CA Accounting Designation Revealed!

Big 4 Firings, My Post Big 4 Life and the Failed Merger

2012-05-15T21:34:00.002-07:00

Hey guys, its the Accountant here. Its been a while guys! =)

Big 4 Firings

First off, Big 4 firings. I'm pretty pissed off at Big 4 firms that have blantantly lied to people to get them to stay during busy season and fire them once its all over. There has been numerous Big 4 firings post busy season from Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG, and Pricewaterhouse coopers.

Here are some of the activity that firms have been doing lately.

a) Lie to Repeat UFE writers in 2011 that they will get a second chance after busy season and then fire them. *cough Deloitte*
b) Fire them for trying to acheive work life balance even if they are working 60 hour work weeks during busy season.
c) Fire people when they are 1-2 months away from getting their CA. *cough Deloitte*, *cough GTA Deloitte*
d) Fire juniors, intermediates, seniors, managers, senior managers if they are slightly underperforming. No one is safe.

The truth is everyone is expendable. No one is safe. One bad performance, One partner you piss off, and your axed just like that. I've talked to a top performing manager for 5 years, have an arm accident where he was out for 1 month, and he got axed. If you deny this fundamental truth, you probably are too far along brainwashed into the Big 4 system.

My Post Big 4 Life

I am officially Ex - Big 4. I left as a Senior 2 (6 months away from my manager promotion) and also coincidentally just after I got my CA.

The last month I can say has been one of the happiest months in my live. I've accomplished so much personally and professionally in just one month, then I did in a year under Big 4. Ultimately, lots of people ask me if you were a University student again and would you go the CA route again., I will answer ernestly from my heart No.   I am grateful for what I learned, but ultimately, Big 4 wasn't a good fit for me, and it wasn't what made me happy.

If you put me back as a 19 year old, after completing my first term under Big 4, I would quit and not look back. I followed rationality (It's a good job, It's worth completing, I worked so hard already) versus what my heart told me and what would ultimately make me happy. ( I don't like it here, I really don't think it will get better, I want to explore and do other jobs.)

I also advise students who have done just one or two coop terms and decided that its not for them to follow their heart. Ignore the people who tell you, "you'll regret it, its such a great job and everyone has to pay their dues" You will only end up resenting yourself if you have the opportunity and don't seize it. I encourage you to explore other jobs out there. You will definitely find jobs you do like and jobs you don't like, but if I were in university again, I would do different coop jobs and explore and see what I truly wanted to do.

Do not follow the herd. Follow your heart. It sounds cliche, but after seeing the emotional breakdowns of several of my colleagues, and close friends, this is valuable valuable advice.

With that said, I defeinitely met tons of awesome people and close friends at Big 4. I will miss them dearly, but its time for me to move on.

My thoughts on the CA merger

Today the CMA and CGA pulled out of the CPA merger, and wtf is CA Doing?? Trying to merge with themselves now?

This merger is ridiculous and a waste of our membership fees. I am a strong opponent against the merger, and wish we can just put an end to this. The ICAO needs to really start listening to its members, who you guys represent, and stop trying to run the show for your own personal agenda and personal gains.

Best regards,

The Accountant

Busy Season is Over!

2012-05-01T02:09:00.000-07:00

Finally, my nth busy season is officially over! If you're wondering about the 'nth', actually, I lost count of how many busy seasons I’ve gone through since I became an auditor right after my university days.

This busy season was extra-challenging for me. I actually thought I would skip this one out. For those who could remember my post 8 months ago, I wrote about closing my own firm. Back then, I thought I would try my hand on another career, something different from accounting or auditing. I didn’t really think that was the end of my accounting career though but I was willing to try other things.

Well, I did try another path – online jobs such as writing and such - but I only lasted for 4 months! For one, I wasn’t earning enough. For another, I wasn’t really cut out working only 4 to 5 hours a day. Call me a workaholic but I was missing the time when I worked for 8 hours a day or even more.

So what did I do? Well, I went back and worked with my former employer (a big accounting firm). It was rather easy or to be more precise, going back to the firm was an easy enough thing to do. They welcomed me with open arms. They even gave me my old position (I previously resigned when I was in the Manager 2 level) back.

What was difficult was the fact that I’ve been gone for more than 4 years so I had to make a lot of adjustments. Let me tell you, 4 years is a long time to be away from an accounting firm, especially a big one or even a mid-sized firm because a lot can happen during those 4 years. Add to this is the fact that it was right smack in the middle of the busy season when they took me back in and what do you get?

Gone for 4 years + went back middle of the busy season = one heck of a quick adjustment period!!!

Thank goodness they only gave me a few clients. Mind you, these were not the clients I handled before, these were new ones. But since they were not that complicated and they were not really big ones, hey, I should count my blessings right? But that doesn’t mean I got off easy. I still have to do overtime work, late night (or early morning) work, week-end work, etc., etc. I still had to deal with my client’s accounting staff (there are some who are really hard to deal with) and, sometimes, difficult juniors. So it’s the same-old, same-old thing again.

So now what’s next? Well, I still have a lot more things to catch up with. Still have to deal with the usual after-busy season work like staff evaluations, filing of working papers, planning for the next busy season, etc. Hope I get to write more about it in the future. And yes, I do plan to write more about this during my next blog posts. So bye for now and see you on my next post!

I'm Finally a CA!

2012-03-29T09:37:00.002-07:00

After a long, long, grueling process, I'm finally a CA, on April 16. My hours are complete (form signed, sealed and delivered) and Credit Card payment done. Made it just in the nick of time to make the April 15 CA riding.

Nothing left to do but wait till April 16 to get my letters... and potentially start looking for new jobs.

It was definitely a long, brutal, hellish experience at times, with lots of good moments and bad moments as well. I definitely seen a lot throughout the 5 years it took me to get the CA.

I've seen wide eyed juniors turn into depressing managers.
I've seen lots of cool seniors and good friends leave.
I've seen people have emotional breakdowns.
I've seen managers bitch about things that don't matter at the end of the day... ohhh you managers.

There's not one person in public accounting who I honestly doesn't think at least think a few times through busy season about saying F* it, and leave. I think I was close so many times in the last few months, and that was in December with UFE passed, and 3 months to Go before qualifying! So.. if your still going through the process, man do I know how you feel.

Especially with the change from 30 months to 36 months --> man do I feel bad for you new guys. I'm supervising some juniors for this audit and there just about to go through the SOA process.

I have two managers who are breathing down my neck... but man does it feel great to not have to care so much anymore.

The next month will be especially interesting in terms of what I feel like I'm going to do and where I'm going to take my career. But I can say I am definitely relieved, that I can begin a new chapter in my life.

CPA merger is bad for us

2011-11-28T18:58:00.000-08:00

As a current CA student who is close to being designated in a few months, I believe the upcoming CPA merger, where the CA, CMA and CGA designations is bad for the CA profession, especially for current CA Students and newly designated CA’s.

The CA is supposed to be the golden standard of accounting designations in Canada. It is the oldest and most recognized accounting designation in Canada with over 100 years of history.

The ICAO argues that a more united profession (CPA designation) would be more efficient and effective than the status quo and would be a more relevant designation.

There is nothing wrong with the status quo. The CA designation is already an extremely valuable and highly recognized designation both domestically and internationally. Many places in the world will only hire CA’s because they understand the high quality candidate that they will receive. To change over 100 years of marketing and history is a terrible idea. In addition, CA’s can acquire the U.S. CPA through a series of exams if they choose to.

The ICAO argues that no one has to give up their current designation, and can use their current designation in conjunction with the new CPA brand.

Without proper marketing and support, the CA Brand will slowly die with the money being used to market the new CPA brand. The CA brand does so well because of the large amount of marketing support it receives especially from the big four. This marketing helps recruit the best of the best. The CA designation is still the top choice amongst the top tier University students. I am not bashing the CMA or CGA, but some of the toughest programs in University are still CA based. i.e. Waterloo’s AFM and Math/CA program. It is quite unfair for those CA students who had to do all the tough work plus insane hours of articling for this “Gold Standard” designation when they end up in the same position as CGA & CMA candidates, and with all marketing dollars being poured into this CPA.

