot on my plate and a billion neurons firing at once in my brain. Suddenly, I am reminded of having to follow up on support I received from a contact located in New York. As there is a three hour time difference between the east coast and west coast, I will have to call the contact at 7:00am tomorrow to reach them at 10:00am. It looks like an early morning tomorrow.
11:30pm - The entire team is still in the conference room. So much for leaving at 10:00pm today, I think to myself. I make sure that I have all my questions listed for the client tomorrow and have sent out the necessary e-mails. I have audited to the extent, which I can with the given time. My senior tells me to go home. Out of courtesy, I ask the entire team if there is anything I can help with. Nobody is going to give me additional work at this hour, so I take off.
1:00am - I get back home and get ready for bed. Within seconds, I knock out.
Almost Light at the End of the Tunnel
Posted by Kevin H in Life of a BIG 4 Auditor recently.
I am dedicating this post to those who may benefit from the experiences of an individual working in public accounting at a Big 4. Though my four months of busy season is not quite over, I feel that it was appropriate given that I am able to take a breather before Monday to post a brief update on my thoughts of working at a Big 4.
Busy season as many of you are aware of is a period in time (January to March) when auditors are most busy due to the fact that companies’ year ends typically follow that the calendar year. As such, it is appropriate to audit company’s books after they’ve closed following December. On occasion, companies have seemingly ridiculous year ends such as 3/31. I have had to opportunity to work on such a job. To put things in perspective, I’ve put in 350 hours of chargeable work in March. For those of you who work eight hour days, 350 hours is 15 hour days Monday through Friday. Last week alone, I can estimate that I had a 70 hour work week. That will give you an idea of my level of pure exhaustion. Is this typical? Honestly, it depends on what clients you are put on, but the best it can get during busy season is 55 hour weeks. Basically, if you are working in public accounting, get ready for long hours.
What benefit have I received from working these incredibly insane hours? I can tell you that you will not be compensated financially to the level you expect. But, I have no doubt that I have progressed significantly both in terms of intangible personable skills and accounting technical skills. However, as each client poses different challenges. It’s almost as if I take three steps forward and one step back. The moment I feel like I’ve grounded myself on auditing techniques and understanding of what needs to be accomplished, novel issues arise and my cumulative knowledge (seven months) leaves me ill prepared to remediate the issue. In other words, you are constantly learning and being pushed into waters which you have yet to navigate. It’s a grind and unfortunately or fortunately enough, I have to string together a week and push through the end of this month. I trust you can sense my mixed sentiment at this point. So why is working at a Big 4 so challenging? Well, to summarize, it is a grown man career. You are required to communicate with controllers, managers, and high level executives to gain an understanding of their business. Furthermore, you have a specified time frame to develop that understanding to the extent in which you can document it and communicate to individuals who are not on the engagement in a clear and concise manner. On top of all of that, you are expected to understand the technicalities involved in accounting straight out of college, while the individuals you are extracting information from have experience upwards toward twenty plus years. In that respect, there is a huge learning curve.
Individuals on a team have assigned ‘steps’ or standard procedures we perform, however it’s not simple as ABC. If you have no experience with auditing you will not be able to follow these procedures. The reason is they procedures are written out for individuals who have audit experience! As a first year you gain exposure to cash, property, plant, and equipment, accounts payable, and various less risky areas. You start to gain a grasp of accounting in practice and you begin to realize that it’s not as straight forward as it was written in your college textbooks. You start to see that the excel file the client is working with is largely unorganized and not eye pleasing. For someone who is not already familiar with the excel file, it is extremely difficult to follow. They have numbers all over the place and calculations that are unfathomable. There is no manual or guide as to what is going on with the spreadsheet. The only way to gain an understanding over it is to have the client explain to you. Effectively you are checking the work of some forty year old manager who has tons more experience than you do and actually has a clue of what is going on.
Furthermore, I can’t imagine anyone who welcomes auditors. You get shut down, but they understand the audit doesn’t get done if they don’t cooperate with you. Still, for whatever reason, they make it as difficult for you as possible. So what do I have to look forward to in the coming weeks? After this next week, I hopefully will be working normal hours. Then, after work I must bang the CPA books as I have an upcoming test mid May. I will have approximately two weeks to get my act together and do my best to knock this final one out. Come June, I will find out if I either have to retake that sucker in July or will be able to enjoy my long awaited vacation.