Role of CFO

The CFO’s scope responsibility has evolved from bean counter and oversight to the “strategic advisor”, as accounting itself evolves from collecting, validating and reporting data to providing and supporting analysis for decision making.

both financial and non-financial key performance indicators, e.g. churn rate of telecom companies.

An exterme case is Amazon on now they use predictable analysis by using algorithms bsaed on customer shopping patterns, ratings to suggest to customers items they would likely be interested.

Also, at the operational level, Amazon uses weather climate models for more efficient shipping.

But need a team to start asking intelligent questions.

It’s progressive for the accounting function to provide marketing and sales with a reliable and accurate picture of which custoems are more profitable and which are less profitable.

 

Audit Billable Hours: What’s Enough for Work and CPA License

This is not common, but some new hires worry about not having enough audit billable hours, especially if this is one of the experience requirements for your CPA license.

Monitoring Audit Billable Hours of Entry-Level Accountants

It is the responsibility of managers, your counselor, staff planning and ultimately the office leadership to make sure you get enough billable hours.

If you are new, they may just be leaving your schedule open, because they don’t yet know what your strengths are, and will throw you in where they think you’ll fit best later.

But then, it could be an oversight. Managers and seniors are busy and they cannot monitor everyone on a daily basis. Here is what you can do .

1. Be Proactive

Speak to your counselor, see if this is “normal” or if he could help you dig up some more work. Then, speak to the seniors and the managers in your teams, and let them know that you have unallocated time. You could also email the person in charge of scheduling, and ask him to pass your name along to anyone needing assistance. This will show some major initiative on your part as well.

2. Be Friendly

You can also get to know people in the office by speaking to them by the coffee machine or any informal hangout area, letting them know that you exist and that you have unallocated time.

3. Do Your Job Well

Do well on your engagements, and people will start picking you up if you ask them if they need help.

How to Get into Accounting after Graduation

How to get into accounting after graduation — that is, without the help of career office and on-campus interviews. Is it possible? Certainly, and let’s see how you can do it.

1. Online Job Search

Monster.com , indeed.com and linkedin.com are good places to start. Be sure you call up local recruiters as well.

2. Cold Calling

Given the main pipeline for entry-level accounting jobs is university campuses, you have to take extra steps and start cold calling recruiters.

If you graduated recently or if you do not attending the target schools (i.e. firms don’t hold interviews at your campus), call up HR and explore the possibility of a phone interview, or attending an interview at a neighboring school. You need to be persistent and follow up diligently to get the time slots.

3. Networking

Outside of cold calling and applying for jobs, there isn’t much you can do beyond good ol’ networking.

4. Getting into Campus interviews

I heard from a reader who enrolled in a 1-year master’s program with the main goal to attend the school’s recruiting fair. This strategy can get quite costly, but it is one of best ways to put yourself in front of many firms.

Please drop a note below if you have other ideas!

Stuck with an Awful Audit Senior: What to Do?

It is 3 am. You don’t know what the heck you are doing. All they told you is to look at last year’s papers and follow what they did last year. That makes you feel like you are just pushing papers. On top of that, you have been working late every night and have no idea why.

The “they”, of course, are your seniors.

You want to quit so bad. But should you? Could you? Here are your options.

7 Ways to “Manage” Your Audit Senior

1. Backing Out?

You can always choose to leave the firm, but I don’t think it’s a good idea.

First, you have worked hard at school and at the recruiting process to get this job. Why give up everything because of this person you despise? You owe it to yourself to create opportunities for you. Besides, 5 different seniors will senior you 5 different ways. Don’t let one bad apple ruin the orchard.

2. Talk to Your Peers or a Mentor

Ask peers you trust about their experience. Don’t complain or spill your guts. Just throw out questions on how they receive feedback from their seniors. At the very least it gives you a realistic expectation of a typical audit senior.

If you don’t really trust anyone in the firm, see if you can talk to ex-colleagues or friends outside the firm. Then ask for their honest opinion.

3. Take a Step Back

Now, analyze the situation and identify the root of the problem. Is it due to one particular senior? If so, speak up to your counselor and HR contact. Unless you say something, people don’t know that you are unhappy and struggling.

You may say that client doesn’t fit your interest and you want to move into a different industry. In my opinion, it is best to tell the truth – that you feel like you are not getting enough training. I understand that it could be an awkward conversation, but as long as you present it professionally and matter-of-factly, it is fine.

If the issue is lack of job satisfaction, try looking at the overall audit and its purpose. Spend some time in understanding your client, their operations, and their challenges. This will make you a much better auditor down the road.

If the issue is that you dislike everyone in the firm, or that your learning style doesn’t fit in with the team’s, then maybe it’s time to move on…

4. Aim to Last Longer than Your Senior

Assuming that one particular audit senior is the issue, I suggest that you wait after the busy season. Your senior is probably on his way out after that. His apparent lack of interest in you (and possibly in his job) indicates that he may be looking for opportunities elsewhere.