The ICAO argues that with greater numbers, we will be able to provide enhanced support to their members and have a cohesive accounting profession with new education and professional development programs.

I highly doubt that that with any merger, the new education and professional development programs will be as hard, strict or rigorous as that with the CA program. I’m sure that there will be certain elements incorporated from each accounting program, but it appears that the goal of the new CPA is to increase in member size and be a strong international voice. CA’s will lose their competitiveness distinctness in terms of the specific rigorous training they received. The ICAO’s argument that you don’t technically lose the CA designation and can use CA.CPA for the remainder of your career is not a good one. Part of the reason the CA does so well and attracts the best of the best is that it is effectively marketed. With no marketing support and member dues used to market the new CPA, the CA designation will eventually erode away.

Who wins and who loses?

I’m not going to say that the CMA and CGA are winners of the merger (there are many CMAs and CGAs opposed to the merger as well). Rather, I feel the biggest losers are current CA students and recently designated CA’s. The reason we do not hear CA’s with 10 years - 20 years of experience complain is that they have already leveraged the value of the CA designation to launch their career successfully, opportunities that current CA students may not have.

Part of the reason that myself and many other CA students chose to take the CA program is that it is considered the gold standard, and we expected the strong marketing support from big firms to continue to market CA’s like they have in the past (when we decided to go into the program).

Do You Have a Messy Desk?

2011-09-26T07:55:00.000-07:00

I just saw this post from Accountant by Day and I winced when I read the post. You see it’s all about one’s (messy or clean) workspace. As I was reading it, I glanced at my desk and realized that it looked like it was hit by a hurricane! I’m not kidding. There are papers, ball pens, notebooks, books, checkbooks, folders, etc., etc. on top of my desk. And I don’t even have my laptop on it, there’s a separate space for that!

But then again, I’m cleaning up for my turn over to whoever will replace me as the accountant of my clients and I can’t really clean up everything in a day. So I have a perfectly good excuse (LOL) for having a cluttered desk.

The post, however, reminded me of my time in the auditing firm. As a junior, we didn’t really have any permanent desks, so we have to learn how to manage our workspace very well. But when I was a senior and a manager, we were given a, more or less, permanent workspace. And that’s when trouble (I mean clutter) began.

Actually, during the lean season, my desk was relatively clean. It was just a bunch of working papers, my writing materials and my laptop on top of my desk. So, no problem about de – cluttering it as I had time to clean up everything before the end of the day (or the week).

But when busy season hits, all clutter breaks loose. Papers started to pile up, working papers started to be shoved to the side (and not in their proper places), note pads and Post It notes were stuck everywhere. There were overnight bags under my desk, an extra pair of shoes and even sandals (for overnight work)! During the last 15 days of the season, my workspace (not just my desk) looked like a mini – house with me literally living in it!

Fortunately for me, I never seem to lose anything. Any paper I’m looking for, I could easily find even with all the clutter. Unfortunately for my staff, they could not wade through all my clutter to find out what they’re looking for so they leave my desk alone and just wait for me to find it for them.

By the last day of the busy season, I had what I call a de – cluttering binge. I’m a fast cleaner. In 2 hours’ time, my desk is squeaky clean, anything that should be filed I gave to my staff (poor them), anything I need to throw away, I gave to the one who’s going to shred them, anything that can be re – used, I put them in their proper places.

At the end of that day, my desk (and my workspace, in general) was so clean that some of my staff and the seniors would ask me if I resigned and it was my last day in the office, that was how free my workspace was from any clutter!

And I’m not the only one who had a messy workspace. One of my former boss’ workspace was really cluttered (and this is all – year round, not just during the busy season). The papers and books were piled so high on his desk that I sometimes joke that I couldn’t see him when I took the seat in front of his desk. Fortunately, the mess on his desk did not affect his work. He’s one of the most intelligent partners I know and our expert in the accounting standards. So having a messy desk or workspace does not exactly translate to a messy, confusing mind (I hope).

So how about you? Do you have a messy desk?

Things You Should Remember When You’re New in the Big 4

2011-09-26T07:22:00.000-07:00

Well, this has been a long blog in the making. I received the question (or questions) like a couple of months ago but it is only now that I’m writing something about it (my apologies to the one who asked these questions).

What the sender basically wanted to know is how he / she should act or what he or she should do when he / she is new in the Big 4. So I decided to write a post about things one should remember when one is a new junior in audit (I use audit because I was in audit or the assurance division when I was still working in a big accounting firm).

So here are the things you should remember:

The permanent file is…not just a file. It is something that should be taken out of the storage room every year to be read by the members of the auditing team. If you want to learn and learn fast about the company you are auditing, the first file you should look into is the permanent file. It contains (or it should contain) documents that are there to provide any member of the audit team (new or old) valuable background information about the company being audited. So if you’re a new member of the team, the first thing you should look for is the permanent file.

Last year’s working papers are…just a guide. Do not always assume that the things (procedures, schedules, etc.) you see in last year’s working papers are what you should follow in this year’s audit. Every audit year is different. Take last year’s working papers as a guide only. But don’t make the mistake of ignoring them either, some working papers you can carry over in the next year, saving you valuable time in your work.

Trainings are fine, trainings are very good for you…but you are the one in – charge of expanding your knowledge on the job. Read the files, listen carefully during the trainings, ask the right questions, look up to the right people, read sources and references and read, read, read about your clients – these are just some of the things I can think of to further your training in your chosen career. Feel free to think of more ways to learn.

Can you charge all your time to billable hours? Not likely. When you’re new, you’re still basically learning your way through so you are not yet at your most efficient self at this point in time. Be honest and assess whether you should charge all your hours to your client or charge them somewhere else (your senior or manager will be able to point you to the right charge code). This is not just the manager trying to control chargeable hours within the audit budget, this is you recognizing that you are still making your way towards conducting an efficient audit and your time sheet should reflect this recognition.

Now if you are in a tight deadline and you need to do everything ASAP, manage your time well and, yes, do overtime so that you can finish your job. And charge those overtime hours, please, especially if you know you earned every minute of it.

I don’t recommend skipping lunch and working through lunch. I’ve tried it, I’ve seen others do it and let me tell you, it is not productive.

It’s not a crime to ask questions…although you should assess whether it is the right time to ask these questions and whether the audit files already have the answers you are looking for. This goes for your senior / manager and your client. Try to set up a certain time of the day when you can ask them your questions and make sure you are prepared by this time. These people are busy, too, and let’s face it, they will expect you to look at last year’s working papers (and the permanent file) first to see if the answers you are looking for are in these files. So do your research first before approaching them for the answers.

It is also not a crime to make mistakes. Hey you’re new on the job, even managers (and yes, sometimes, even partners) make mistakes. So don’t feel it is the end of the world if you make one. Own up to it, make amends as soon as possible and try to avoid making the same mistake in the future. Now if your senior or manager or partner gets really, really mad at you, accept their anger, take everything with a grain of salt and wait until their anger subsides, then you can make amends.

Well, I hope the above are sufficient answers for the sender’s questions. Good luck with your job in the Big 4!

I’m Closing My Firm

2011-08-30T06:38:00.001-07:00

I’ve been quite busy these past two months. You see, I’ve finally decided to take the plunge. I’ve decided to close down my accounting firm after 4 years of running it.

Why?

Well, for personal reasons, reasons that are really too private for me to write about in a platform that is for public consumption.

How did I know I want to close the firm?

Well, I knew I had to make a decision when I realized I don’t have the drive anymore to run this firm. No matter what I tried, I just couldn’t revive my previous drive to do my job and to run this firm. I finally realized that it’s just unfair for my clients and for my staff if I continue doing something I no longer have the passion with, hence, my decision to close down.

So what am I doing right now?

