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    Accounting Big 8

    June 16, 2019

    Accounting Big 8

    Big 8

    Posted: 16 Jun 2019 08:08 AM PDT

    My partner just passed his last CA subject. Had to celebrate by making him a calculator cake.

    Posted: 16 Jun 2019 04:26 AM PDT

    My first year as associate: “Busy season is overrated, I’ll have time to study for FAR workout and be a better spouse”

    Posted: 16 Jun 2019 03:00 PM PDT

    Why you shouldn't work for EY in Audit (personal experience rant)

    Posted: 16 Jun 2019 04:53 PM PDT

    Hi all,

    ​

    Using my throwaway for this and this is also a bit of Offmychest material.

    ​

    Even after leaving the company for quite some time, I always seem to reflect upon my poor experience at EY every now and again. I wondered why it went so wrong, and where if it was my fault and if I could have approached things differently. I am at a different company now and the attitudes and experience I received are so different, I think I may have figured it out. I am not trying to trash EY, because I have heard that other people did have positive experiences, but this experience is my own and so I am writing this so noone would ever walk the same path I did.

    ​

    There are basically two main reasons why you shouldn't work in Audit in EY, in particular the London office in UK:

    ​

    1) It is a complete lottery of who you work for in terms of whether they will care about your learning. I am guessing your chances of getting any kind of positive experience is less than 30% with EY

    ​

    When you are starting out, you are allocated to several audit teams to start your audit journey. Usually a senior or assistant manager will be the one guiding you on how to do your work at each client.

    I find that most of the people I worked with are frankly just terrible at their jobs, and so they are unable to sufficiently teach you how to do your job when you are starting out. You have the online manual (I think called GAM or something) so you end up heavily relying on that, but unfortunately as each company is different, it just doesn't work half the time. The manual is also ineffective at showing you how to do the work.

    Just a few things in the field in just your FIRST year which happened to me which is just bullshit below (assume each senior is different):

    • First client job and the senior recommends to "Look at the last year's papers and just copy it across" or "use last year's papers and change to the correct figures". No tangible explanation why. He was not new to the engagement as he was on it for a year.
    • Senior fails to explain properly how to do walkthroughs and test of controls, and eventually leaves it entirely up to you. For my first walkthrough, I initially did it with my senior because I told him it was my first time but it was very clear that even the senior didn't know what he was doing and just talked with the client about the process and then tells you to write it up (he didn't write any notes himself if I recall whereas I did. He did not ask about the controls of the client). He then later asks you about the controls (which were never explained at the time) and expected you to know from the walkthrough. He then tells you to go back to client to just look for any control (as I realise later this reduces substantive testing in year end). The senior then tells you to do all the other walkthroughs and test of controls alone and he reviews it from the comfort of his seat.
    • Senior decides to purposely use multiple circular references to complete audit substantive testing and not actually do the work. I had comfronted the senior on this because I need the right explanation for my work, and he says he will change it (he didn't). The audit passed if I recall. In the next year when I became senior and I was on the engagement again, I recall I fixed his fuckup by redoing the work entirely as if was new.
    • Senior, who leaves you alone most of the time, decides to show "care and teach" you only when the current manager happens to walk past and stay for the morning, but after decides to leave you alone and not offer much help anymore i.e. played the company politics for the checklist to be promoted. This person, if I recall, eventually became Manager in EY.

    ​

    And this is before I talk about the 2nd or 3rd year and beyond. The poor work life balance is actually very trivial in comparison. You would actually WISH you can work 9am-1am everyday, in return for a good decent team.

    ​

    This is only one half of the story, the other half of people you work for is the client. It is also a lottery of whether you get to work on a GOOD client who knows what they are doing and are able to teach you their jobs and how things work, versus a BAD client, who only considers you as a cost and just pisses you off at every chance they get i.e. give you simple 1 phrase answers that you can't work with. Again, to keep things short, here are three things I recall which is just bullshit:

    • Task was to find out why there was a 10m cash difference between the bank and the cashbook. Cash person sends me to the Operations team, who sends me back. After a few cycles, I escalate to their managers and I explain the situation, who send me back down to the finance cash person and the same operations person. Eventually escalates to CFO, who again, pushes back down to that same finance cash person who can't figure out why there is a 10m black hole in the cash balance. I explained to our own Senior Manager, who points me back to the same finance person. This audit got passed.
    • Get shouted by someone because you ask them about the process. He calmed down eventually, but he never apologised.
    • Get poor responses or attitudes by the client for asking them for the usual items i.e. asked for the backup for one of the lines, but they sulking give you it or unable to give you it in the reasonable timeframe. Basically in my example, the finance team regularly talks shit about the audit team to the whole floor, from compliance to the admins and sales, which made everyone give this poor attitude to us, who, lets be honest, are basically recent graduates from university. Neither their senior management nor our own management intervened. The resultant audit work was poor but the audit got passed anyway, and no management points were ever made to correct this.

    ​

    2) For a people focused firm, most people in EY doesn't seem to have any values

    I mean just basic stuff, like ensuring work is done on time, wanting to complete to the decent quality of work or being thoughtful for other members of the team. You are usually allocated a "councillor" incase you have any problems, and I tried to use it to push myself to better engagements but due to reason 1), your councillor can be pretty ineffective because either they are leaving, don't care about you by not responding to you, or say they will fix it, but nothing happens. For some engagements the work I see being done well by this firm are through office politics whereby they talk nicely to clients or senior management claiming everything is fine, when it is not.

