Officially a Seasoned Senior Audit Associate

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 experienced office politics. No. I hate politics. I hate sucking up to my bosses to gain their favor. I have always been real, but had learned when to speak my mind and when to control my personal opinions. I had bosses that I get along with, and bosses who I just want to interact with office matters. The things is, for the past two seasons, I had friends whom I can confide in and trust. Sadly, only one is left, the rest have already moved on with their lives. They have left audit and tried on new career paths, while I'm still here, stuck. 

So, I got promoted. Luckily, that is because I got high marks in the practical exam and my senior fought for me during the deliberation. I really did not care about promotion. I still don't even care about may auditing career. I mean, I have never envisioned myself to be in this field. Only a few of the more than a dozen junior associates were promoted. Those who were not, had resigned, and as I have mentioned, most of them are my trustworthy friends. 

The first season of being a senior associate was the hardest for me. I have trust issues with my co-seniors. I did not really like most of them but I can deal with them as long as it is work related. But you can never expect me to hang out with them. Then, there were new hires. New people, new personalities - which means that I have to learn to adjust, again, and well, I guess, act like a mentor. This was really challenging especially when one of my weaknesses is teamwork. 

I did not do great in the last tax season. I want to correct the mistakes that I made by staying for another year. In a way, this is a challenge that I gave to myself. If I have to leave this firm, there is no assurance that I will like my new colleagues in my new workplace. Which means that at this time, while I still can make mistakes, learn from them, and correct them, I can make this opportunity to become a better employee, mentor, and auditor. 

To make this blog lively, I have decided that on my next posts, I am going to share my monthly activities and experiences since I started working in 2015. Audit is not so bad that I have decided to live with it for another year. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Safeguards in Auditing

Safeguards Once a threat that is other than insignificant has been identified and evaluated, safeguards should be considered and applied as necessary. If the firm decides to accept or continue the engagement, in spite of the significant threats identified, such decision should be documented including a description of the threats identified and the safeguards applied to eliminate or reduce the threats to an acceptable level.The nature of the safeguards to be applied will vary depending upon the circumstances. Consideration should always be given to what a reasonable and informed third party having knowledge of all relevant information including safeguards applied, would reasonably conclude to be unacceptable. The consideration will be affected by matters such as the significance of the threat, the nature of the assurance engagement and the structure of the firm. In certain situations, no safeguards are available to eliminate or reduce the threat to an acceptable level. Hence, the ...
Read more

Familiarity Threat in Auditing

Familiarity threat occurs when by virtue of a close relationship with a client, its directors, officers, or employees, a firm or a member of the engagement team becomes too sympathetic to the client's interest. Here are some examples of the circumstances that may create this threat but are not limited to: A member of the assurance team having an immediate family member or close family member who is a director or officer of the assurance client.  A member of the assurance team having an immediate family member or close family member who, as an employee of the assurance client, is in position to exert direct and significant influence over the subject matter of the assurance engagement.  A former partner of the firm being a director, officer of the assurance client or an employee in a position to exert direct and significant influence over the subject matter of the assurance engagement.  Long association of a senior member of the assurance team with the assurance cli...
Read more

Advocacy Threat in Auditing

Advocacy threat occurs when a firm or a member of the engagement team promotes, or may be perceived to promote an assurance client's position or opinion to the point that objectivity may, or may be perceived to be compromised. Such may be the case if a firm or member of the engagement team were to subordinate their judgement to that of the client. Here are some examples of circumstances that may create this threat, but are mot limited to: Dealing in, or being a promoter of share or other securities of the client. Acting as an advocate on behalf of an assurance client in litigation or in resolving disputes with third parties. 
Read more