I’m pretty much doing what I did when I left my previous employer 4 years ago. I’m talking to my clients, I’m talking to my close friends, I’m going to talk to my staff and I’m going to talk to the other people I have been involved with in the past 4 years or so. I know these are difficult tasks but then again, I’ve steeled myself to do all of them (again). I know it’s not easy (I’ve already experienced some odd questions and odd looks when I inform them that I’m closing down), and there will be negative (hopefully, not violent) reactions along the way but I’d like to think I’m prepared for them.

Next, what will I do?

Now this is the million – dollar question. You see, despite making this huge decision, I’m still undecided what I will do in the future. Do I go back to my previous employer, that big firm where I spent 8 years of my career? Do I go to an entirely new career different from this one (like perhaps online writing or outsourcing or online bookkeeping)? Or do I rest for a few months, think about what I really do want with my life, plan ahead and think about how I will stick to this plan? Or do I take up further studies in areas I am most likely to be interested in (believe me, I have quite a few that I want to study, and they’re not all related to accounting or auditing)? Or do I do a combination of all these things?

Will I regret closing down?

Uhm, I know I will not but ask me again in a few months’ time and I may give a more definite answer.

And I know I’m talking to myself in this post, but heck, I consider it good practice in my non-virtual life. I’ve already encountered some of these questions and I’m pretty sure I will encounter all of them by the time this year ends.

30 Unique Career Paths with an Accounting Degree

2011-08-17T13:03:00.000-07:00

Recently I ran across a blog posting from The Acclaimed Accountant that talks about 30 unique career paths that you can do with an accounting degree. The post is very interesting and is worth checking out and can give you creative ideas of what other options there are out for you as an accountant.

You can check out the post here.
http://www.mastersinaccounting.org/2011/30-unique-career-paths-with-an-accounting-degree/

Overall, while accounting is tedious and boring, having a bit of an accounting background certainly does give you an edge in the business environment. A lot of good entrepreneurs also have accounting backgrounds, if that is the route you want to go afterwards.

5.5 More Months to go!

2011-08-09T21:59:00.000-07:00

In a bit over 5 and a half month’s time, I will become a CA, should I choose to finish up the experience requirements in the next half year. This year has been an extremely busy packed season with so much things going on at the same time.

I apologize for not keeping this blog as active as I should have, but I’m back for good now, and will be blogging regularly (I promise), and will be even doing a bit of a website design in the future, and adding lots of great resources for fresh prospective CA students.

With 5 months left until I become a CA, these are the available interesting career options and choices available to me:

Do I still within Big 4 and wait until I make manager before leaving industry?

Do I venture off into industry once I get my CA?

Will I go private or public?

Do I even want to make CA so fast?

Do I want to try a small accounting firm?

Do I answer all the headhunter calls I’m getting?

Do I take a break for awhile and try some other things?

I must say the future holds some interesting promise. One of my regrets and maybe it’s a “The grass is greener on the other side” kind of thing, is that I’ve been working at Big 4 environment since I was 19 years old at a co-op and I never had a summer off since then.

It was either in school getting CA credits or co-oping at Big 4. I feel pretty tired and feel a lot of youth sacrifice had to be made. I felt a lot of envy over my other non accounting friends who got to jump from job to job and try different things. Recently I read about the guy who had 52 jobs in 52 weeks, www.oneweekjob.com and I felt really envious.

Looking back, I might have chosen a different route. Now that I’m nearing the end of my journey, I feel there is a lot of soul searching for me to do still. I feel lots of people at Big 4 are the same way. They don’t really know what they want to do with their lives and are putting off thinking about it until they get their CA.

The worse thing I would imagine is to get your CA, and then leave to a industry job that is even worse. After auditing at a lot of industry jobs, I notice that the CA’s especially in financial reporting roles are very miserable and have worse jobs than at Big 4 in terms of the *shit* they have to deal with.

Time to think has begun.

The Accountant.

My Close Friend Just Got Promoted

2011-06-25T22:47:00.000-07:00

I just got word that a close friend of mine from my previous employer – the auditing firm – will be promoted to partner by this year. Oh, there’s no formal announcement yet or celebration, but I’m happy to say that I’m still in the loop so I hear about these things. Plus, I checked her Facebook wall and I saw that very same announcement.

Her promotion got me thinking, if I stayed all this time, would I have been promoted too? I mean, we were promoted to senior and manager at the same time, have the same number of experience, have almost the same evaluation results, etc. It’s only normal to think that the answer to my question would have been yes. As one of my former seniors told me, I should have been promoted also to partner this year.

But then again, I get to thinking. The same number of years of experience and being promoted at the same time are not really guarantees that you will become partners at the same time, especially if you’re in the Big 4.

For one, if you managed to displease a certain partner you’ve worked with in the past, chances are, the same partner will block your nomination to partnership. I’m not kidding. I’ve seen this happen before. Managers who have been working for a long time in the firm don’t get promoted to partners. Why? Because one or two partners don’t want them to be promoted to the partnership (despite the fact that these partners were in the minority). There were even rumors when I was still with this firm that just one partner saying ‘nay’ will destroy your chances to become one even though the others agree to the promotion. Take note: this is just a rumor, but after my stint in the auditing firm, ‘news’ of the partners’ meeting tends to leak down to the managers’ level.

For another, the other partners may think you are not yet ‘ready’ to become a partner. I’m not really sure what the word ‘ready’ means as far as the partnership goes but I know for sure that years of experience do not necessarily equate to this readiness. And who will determine if you are ‘ready’? Why the other partners of course. They are, after all, in the best position to see if a manager is ‘worthy’ of becoming one of them.

Lastly, you, yourself, may think you’re not worthy enough to become a partner. Or you may think that you don’t want the life of a partner. Yes, I know the monetary value is great but then again, so are the hardships, the sleepless nights and the pressure of being a partner. I haven’t really seen a manager refuse to become a partner, but I’ve heard of managers who think that they shouldn’t be promoted to partners yet because they don’t think they can do the job. Some of them ended up becoming partners and some ended up leaving the firm.

As for me, well, I don’t think the life of a partner is for me. And I can only congratulate my friend and wish her well.

What about you? Do you think you will become a partner of an auditing firm?

Staying Healthy During the Busy Season

2011-05-04T07:49:00.000-07:00

The Accountant’s last post was about a PWC employee who died during the last busy season. I’m not going to go into who’s at fault and who’s not. Instead, I’d rather go into why it is important and how to stay healthy during the busy season.

Personally, I think the most important thing during the busy season is maintaining one’s good health - not the firm, not your partner, not your manager and not even your client. Stay healthy during the busy season and everything will just fall into place.

But then again, saying the above is one thing, actually achieving it is another. A lot of things can happen, a lot of factors can come into play and you can just say goodbye to an A+ health and hello to a weak, sickly body (and worse, succumb to your illness).

So how do you stay healthy during all those weeks (and months) of stress, overtime, week-end work, angry partners / managers / clients, tight deadlines, pressures, etc.? After listing all these, it sounds like a daunting task, right? And it is one but you can actually go through all of them and come out of the tax busy season still of sound mind and body. I should know, I’m not bragging, but I did survive 13 years of busy season and I intend to live long enough to experience 13 more.

First of all, you should be sensitive to your body’s needs. When it says stop working, stop working. When it says you need some fresh air, take a 15 minute walk somewhere where you can breathe in fresh air. Most of all, when it says get some rest, by all means, get some rest.

Second, if you feel something’s wrong with your body, go see a doctor (or at least a qualified nurse). I can’t count the number of times I went to my former employer’s resident nurse to have my blood pressure taken because I was feeling dizzy or felt pain at the back of my head or had the symptoms of someone with high blood pressure. And when your doctor says you need rest or you need to take some time off, have him or her draw up a letter or something in writing that you can show to your boss as proof that you need that rest. When my doctor told me I need to have a simple but necessary operation and that I need a one week rest (in the middle of the busy season, I might add), I immediately asked my boss to grant me a one – week leave and he immediately agreed to it. Just make sure you make up for the lost time when you get back to work.