5. Vent It Out!

In the meantime, if you are still angry, vent it out to people you trust, or do this anonymously at forums, or in the comment section below 🙂

6. Build a Relationship with Your Client

At the same time, start building a good relationship with your client. It echoes the third point on understanding your client: people appreciate your effort, and practically, it makes your life as an auditor much easier. For example, you could ask them for all sorts of supporting schedules late at night and they wouldn’t get upset.

In the long run, you earn yourself an option to work for this client, and do a great job because you understand their operations so well.

7. Figure out Your End Goal

Where do you want to end up in your career? This is an important question because it determines how long you need to stay.

If you don’t even know what you want to do yet, staying in public accounting isn’t going to hurt anything. It will end up helping you in the long run.

Specifically, try and stick it out for 2-3 years (and YOU become senior), then leave if you are still unhappy. You will then realize the name on the resume is invaluable and very helpful when you leave.

Question: Should I Request Changing Audit Team?

Yes, but think carefully before proceeding. Here are the reasons:

First, you might end up with another crappy senior. Another request for change might be met with eye rolls at a minimum or a rep for being flaky and demanding.

Second, even if the above isn’t true, you still have limited options to change. Once you take steps to change team, expect to stay there for a while. You can only request changes a limited amount of times before people assume there is an issue with you.

My Thoughts

If you work in Big 4 long enough, you’d see seniors come and go. Hang in there!

Auditing is by no means a glorious job, and what you are experiencing happens on every team, in every office, in every state. But you need to just take things in stride and give it your best.

Excel for Accounting: Getting Ready for Your First Job

You’ve got an offer, and won’t start until next September. Is there anything you can do to get prepared for the first job? Honing your Excel skills is one idea.

The Expectation

First of all, if you mentioned that you are “pretty good” in Excel at the interview, and want to live up to your team’s standard, make sure you are familiar with the following functions before starting:

• Pivot tables
• Vlookups
• Sumif
• Filters
• Conditional Formatting
• Macros
• Bonus: Index match

You probably won’t have to create them right off the start, but you should know how they work and how to modify existing ones.

How to Get Prepared

1. Practice with Everyday Examples

It is best to learn Excel with practical examples. For example, do you have a spreadsheet where you track your bank account, maybe with budgetary categories? If so, try to find ways to extract and use data.

Here are some exercise to work on:

• Set up a formula to calculate expenses in a budget category in the current month (without having to reset the SUM range).
• Set the budget column to turn red if it exceeds the budget by, say, 5% or more.
• Create another sheet that pulls data from the bank records and uses pivot tables and charts to show expenses by category and by payee.
• Create a macro so that when you export data from your bank’s website, the data is format to copy and paste into your bank spreadsheet.
• If the bank doesn’t have your budget categories, use vlookup or index and match to create formula that looks for the last time this payee was paid and tells you what budget category it was.

2. Learn Excel for Accounting via Google

After playing around with different functions in your personal spreadsheet, you can move on to more challenging work. Try looking for an excel project to do, then figure out how to do it. There are lots of projects on the Internet, such as monthly budget and variance analysis templates.

If you get stuck, there are tons of Youtube tutorials on Excel for accounting. The following video is comprehensive but very long. You can easily google for shorter versions.

3. Learn on the Job — Remember the Prior Year Work Papers!

If you spend a couple of weeks working on Step 1 and 2, you are better than 95% of your class. Keep up with the great work by learning on the job.

Some seniors are helpful and friendly but others may not, so you can’t rely on them 100%. You can instead study the prior year work papers, with all the formula and data for your easy reference.

Another tip: If you feel like something is taking too long, there is definitely a faster way. Ask your bull-pen mate, or do a quick Google search and you will find something golden.

Do You Have Other Tips to Share?

For current accountants and auditors, what advice can you give to first-years? Would love to hear from you.

FAQ

I attempted to list below the most frequently asked questions related to accounting  jobs as well as career advancement and alternatives. If you have a question that you cannot find an answer to, please drop a note below and I’ll do my best to respond as soon as I can.

Accounting Careers

The Choices

• What does it like being an accountant working in a CPA firm vs in a corporate?
• How do I choose between Big 4 accounting vs smaller CPA firms?

Crafting Your Resume

• Should I write an “objective” for accounting resume?
• Create Your Own Accounting Cover Letter In 10 Minutes With This Template
• Download This Accounting Resume Template If You Are Still In College

Acing Your Interviews

• How do I dress for the interview? Male and Female wardrobes
• Specific brand recommendations for ladies for interviews

Upgrading Your Career

• 5 ideas on how you can upgrade your accounting career
• Should I go for CPA?
• CPA vs accountant is it the same thing?
• Global accounting and finance certifications at a glance

Breaking into Big 4

Making the Decision

• Is Big 4 experience really worth it?
• What exactly is the work nature in Big 4?
• Comparison of Big 4 vs smaller accounting firms

Hiring Process

• Big 4 hiring process at a glance
  1. Attend info session
  2. Network at career fair
  3. Submit resume
  4. Ace your interview
  5. Land an offer
• What is the hiring season?
• Do Big 4 only hire good-looking people?
• How to impress a Big 4 senior manager over lunch
• I’ve accepted the offer. What’s next?
• Would my offer get revoked after background check?

