Accounting for Students

The past year has been quite dramatic. Just like in the accountancy environment in college, people in the accounting environment can be quite competitive. I had been very passive in terms of academic competition since I started high school. I just did not care anymore about grades or ranking. I passed the CPA board exam with the belief that I just had to compete with my own limits and surpass it.  I have learned that there's also competition in the work environment. I mean, I know it exists, but I did not really think that it would affect me. Output is not enough. My superiors look into people relations and personality as well, which in both I utterly fail all the time. I think that I am not that bad as a person, no bias, seriously, but I just prefer who'll be nice with, but I guess, that's not gonna work every time. I was raised to develop a strong personality and that my friends mean that I cannot be easily influenced nor can anyone easily bend my will. I have e...

This has been one of the craziest years I have ever had. I have met a lot of people, got to know their names, had a little conversation, drank a lot of booze, and probably caused a little bit of misunderstanding for a few. I had all these thoughts running at 5am but decided to sleep on it instead of getting my laptop to jot down everything. Now, why is inquiry not enough? I have been working in the audit for about two years and three months now, but because of the time I spent working, it actually feels like five years. Since I was newly hired, my seniors always told me, inquiry is not enough. You see in audit, we ask a lot of questions about how things happen or what is going on in the Company, etc. As you read this, you will find out that this is not all about work. Anyway, answered questions are not enough, we need to gather documents to support the statements of whoever we interviewed, or else anything they say cannot be used for us to obtain reasonable assurance. Assuran...

I believe there is a huge improvement in my audit skills and knowledge for the past year. I have also learnt to adapt with different kinds of people and find ways to adjust in order to smoothly proceed with the audit engagements. Learning to set aside personal issues and comfort and prioritize the course of the audit is probably the achievement I am most proud of this season. I have also chosen not to whine and clamour over things that have happened already and hope for the best moments to come instead of wallowing in the past. I also believe that my growth is 80% dependent on my own efforts and 20% dependent on the guidance of my superiors. I do not expect them to give me special preferences or attention, because I am not cute, adorable or kind. I am well aware that I prefer on working alone and take control over things but I am also willing to work with both difficult and easy people. The more challenging the engagement is, the more excited I am to work on it. But there are also ti...

Okay, I know it's tax season and I shouldn't have the time to write a post, but you know, I like blogspot's new themes and I do feel like writing a post right now. Anyway, it's 3am and we're still at the office doing our heroic jobs. Some of my co-workers are footing and cross-referencing, some are finalizing their audit working papers or AWP, while I update my FS for release (YAAAAAAAAAAY). So, going back to the question, why do we have to stay up all night. You know by the time office hours starts again the following morning, the clients are going to ask for updates about something they gave the previous day. Now, if we do sleep like our clients do during the night, then we won't be able to meet our deadlines, and so, we're dead. Lol! So while they sleep, we work so that we can give what they ask the following day. This is kind of unfair actually, when we ask for audit requirements, they're going to provide it at about 5pm when office hours a...

I'm on my second season of audit already and it feels like I've been working for five years. Maybe it's because I only had two month of slacking in which I manage to take an out of country vacation for my birthday and an impromptu travel to the north and experience "surf break" at Elyu (La Union). You can check my travel blog, Travelling for Less, if you're interested to know about my travel adventures.   Actually, I have come to a realization that audit is not that bad. It's not great either, but it's not bad. My pay is "okay" which is one of the reasons I can't say this is a great job. However, I can actually plot my vacations and manage my time in order to provide the necessary output to gain my bosses' "vacation approval". I guess, unlike other low ranking auditors, I consider myself one of the lucky ones who managed to get hired by an awesome audit group.  I like my group, NHC group, under Miss NHC. You'll h...

Time flies so fast that I haven't even noticed how much I've grown in audit - experience-wise not physically, though yes, I too have fattened up myself in the span of 9 months that I have been working. Let me tell you what has happened in the last 9 months. At first, I was just a "footer and cross-referencer" of the face of financial statements and the notes to FS. Then I was assigned to worked on a couple of companies under one group, under the printing industry. I had to do a lot of things which I am not well acquainted with. I felt so lazy and uninspired to do my work. However, I was under the care of a very kind and helpful senior that my conscience started bugging and forced my lazy ass to work everyday. I was struggling during the first few months with my first real audit clients, putting emphasis on the "Planning Stage". I did not know what  kind of procedures to do and I am not really the type of person to keep on bugging my seniors on issues I...