Third, eat healthy. I’ve heard of one manager who just keeled over right after the busy season because he loved eating fatty foods and foods that are not, shall we say, conducive to good health. Added to that the sleepless nights and all those pressures and he was a walking time bomb that just blew up after everything was over. I know it’s very tempting to eat everything in sight during the busy season, especially if you feel that this is your only outlet for all those stress and pressure you experience but please, learn to say no and stick to a healthy diet.

Fourth, exercise. Go out for a short walk every night. If you’re fortunate enough to be assigned to a client that has a gym in its premises (I had one like that before) and you are allowed to use it for free, go ahead, take advantage of it. If not, find some other way to get that exercise. I had a manager before whose favorite exercise was to go down and go up a flight of stairs (he covers like 10 floors or something) in our office every night. He kept his body trim during the busy season, it doesn’t take so much of his time plus it’s free!

Fifth, grab whatever sleep you can. If you are one of those who can take a 30 – minute nap during lunch time, find a quite place where you can take this nap. 30 minutes of napping will not hurt your work (or your deadline) and, when you wake up, it does wonders for your state of mind and body and for the quality of your work. At night time, get as much sleep as you can. I used to have a manager who, from the time she was still a staff, made it a point to sleep at least 5 hours every night. Her only exception was during the last 2 weeks before the deadline but before that? Try making her stay longer in the office and you won’t really like the results.

Lastly, prioritize your health. Oh yes, I know your boss will not like this at all but, at the end of the day, the state of your health has a direct impact on the quality of your work and whether you get things done on time or not. After everything is said and done, you and you alone can determine if your body and mind are still sound enough to let you do your job. Nobody really dies if your work is not finished on time, please remember that. And if your boss or manager tells you otherwise, then just think about this, nothing is more important than staying healthy, especially during the busy season.

The Last Busy Season, the Best Laid Plans…

2011-04-24T05:27:00.000-07:00

…and everything went awry!

It’s now a week after my busy season officially ended. And I still don’t quite believe that I made it through the last one alive.

Okay, that’s an exaggeration but really, everything that seemed to get wrong went wrong during that time.

It started out really fine. I thought I was going to make an easy time for it. First, because I decided not to do any audit for the 2010 financial statements of my previous audit clients. Second, I had a good plan for ending my busy season earlier than before and third, because I had more experienced staff (those staff that had been with me for one busy season or more) than inexperienced ones.

It turned out that the first and second actually helped me go through that busy season after my third reason went south, big time.

First off, my only experienced male staff resigned. Okay, now that I expect because he informed me as early as December that he was going to leave my firm. Then lo and behold, another one of my experienced staff also resigned. Well, resigned is not actually the word here. She just went AWOL, gave me some excuse why she will be absent for a few days then she never came back!

Needless to say, I had to hire new ones and train them ASAP. But it’s not really the same and so we had to work double time to finish everything, address inefficiencies and several errors we encountered along the way.

So even if I had the inclination to write something here or in my other writing sites, I just didn’t have the time. My days (and nights and even week-ends) were fully covered with our closing of the books and financial statement preparation activities (and this is an indirect apology, by the way, for the owner of this blog).

Come to think of it, it’s always the same. We make plans. Even when I was with the Big 4, we always had planning sessions or meetings, meetings that we hoped would lessen our work during the tax busy season. But it never happened. From January to April, we’re always busy, always working overtime, always working during week-ends. It got to the point when we were (or I was) just playing lip service to the planning sessions, something that we can just document in our working papers for compliance purposes.

But to help lessen the workload during busy season? Never going to happen.

If it’s not a problem on our staff, it’s a problem with the client or it’s a new audit issue that just cropped out during the last quarter of the year (which wasn’t captured during the planning season which happened the third quarter of the year) or it’s a new auditing or accounting requirement (that went out only during the busy season) or it’s all of the above!

Not that I want to discourage anybody from going through these planning sessions. It gives some order on our audit procedures (or in my case, in our closing of the books process). But don’t rely on them to get you home early during the busy season. You can always hope for the best but certainly plan for the worst. And the worst always happens during the busy season, not before.

Enough about that. My busy season is already over. Now it’s time for some rest. Till the next post, ciao!

25-year-old Shanghai PricewaterhouseCoopers employee worked to death?

2011-04-16T11:22:00.000-07:00

Today when I was talking with a friend, she mentioned to me a shocking story about how a 25 year old PWC China employee died from overexhaustion.

I, myself, couldnt' believe it at first, and then I was like WTF? How could that happen? And then I was like, damn, that very much could happen to someone that works 120 hour work weeks.

This event, indeed has happened. I'll give a brief summary of the story.

Pan Jie, a 25 year old assurance associate joined the firm last October, and then went on to take a sick leave on March 31st, where she sadly, passed away 10 days later.

It was mentioned that Pan would frequently work long hours during busy season (120 hour workweeks!) since January, and her work got worse in March where Pan didn't get off work until 2 or 3 am in the morning. Her mom even had her taxi receipts that showed that they were over 1 a.m. and the latest one on 3:10 a.m.

Pan even requested for sick leave on March 25th, but her request wasn't approved until March 31st where her fever got very bad.

This story has sparked online controversy, as Pan even tweeted frequently about her job experiences, the late hours, and the craving for sleep.

Its something that we should all be concerned as part of the accounting community.

I was pretty pissed off when I heard PWC denies any wrongdoing, or the possibility of death from overwork. If I were the parent, I would want murder on the partner.

We all know how bad Busy season can be, and the insane time pressures. We know people have gotten sick from busy season and have endured insane pressure from the firm and colleageues in getting work done which has just added to our bad health.

It is not healthy, nor should be expected of any employee to work such late hours 1-3 a.m. Getting sleep for less than 5 hours a day is not something anyone can sustain, much less over a long period of time.

I really think that when events like these happen, Big firms need to take more responsibility in taking care of their workers. But the way the corporate structure is set up at Big 4, if your not working till midnight during busy season, your not a "good enough" worker.

As to people who question why didn't she just quit. I'm sure it has something to do with the fact that China has a tough enough work culture which supports 12 hour days, the high 5,000 RMB salary, and the guilt and shame she would suffer from parents and colleagues if she quit.

Even in Toronto, I always question why people in Big 4 don't quit when they really feel like they can't do it anymore. At the end of the day, health > CA.

The Accountant

Link to the Story

1 Year until I qualify - Is it really worth it?

2011-02-01T21:29:00.001-08:00

Emie made a great post last week, about a potential change in career, and I have to say that, it is something that I have long and hard thought about. I am not a CA - yet.

I need one more year of experience until I become a CA. Now the question, that I really need to ask myself, and search deep inside myself.. Is it really worth it?

If you go all the way back to the very first post of this blog, you will recall me blogging about the "Young ambitious high school student." It talks about someone who is talented and smart, and has no idea what he wants out of his life.

That was me. Fast forward 5 years, and I am partly still the same way. I got my accounting degree. I have my UFE passed, and in one year, I will be a CA.

That is, If I stay.

Yes, busy season is bad and that partly may be the reason I am contemplating seriously quitting. But, a part of me feels that Big 4 is destroying my youth and happiness - and the longer I stay, the older and less risky I will be. The more and more I will stop looking for my own dreams (despite not really knowing what they are) and being merely satsified with what I have. I don't want to be old and say I regret wasting my youth on something I ultimately didn't really like when I have the capability to take risks now.

My biggest problem and concern is the brainwashing of the ICAO and Big 4 due to young kids, and I fell for it at the time too.

The CA is a highly marketable designation but does having a CA ultimately make that much of a difference in your career? It will guarantee you a good paying job, but ultimately will you be satisfied? Isn't life the pursuit of happiness?

I do think that some Big 4 experience and exposure is good, but if you are going to jump ship once you get your CA, isn't it pointless to wait if you really think accounting is not for you? I need to start thinking about opportunity costs.

My biggest problem is "Brainwashed friends" and "Drone like co-workers" who think that once they have their CA, their life problems will be solved. That, all the hard work they put in for their 30 month (lucky people like me) or 36 months (unlucky people afterwards) will guarantee them a nice ballin' life with a good job.