How to Survive and Excel in Your First Year

• Your first day, first month and first client at Big 4
• How should I dress on my first day of work?
• Big 4 salary by major city
• Big 4 bonus for passing the CPA Exam: What exactly are the perks?
• How to get rated a 1 (top performer) in your next review

How to Excel in Second Year and Beyond

• How to arrange a Big 4 rotation to overseas office

Exit Opportunities and Strategies

• I’ve enough. When is the best time to leave Big 4?

General Accounting Firms and Departments

• How to get into accounting beyond campus recruiting?
• My accounting salary negotiation tips
• Should I discuss salary level for internship positions?

Tips for New Accountants

• What level of excel skills is required for first-year associates?
• I am working under an awful audit senior. Is there any way out?
• Do I get enough billable hours?

 

I Got a Big 4 Offer… What’s Next?

Congratulations! You are excited, nervous, and somewhat worried… what’s the next step? Is there anything you can get prepared to wow your new employee? How do you show gratitude and keep in touch with your interviewers?

Accounting Internship Salary Discussion

You are almost there in getting the offer. Now the tricky part: would they ask about salary expectation? What should you say, or not to say?

Accounting Internship Salary is Generally Not Discussed

The good thing is that accounting internship salary is rarely discussed in the interview especially in Big 4 or other companies with a standard internship program.

You don’t really have the ability to negotiate until at least after your first year as an associate, and only if you are some sort of “super” employee.

What You Should Do

Stop worry about it! Focus on how you are going to wow your interviewers and land an offer first.

What You Should NOT Do

Bring up the salary discussion during the interview. It could be awkward because the interviewer is not prepared to talk about it. Or worse, if they thought you are trying to negotiate a higher salary, they might just change their minds and move onto the next 100 candidates who hope to get the position.

If It Does Comes Up…

There is still a chance that you are asked to suggest a salary level. This is especially the case if the partners/owners in a small firm are interviewing you and they no idea which level they should pay.

I’d probably be vague and say something about how you are more interested in the experience than getting a specific dollar amount.

What’s the Salary Range Anyway?

Just to give you a perspective, I’ve asked my readers and the accounting internship per hour rate ranges from $12 to $28.

It varies due to the nature of the work, for example, non-profits tend to pay lower. The location and the cost of living is another important factor. It also depends on your educational background and how respectable your accounting program is.

At the end of the day, the priority should always be getting the experience, and hopefully an extension of offer for any accounting internship. Good luck!

Big 4 Hiring Process

Big 4 accounting firms recruit most of their first-year staff through campus recruiting. Most candidates receive their offers through either first round or second round hires.

First Round Hires

First round candidates usually intern in the summer before graduation. At the end of the summer internship, they are given an official “start date” which is usually 12-18 months later, that is, anytime from September of next year to January in the year after.

Second Round Hires

The second round of new hires are usually given offers in the months leading up to their start dates. Start dates usually coincide with the start of academic semesters. Big 4 tend to hire “way out”, i.e. hiring people many months in advance of the intended start dates.

The above Big 4 hiring process applies only for “new hires”, i.e. those without full-time experience. Professional hires are made at any point during the year when there is a need.

The Offer

The firm typically mails out, via FedEx/UPS, a formal offer packet which includes the terms of the offer. HR will follow-up that packet with a phone call to ensure the new hires received it and ensure they don’t have any unanswered questions.

Big 4 Hiring Season

Like many big financial institutions, Big 4 accounting firms start a year early to fill up their first-year class.

Fall is the biggest hiring season as recruiters look for candidates who will be starting in summer, winter and fall of next year. Most first-year staffs prefer to start in September as they would like to enjoy their “last” summer holidays before work.

Big 4 Hiring Through Campus Recruiting

A typical candidate goes through the Big 4 hiring process via campus recruiting. The information session and signing up for interviews start in fall, shortly after the beginning of school year. Students receive first and second round interviews in the month of November. Successful ones are notified within a week. If they decline the offer, recruiters will call the ones on the waiting list.

Having said that, the hiring process is technically year round due to staff shortages in certain offices.

Starting Dates

Some firms have one starting date when everyone attend the training. Others may have several start dates nationally, because they have to stagger them somewhat in order to accommodate everyone (both new and experienced hires) as well as meeting local office staffing needs.

Opportunities Outside of Campus Recruiting

If you don’t attend one of the target schools, you will need to work harder to get a slot in the interview. Call up a recruiter and ask whether they are willing to see you when there is a campus interview in a neighboring school.

Flexibility helps as well. If you want to join Big 4 as a lateral hire, you might want to indicate early that you can be available off-season. Specifically, you can ask whether there are offices that need staff immediately.

For Your Further Reading

• Big 4 Hiring Process