Let's be realistic. Getting a CA and leaving big 4 doesn't guarantee you anything. You might end up working in industry in a job you hate as a controller for 10K more, and hate your life just as much as you did in Big 4 (if not more).

Ask yourself this question. Having the CA opens doors, but does it necessarily open the doors to the jobs that you like?

And then when you find out you hate industry, what will you do?

If you hate accounting and auditing and are sticking around in accounting just because you want your CA, don't you think your wasting your time?

So, the question, I need to ask myself is "Am I really wasting my time?" What exactly is the CA designation going to bring me? Will it bring me happiness or entry into another high paying job that I hate?

I haven't really "reverse engineered my career" and I dont' think a lot of you have either.

The proper way to do things is to find out what you want to do in life, and figure out what you need in order to get there. In reality,

Would I be a fool to throw it all away, at age 23, with less than 1 year left until I qualify?

A Change of Career Anyone?

2011-01-25T07:15:00.000-08:00

Okay, first of all, let me apologize for not posting anything for over a month now (oh heck, I didn't realize that my last post was like Dec. 6 or something, I really, really am sorry).

Secondly, I've been meaning to write this for quite some time now but I hesitated because, well, basically, I don't think this is the right venue for it. But then, I realized what I will write could have an impact (I wish) to somebody reading this post. So here goes.

I've been actually thinking of a change in career. Like a total change of career, not just moving from audit to accounting and vice - versa. I don't want to post here what kind of career I'm thinking of shifting to but, rest assured, it is totally different from accounting. I don't know why but the excitement and the fun I used to have in this job are...well, not just there anymore.

Yes, yes, I know, this job is a lucrative one (if you're the owner, of course). I get to meet a lot of people, rich businessmen, heck even politicians. I get to handle different businesses and different industries. It's full of challenges, full of surprises and full of knowledge updates. But, on the other hand, it is also full of difficult clients, difficult employees, deadlines, overtime, etc., etc.

I know, I know, a change of career can be a scary prospect. I mean I have to study (again!) for this change (though I don’t think I will need another 4 to 5 years for this one). I have to take a cut from my current income (which is something my partner keeps on emphasizing) and I will probably hear some crap and whining from old clients, colleagues, family and friends. But after almost 15 years in accounting and half of that spent being restless and unsure of my choices, well, I feel like I’m being pulled more and more in this other direction.

Oh, and no, writing online is not that career change I’m talking about. Writing both in this site and in the other sites has been more of a pleasure than an income – generating endeavor. I just wish I could write more (another reason why I want a shift in career); something that I feel will be difficult what with the busy tax season coming in (aaarrggghhh!).

Hmmmm, I just wish you won’t think – what the heck is she talking about!???? I’m pretty sure a lot of accountants out there (not only those who are reading this) had contemplated, at one point or another, shifting to another career. I mean, come on, admit it, haven’t you also thought about this?

UFE Results – How to survive failure Part 2

2010-12-13T20:38:00.000-08:00

A week has officially passed since the day of your dreaded results, and by now, the reality has sunk in.
You may still be feeling bitter and angry and hate the world or you feel hopeless and tired, and scared.

Regardless, Even 1 week post results, It is ok to feel like Shit. I can only imagine how hard the first week back at work would be for you.

People asking you, “How do you feel?” and “Are you OK?”

People purposely avoiding you, and not wanting to socialize. IT really does SUCK.

This is why failing the UFE is so bad:

1) It must be one of the only tests in the world where studying the second time is harder than studying for the first. I say this because, in order to study for the UFE, you need to practice, and in order to practice, you need cases. And unfortunately, like most UFE writers, you would have done the 2006-2009 Cases + the 2010 one that you failed. And in order to get more cases, you need to get a prep program, and you will need to Pay or Pirate.

2) You get fired. There are some small firms that literally fire you if you fail the UFE. Most big 4 firms are more considerate and offer a one-strike policy. But failing the UFE is a big deal. For those of you who are commenting that failing the UFE is not a big deal, it is a bigger deal than you think. This must be one of the only exams in the world where failure leads to a loss of a job. This isn’t a University exam where you can write it next semester with no repercussions. Everybody’s situation is different, but losing a job or being at risk of losing a job is terrible. Big 4 Firms have fired All star performers at work... for the sole reason that they failed the UFE. This is a huge confidence shock.

3) Big 4 Firms offer very little support for repeat writers. Big 4 firms do everything to help first time writers pass. But if you fail and are a repeat writer, you have to do everything on your own. You have to pay for the UFE again, you have to pay for prep courses out of your own pocket, you have to pay for diagnostic reports out of your pocket, and the firm forces you to take time off work to study in August and September with no paid UFE leave like if you are a first time writer. The opportunity cost of failing the UFE can be greater than $5,000 not to mention emotional and physical stress.

4) Failing the UFE can destroy friendships and relationships. For the first time in your life, you may feel yourself not wanting to hang out with friends for the sole reason that they all passed and you didn’t, and you feel like you no longer belong. I have seen friendships destroyed because of failing the UFE, where a person no longer wanted to be part of their social group.

. I want all you failed UFE candidates to do these things and remember these things:

Do:
1) Forget UFE for a while. Its Christmas time. Spend time with the people who love and care about you. As hard as it is to not be bitter around your friends who passed UFE, remember, they are still your friends, and when you do pass, which you will, they will party it up with you.

Remember:

1) For someone who writes the UFE four times, there is a >98% pass rate. I’m not saying that you will write the UFE four times, but the probability of failing this test four times is close to zero. For second time writers, “P(Passing|Failed 1st attempt) >90%”.

I’m not going to turn this blog post into something positive and how you guys should cheer up with a bunch of constructive advice. It’s still way too early. I just wanted to bring one Do and Remember element for each of follow up blog posts. I’m sure thousands of others have already told you guys that failing the UFE is not the end of the world. But trust me, it will feel that way for a long time. You guys are still hurting, and it is ok to feel deep and dark inside.

The accountant’s friend
Successful UFE candidate – 2nd attempt

It’s Not Easy…Signing Off on Financial Statements

2010-12-06T05:57:00.000-08:00

Well, busy season is just around the corner. It’s time for the (seemingly) never ending closing of books (if you’re the accountant or bookkeeper) or all those audit procedures that you wished will be finished in time for the deadline (if you are the external auditors). And if you have your own small audit / accounting practice (like me), it’s time to sign off on your clients’ financial statements that you audit.

I’ve been signing off on a couple of audit clients for like 3 years now and honestly, I’m thinking of not signing off on anything for 2010. Crazy huh? I mean, becoming an audit partner and signing off on financial statements may be the ultimate experience / status for someone in the external audit world (no matter whether he or she is a CA or in another designation). But for someone who has been in this world for over 10 years, signing off is not as easy as it seems (but then again, it never was).

For one, the buck stops on you. The partner’s signature is now like an evidence, a kind of paper trail that will lead back to (and can be used against) the partner if something bad happens to the client after the audited financial statements are released. Just go over the accounting scandals that happened in the past. Whose name appeared prominently in the news, next to the names of the Pres., CFO and other key company officials? The audit partner, of course.

For another, it’s becoming more and more difficult to become a partner and to stay that way. The regulators are breathing down on you. Requirements after requirements are piling up on you and are becoming more and more stringent (case in point: the stricter independence requirements and the 2009 Code of Ethics for Professional Accountants). And clients are expecting an unqualified (or unmodified) opinion from you (no matter what happened during your audit) – although this doesn’t mean you will do what they expect, of course.

Still want another? What about the independent review of the audit working papers? The CRA already issued its policy on access to audit working papers. There’s the CPAB for public companies. And if you are alone or there are only 2 of you, what’s to say that you can handle a full – scale, all out review on your audit working papers?

Lastly, and this is my pet peeve, it’s a thankless job sometimes (at least for me). There are times, really, when I just wonder if my clients really appreciate me as their external auditor or if I’m not just another signature that they need to obtain to comply with regulations. And then they haggle on my fees! Oh don’t get me wrong, even in the big firms, there are always clients who want to haggle on the fees but if you’re a very small one, haggling is a way of life for us. It’s like they think your signature is just worth peanuts or something like that. Or am I just one of those unlucky ones who have clients that are always trying to cut down their auditors’ audit fees?

Of course, being a partner is a status symbol or something, especially if you are one in one of the Big 4. Plus you earn more money (a lot more!) than other people in your profession. Plus you talk to the top people and may even become well known in your society. But, heck, with the above, I’m seriously re – thinking the signing off financial statements. Maybe I’ll just stick to doing accounting jobs for now.

Note to those who want to become partners – This is not meant to discourage you. These are based on my thoughts and experiences ONLY so I hope you won’t be discouraged with it. If you want to become a partner of an auditing firm, I’d still say go for it. As I said, it is the ultimate status for an external auditor working for an audit firm. And if you intend to stay an external auditor for a long, long time, becoming a partner should definitely be something that you should strive for.

UFE Results – How to survive failure Part 1

2010-12-04T09:23:00.000-08:00

On first note, congratulations to all those that passed the 2010 Uniform Final Evaluation. It marks a significant milestone in your career and you are one step closer to fulfilling your goal of “IwanttobeaCA.”

However, this article is not about you.

This article is dedicated towards the students who worked extremely hard, and often are the hardest working students, who failed the UFE.

Failing the UFE, when the vast majority of everyone else you know passes is one of the worst possible experiences of anyone’s life. The majority of people who write do pass –
which makes failure so much bitter.

You will have people tell you “There is more to life than the UFE” and “You can just do it again next year, I’m sure you’ll pass.”

Believe me those words don’t offer any sort of comfort.

Yes, there is more to life than the UFE. But the UFE is not just a test. It is a battle that you took over a month to prepare for, every single day, where you poured your entire heart into.

It’s a battle where you stressed over every single night, about how your technical was not strong enough and the disappointing Nominal competents that you received. It’s a battle where you had to sacrifice time with your friends, family, and relationships, and the fights you’ve had because of this “test”.

It was 3 days of agonizing pain. Waking up early, tired from not being able to sleep, going to write an exam where you’re only at 60% capacity and leaving every day with uncertainty of your performance, and knowing the painful cycle would simply repeat itself the next day.

You even had hope it would finally be over on the third day and that you wouldn’t have to look for another pervasive indicator.

Maybe in the back of the mind you considered the possibility of failure, but you still had hope, the 3 months leading up to results day.

Then when you checked the results yesterday, and you looked for your name, and you couldn’t find it, you were in utter disbelief, you refresh again, and the reality begins to sink it that you did not pass. Your friends and family call to see how you did, and you are just in utter shock and cannot do anything and just want to hide yourself from the rest of the world.

The nightmare will continue for you. This is the most demoralizing feeling in the world.

A painful analogy would be being released from jail, only to have to find out you need to go return 3 months later.

These are the painful things you will have to go through.

1) Another month of rigorous studying 8 months from now with stress and worry leading up to it.
2) Taking time off from work to study which translates to loss earnings.
3) Paying for the heavy cost of the UFE à even the big firms don’t’ sponsor second time writers.
4) Paying for additional prep programs.

But the worst part, is the different attitude that your co-workers will show you when you show up on work on Monday, and the people around you.

There will be the people who try to avoid the fact that you failed, and don’t talk about UFE in front of you, the ones in a group who will suddenly talk about something else when you show up and there will be those who ask how you are doing and try to offer emotional support.

Nevertheless, while both groups have good intentions, they simply magnify the reality and importance of your failing the UFE. And you hate them, and their probably gossiping behind your back anyways...

And you will have to wait, a long time, before you get a chance to redeem yourself. AND THIS SUCKS A LOT.

I’m not going to try to hide you from the reality of failure. It sucks and it hurts a lot and I painted the reality of the situation above for you. It will hurt for awhile no matter how many people tell you the UFE is not everything. Unless they are in the same position as you, they really don’t understand what you are going through.

I just wanted to present you with the bitter reality that failing UFE writers are
going through.

There will be a time when I will offer words of wisdom, and how to cope…

But for now, It’s ok to feel bad. It’s ok to to hate life and about how unfair the UFE is. How you worked so hard and your friend who winged it passed. Its ok to be pessimistic, and ok to cry, and ok to feel like the world is ending and that you are the only person in the world going through this. It’s ok to feel disappointed in yourself, and mad at your friends celebrating, and mad that you can’t share the happiness with them. It’s ok to feel hopeless and angry and tired and loss of interest in life.

Because, you are not alone, Trust me.

Sincerely,
The Accountant’s friend
Successful 2007 UFE writer – 2nd try

Why I Write About My Stint in an Auditing Firm

2010-11-20T07:20:00.000-08:00

I’ve been writing in this blog for over a year now. I’ve received my share of comments and emails, some nice, some not – quite – so nice. But this latest email I received had me thinking. The sender was telling me something like he or she kind of find my posts funny because I seem to encourage people to work with the Big 4, at the same time, I seem to be scaring them from working with the Big 4.

Well, I know I kind of get this kind of reaction from the readers sometimes. I mean looking back on the things I wrote, I get it why I received this kind of email. In some, I’m telling people why I like working in an auditing firm. In the others, I tell people what are the not – so – good things about working in auditing firms. Funny? It seems so. Confusing? Well, for me, not really.

You see, just because I liked my stint with this auditing firm, my former employer, doesn’t mean I couldn’t see what was wrong with it. Before I started working for this firm, I already had a fairly good idea of what to expect. I mean between members of my family who worked for the same firm and a brother – in – law who is still working in the same firm, it was nearly impossible to ignore the negative side of auditing.

Unfortunately, not everybody is in the same boat as I was. The proof? I’ve seen some of my co – juniors (when I was still one) and my juniors resign after a short time (one even resigned barely two weeks after her first day) because auditing work was not the way they envisioned it to be and the auditing firm we were in was not the kind of employer they would have wanted to get. Oh I know they were aware at some level just what they were going into but, without personal knowledge really they didn’t quite digest this kind of information.

It didn’t help that during career orientation programs, the HR people (and even the partners) from these firms won’t really tell you the negative side of working with auditing firms. They will tell you how many public companies they audit, how many big companies they audit, how many people they have, how many branches, how many affiliates, how prestigious it is to work for this firm, etc., etc. They won’t really tell you that you will work until 2:00 in the morning or that you will work for 48 hours straight or that during the busy season, you’ll get an average of 4 hours of sleep every night and that you will work your @ss off even during the week-ends.

And during my time (that was more than a decade ago), there was no blog such as this (or such as those in the links below), or comments such as those we received here. And that is why I write these things. I know that new graduates are excited to get into auditing firms, let alone the Big 4. I also know that it can be quite disappointing when you see and experience stuff you didn’t expect to see and to experience. That’s why I’m writing about both the good things and the bad things. And that’s why I’ll keep on writing about the positive side and the negative side when you’re working for an auditing firm.

To the one who sent the email, thank you for sending that email. Hope you get to work in one of the Big 4 firms and good luck!

Why I Can’t wait for the Slack Season to End!

2010-11-02T07:24:00.000-07:00

First of all, I’d like to apologize for not making a new post for the past 2 months. In fact, I haven’t posted anything for the past two months, not in this blog and not in other sites where I write.

Though I’m pretty sure nobody really missed me here. Not when there’s an interesting topic somewhere in this blog where a lot of people are really giving it their all in terms of their comments (hint: that post already has *gasp* almost 460 comments as of the date of writing of this post).

Okay so it’s now November. Less than two months away from Christmas and two months away from the busy season. Two months away from the end of my not – so – busy season a. k. a. slack season, which is something I am really, really looking forward to.

Hmmm, I can just see some eyebrows rising. I mean who in their right mind would say that they want their slack season to end? Well, I do. Oh don’t get me wrong. I like slack season. This is the time (I think) when overtime is down to a minimum, I get my Saturdays and Sundays back and the pressure is virtually non-existent. But, on the other hand, what we sometimes think is different from what really happen to us and over the years, I started to see that this time is really my worst enemy when I was still in this big accounting firm. Let me tell you why.

First of all, this is the time when I see (and receive) resignations left and right. Resignations abound during the slack season, from the partner (yes, even partners resign) to the staff. I know high turn-over rates is a way of life for accounting firms, but, heck, it’s really quite hard when you see your friends leaving the firm (and you).

Second, these are the months when I have so much time on my hands that I start to think about whether I really want this career or not. I can’t count the number of times when I honestly thought of resigning from the firm and even on embarking on a career that’s different from accounting. The fact that I promptly forget about these thoughts once busy season starts mean that I was not as serious as I thought I was.

Third, the special jobs (Argh!). I mean I’m all set to file for a vacation leave. And then my boss suddenly tells me that one of our clients is going public in August or September or October. Meaning? We have to prepare the comfort letter, prepare the working papers, prepare interim consolidated financial statements and all that stuff during the slack season. So, it’s goodbye vacation for me. And to top it all, I always seemed to be assigned to a special job during this time and it got to the point when I no longer anticipated having a full blown vacation during this supposed – to – be slack season. Oh well.

Fourth, this is the time when you don’t know where the heck you will charge your hours (if you don’t have a special job that is). Chargeable or non-chargeable? Which of my clients can still take my charges? I know, I know, charge based on actual hours and work done but realistically speaking? This is not true all the time. Especially if you’re an audit manager with a much higher rate than the staff and you can see your charges starting to go up and up (and it’s not the busy season yet).

Lastly, this is the time when I get bored with my career, with my life. Yes, B-O-R-E-D. Despite the special jobs, despite the challenge of planning for the next busy season, despite having more time to do other things, I feel restless and bored (there’s that word again) during this time.

So now you see why I’m looking forward to the end of my slack season?

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

2010-08-27T08:21:00.000-07:00

“I’m a senior manager in a Big 4 firm. I was told that I am being groomed to become a partner of this firm in two to three years’ time. I am married with a kid and my husband and I are doing fine financially. Problem is I received a very generous offer from a private company if I resign from this firm and move there. Should I accept it? Or should I stay and wait until I become partner of this firm?”

The above is not an email, by the way. It was one of the questions my friend and I discussed when we met for lunch. She’s still in the Big 4 firm and she posed that question to me.

I’ve seen a lot of things written about working for the Big 4 in the Internet. But seldom do I see (or I haven’t really been looking hard enough) posts about becoming a partner, or how much a partner really receives from the firm. So whatever I write in this post, it’s based on my observation and what I’ve heard from the ‘office grapevine’.

For one, salaries of partners in Big 4 firms (and even in small to medium – size accounting firms) are not definite. Can anybody give me a sure figure? $200,000 a year? $500,000 a year? How about a million dollars (or more) a year? Is it lower than what you will receive if you become a controller or a CFO or a VP for Finance in a big or small private company? Or is it way beyond the said positions’ compensation package?

Put it this way, and as I’ve told my friend, it’s kind of hard to compare a private company’s offer with a figure that can range from six to seven figures a year! The partner’s salary is one of the most closely guarded secret I’ve ever known – at least where I came from but I don’t think this situation is unique. But personally speaking? I would say the compensation is far greater for a partner in a Big 4 accounting firm than for a CFO or a VP or a controller.

That takes care of the salaries (or does it?). What about the time spent in the office? Are the hours if you’re a partner the same or higher or lower than the hours spent when you’re in a private company?

We all know that the hours in the accounting firm can be hellish. I’ve seen partners who work from 8 in the morning to 12 midnight, 7 days a week during busy seasons. I’ve seen partners who are no-shows after 9 or 10 in the evening and even during weekends, and this is during the busy season. What about during the not-so-busy season? Again, it depends. Some partners go from 8 in the morning to 10 in the evening plus a Saturday. Some partners go home by 6 in the evening and you don’t see them around during a Saturday.

Admittedly, the hours are easier if you’re in a private company. But if you’re part of the group that closes the books, you can be sure you’ll be doing a lot of overtime during the month-end. I’ve seen some CFOs work their *ss off during year-end closing and FS finalization stages. Still the hours are less than those you will spend during the busy season, even for partners.

What about the risks? Which is more ‘risky’? I would interpret ‘risky’ here as which job has a higher probability of pulling you down into the mud if you or the firm or the company fails to address an issue that blows up all over your faces. Before the Enron debacle, I would have said being a CFO or a VP for Finance is more risky than being a partner of a firm. If you fail as a former, chances are you’ll be booted out (and may even be blacklisted) but if you fail as a partner, there’s still a chance you might salvage your position (only they will do some ‘revamping’ meaning you will no longer be allowed to sign off on financial statements). But after Enron, and watching a whole accounting firm go down, I’m on the other side of the scale. It is riskier to become a partner of a firm (and a Big 4 at that) than to become a part of a private company.

What about work challenges? Gee, this one is easy (at least for me). It’s the reason why I never contemplated working for a private company. I think there are more challenges if you work for an accounting firm than for a private company. In an accounting firm, unless you get stuck with the same client year in and year out (for the next 10 or 20 years); chances are, you’ll be resolving a lot of (different) accounting and auditing issues. The same cannot be said if you’re in a private company. But then again, this is me. It really depends on one’s appetite for such challenges. And I’m going to stop at that.

So what did I tell my friend? In the end, I told her it all depends on her and what she wants in life. Higher or lower salary aside, more hours or challenges or not, it all boils down on whether she really like what she’s doing. Kind of ideal, yes? But then again, I think it’s as simple as that.

If you’re my friend, what will you do?

My Own Accounting Firm…The Clients and the Money

2010-08-08T02:42:00.000-07:00

In my last post, I wrote about what the stress is like if you have your own accounting firm. In this post, I write about my clients and the money.

The Clients

Well, I’m just a small firm in this vast world of accounting / auditing firms. My clients are usually private companies and individuals, most of them local entities in the retail business. I do mostly simple accounting work like bookkeeping, taxes, closing the books, preparing the financial statements and the like.

I already have over 70 accounting clients. And no, I’m not responsible for obtaining majority of these clients. I actually inherited the firm from my father who died several years ago. I took over after he died and, since I was working in another city when he was still alive, I had almost zero knowledge about the firm and its clients. Fortunately for me, I had my 8 – year experience to back me up and I have to say that I was able to keep majority of his clients plus gain a few on my own.

What about auditing? Well I have a few audit clients. I don’t handle a lot since I’m the only one in the firm who can sign off on the audit reports and I can’t physically (and realistically) go through all of them during the busy season since I already have the 70 that I need to close during this time.

So, clients? Lots of small to medium – size private entities (usually family – owned and individually – owned), usually local companies engaged in the retail business.

The Money

Now we come to the most important aspect – the earnings. I can’t divulge of course. But my firm is earning more than enough to cover its expenses plus my personal expenses. My annual net earnings are more than my annual net salary when I was still working in a big accounting firm as a manager.

But…

I have to be honest. If I want to purchase new office equipment (such as computers, photocopiers, and such), I have to literally look for ways to raise the funds to buy these equipment. Right now, there’s little room in my firm’s cash flows to buy these items anytime that I want to. This may not be the case all the time but I think I can safely say that a lot of not – so – big accounting firms also experience this.

Another but…

If you want to become a partner of the bigger firms, I say stick to those firms (unless you will start a firm that you hope will compete with these firms someday). My net earnings are not in the same category as the earnings of the partners of these firms. Far from it.

This doesn’t mean that I want to quit what I’m doing right now and go back and become a partner of a big accounting firm. Having my own accounting firm is actually a trade – off between the time versus the money; the stress / pressure versus the money and the work – life balance versus the money. I chose the former, some people may choose the latter.

And this ends my posts on having my own accounting firm. To the two who commented in my previous post, hope I answered your questions. Thanks for your comments / questions!

My Own Accounting Firm…The Stress

2010-07-24T06:57:00.000-07:00

This post is really a sort of an answer to comments / questions posted in my previous post on the Results of My Experiment. Instead of replying to those questions through another comment, I thought about writing a post (or two or three) about my experience in having my own firm.

There are basically three things asked in my previous post – is it a lot of stress? What clients do I mainly deal with? And how’s the money?

First of all, the stress. Being my own boss is nice because I don’t have to answer to anybody. But then again, being my own boss means I get to worry and think about everything (I don’t have a partner by the way), which is not an easy task to do.

I mean now that I’m running my own show; I finally understood why my previous boss / partners kept on hounding us managers to collect from our clients. In my own firm, if I don’t collect what my clients owe me, my people do not get paid their salaries, I won’t be able to pay my rent and my utilities and I won’t be able to buy the equipment and the supplies needed to keep my business rolling. Plus, I won’t be able to have any funds for my personal needs. So yes, in this aspect, having my own accounting firm can be stressful.

And how about if one of my staff makes any mistake and I was not able to see it on time? I have to shoulder the blame on this. At least when I was in the big accounting firm, my boss kind of shielded me from the consequences of any errors I made. Now, the buck stops with me. Can you just imagine how it is when you realize your people made a mistake and you will be the one answering it? Not easy I tell you.

But then again, the stress here is much more manageable than the stress when I was still in a big accounting firm, particularly if you consider that I used to handle public companies. Now that was a somewhat nerve – wracking experience. One major false move and the firm can lose its (big – ticket) client and its reputation. With my own firm, thankfully, I don’t handle such big clients. Plus I’m closer to my clients right now and I have a good working relationship with them so I can readily address any problem that they may have as well as easily meet any (negative) consequences resulting from my or my people's actions / mistakes.

And that is all I have to say about the stress. On my next post, the clients and the money…

Please take note (not trying to be defensive here) - these are based on my own experiences. Others may agree with me and still others may have different views altogether. If you own an accounting firm and have a different take on this matter, please feel free to leave a comment below so that others will see and read them and gain more knowledge from them.

Results of My Experiment…

2010-07-12T08:12:00.000-07:00

On Internet access and my people's working hours / productivity.

I just read this article on the e-mail woes of certain companies and how e-mails are affecting the productivity of their employees.

And I couldn’t help but remember the post that I made last January on playing Farmville (and the reactions I received from that post).

I know a lot of people or employees resent the fact that their employers are restricting their time online (and even blocking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, etc.). But consider first what I wrote here before you get your hackles up…

Real – Life Example

I was given the chance to put into test just how being online (or not being online) can affect one’s work. And I just want to take this opportunity to describe this experience.

If you’ve read my posts from the start, you’ll see that I wrote that I own my small accounting firm.

Small or not, my people used to have unlimited access to the Internet. Facebook (used to be Friendster), YM, Google, you name it, they can access it. Since my firm is a small one, I can’t afford to have my own I. T. so I could not possibly control these sites.

When I started my own firm, I was okay with such an access. I mean, heck, I thought my people were responsible enough when to call it quits online and start working offline. I spent two busy seasons believing this to be the case. Two busy seasons in which the hours we were keeping were very near the kind of hours I was keeping when I was still working for a big accounting firm (like a 12 – hour workday plus week-ends plus holidays).

Then I started noticing stuff. Small ones really. Like whenever I get near my people’s area, they suddenly switch windows. Like I happen to pass by their area and I see their IE or Firefox or YM open. Or I hear them talking about Farmville and the other things that they discovered online. Or I see them extend their working hours but instead of working, they’re online! Which got me thinking – are they working or aren’t they?

So I did a little experiment. Last February, I removed my people’s Internet access. Not just restricted the sites but completely removed it. Of course, they grumbled behind my back and it caused some friction but since I am the boss, what could they do?

My thoughts? Well, I just wanted to see what would happen during that busy season.

And the results?

Overtime hours went down.

They could go home at 6:00 or 7:00 p. m. every Saturday.

There was no Sunday work.

By April, we were more relaxed. My people could even go home at 6:00 p. m. on Friday and Saturday. On the 14^th of April, which is crutch time for everybody, they went home at 5:00 p. m.! And by noontime on April 15, everything was done!

Still more results? More face – to – face interaction with the clients and with their peers (particularly during break times). Plus, less mistakes, less review notes and faster turnaround of outputs.

The experiment...was a success...

At least for my firm, that is.

This is actually the first time I reflected on what happened during the last busy season. And this is the first time I put my reflections on writing.

I’m not trying to be preachy here or to advocate that the same thing be done in other firms or companies. Other firms may have different views, or different experiences, or different approaches to this matter. It's really entirely up to them.

You can react negatively or positively, it is all up to you. But for me, the Internet access stays off (unless really, really needed) and it will stay off as long as I am the boss here. May sound dictatorial, I know but hey, in the end, the results showed that it was well worth it.

And really, that is all that matters for me.

Why Do I Find Audit Exciting?

2010-07-05T05:59:00.000-07:00

Or do I…???

Somebody asked me a while ago (or rather a few months ago) whether I really find audit exciting. It would seem that my posts in this blog conveyed a sense of excitement in my old job.

Well, I had to admit I smiled when I saw that comment. I mean if you asked any of my old teammates or office mates if I looked excited during that time, they would just scratch and shake their heads. I don’t think they really saw me as “excited” when I was working in the firm.

Audit was my first job. I chose it not because I was excited about it. I chose it because, well, it was the only job I was knowledgeable about. I figured since a lot of my family members started out in audit and went on to build good or great careers, I might as well start with audit, too. Not very wise, eh? But then again, I didn’t know any better.

Seven months later, I soon found out the error of basing a choice on the wrong assumptions. I resigned.

That was my second mistake. Why?

Because when I started applying for other jobs, my 7-month worth of audit experience (which included one busy season) was like a no-experience at all. I basically had to start from scratch. So, after more than 1 year, I returned to audit, this time much wiser and much more mature than when I was first accepted on the job.

But wait! Was I excited this second time around? Still, no. It was just a job for me, something that I can later on put in my resume to get other jobs with higher pays and more perks. But as the years go by, I did find that there are things in audit I can get excited about.

Oh not getting new clients. When you’re in audit, during at least your first 2 years, you may very well get assigned to the same clients. I even had the same client for 5 years and another one for 3 years! So, no I didn’t get excited about getting new clients.

Was it the pay / salary that got me excited? Definitely not. Enough said.

Was it the hours kept? Whoever said they get excited with the hours in an accounting firm ought to get shot. Just kidding.

So what did I get excited about?

Meeting new friends? Yes! I met some very good friends during my 8 years of stay.

Meeting or auditing ‘popular’ clients? How about being the auditor of Google before they went public?

Sorry, I didn’t get a client that popular. But I did get to audit several clients who are pretty well known in my place. So yes, I was excited about those things.

How about getting great evaluations and being promoted? Who wouldn’t? I was promoted three times, got the highest evaluation several times (with corresponding salary increases to boot). I guess I was lucky that way.

How about traveling? I know some people would say traveling when auditing is not exactly a bed of roses and is not really conducive to sightseeing. Maybe true, maybe not, but just going to places that I otherwise wouldn’t have gone to if I wasn’t working as an auditor was an exciting thought for me. Plus, I was fortunate enough to be sent to another country for some on – the – job trainings. That was really an exciting time for me.

Lastly, the fact that I ‘survived’ 8 years working in an accounting firm is something I am always excited and pleased about. I know a lot of people will look askance at me over the fact that I managed to stay that long in the firm but believe me, it was worth every year of it.

So to answer the above question, I do get excited about some aspects of audit. Not all but enough for me to breeze through those 8 years and come out of them alive. But don’t let my ex – teammates or office mates read this, otherwise, I will never live it down. Admitting that you are excited over auditing is like asking them to dub you as an F – F – F – For the (Accounting) Firm Forever. And I’m not excited being called that.

And that’s all about being excited as an auditor. Thanks for reading! Cheers!