    ​

    I get the feeling that more than half the people I worked with, really didn't want to be there and would rather be lazy and accept a paycheck.

    ​

    In fact, I would go as far to say that EY has taught me POOR values and bad work ethics. When I bought this up to one of my councillors whereby I mentioned that I am not learning the ropes because x, y, z, I was told it was my fault that I didn't learn and I should read the online manual more. I fucking hated EY with a passion from that point. My councilors kept leaving for other jobs so I actually get different councillors every year but when I bring it up again, they all say very passive sounding things, rather than actually doing something about it and give me a better engagement (note, they say that they will only allow me to change engagements once I have a few more years under my belt).

    ​

    Why are these two reasons particuarly stick out?

    Thinking back, was all this pain worth the accounting qualification? I actually planned to stay at EY and either make it to Manager or move to a different department, but because of the lack of learning, I wasn't able to improve myself enough to be at the current standard. Again, this is apparently my fault.

    I left the company because I refused to accept it. What I am trying to say is, because of those two reasons, EY basically fucked with my career and essentially wasted precious years of my life. I walked out of the company feeling more stupid and a poorer motivated employee than when I left university.

    ​

    My life was somewhat changed at my new company. Everyone is nice here, and things are explained very clearly to me and my work has gained several praise from my team, such that even the top people at the board were impressed. I am getting better at my current job, but at the end of the day, this was my plan C route.

    ​

    Sorry for the rantish text. I want to emphasize once more that this might be an outlier experience for me, but please for all those out there lucky enough to have multiple choice offers for an audit role, don't bother going to EY, go to PwC or KPMG or Deloitte. I genuinely believe you are risking your career if you pick EY.

    submitted by /u/randomonium123
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    Mondays are starting to ruin Sundays for me.

    Posted: 16 Jun 2019 12:29 PM PDT

    It makes my weekend that much shorter. I know as an accountant I might not ever have a job i look forward to, I didn't choose accounting for the thrills, but damn man it's sgetting so bad that I spend all day Sunday just thinking about how I have to go back tomorrow. Doesnt seem normal.

    It's time to get serious about this job hunt.

    submitted by /u/BurtMacklinFBI__
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    Bitcoin accounting?

    Posted: 16 Jun 2019 07:20 PM PDT

    How would a Bitcoin miner account for the bitcoin that he mines? How would they make a journal entry when get the bitcoin into their digital wallet?

    submitted by /u/nkl8121
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    How can some people be so humble?

    Posted: 16 Jun 2019 02:16 AM PDT

    I look forward to those bathroom cry sessions

    Posted: 15 Jun 2019 09:59 PM PDT

    AMA: Big4 NYC -> Top MBA Program

    Posted: 16 Jun 2019 07:24 PM PDT

    I know many accounting professionals consider whether they need to get an MBA but not many people actually end up pursuing it. So I am creating this post to answer any questions you may have about getting accepted to business schools.

    Quick background about myself:

    • 25 year old male, worked at PwC NYC for 4 years in Risk Assurance department, and will start my MBA at Columbia.

    Ask Anything!!!

    submitted by /u/businessrob
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    Understanding Bank Reconcilliation help?

    Posted: 16 Jun 2019 07:03 PM PDT

    Hello,

    I'm currently in the midst of an entry level accounting class, but I am struggling to understand bank reconcilliation. I've been trying to use Youtube as a guide to help understand, but I'm still not sure what I'm doing incorrectly. Can I please get some help to see what I have done wrong?

    Here is my problem:

    • Cash balance per company's records as of July 31st, 2011 was $66,955.
    • Bank statement balance as of July 31st, 2011 was $15,875.
    • A deposit in the amount of $52,000 was deposited into the night depository of the bank on July 31st but did not get recorded in the July 31st bank statement balance.
    • Check #354 in the amount of $575 and check # 365 in the amount of $1,500 were outstanding as of this bank statement.
    • An NSF check in the amount of $500 (written by J. Smith, a customer) was returned by the bank to the company in the July 31st bank statement.
    • A bank service charge in the amount of $50 was included in the July 31st bank statement.
    • Interest in the amount of $125 was deposited into our account by the bank.
    • The bank collected $1,000 from a customer (H. Doe) on our behalf as part of the lockbox service that we established with the bank.
    • The bank erroneously posted another company's check (i.e. withdrawal) in the amount of $5,000 to our account.
    • The bank erroneously posted another company's deposit into our account in the amount of $3,000.
    • After reconciling the bank statement, we noticed that a check that was written to pay for the current month's utilities in the amount of $250 was improperly recorded in our books as $520. (It was properly recorded in the bank statement as $250.)

    Here's what I've done:

    Bank statement:

    Begin balance: $15,875

    ETF: $52,000

    Deduct: Bank errors of $3000 and $5000 and outstanding checks #354 and #365 for $575 and $1500.

    Total: $60,500

    For the cash book, I've begun with a balance of $66,955 and added $125 interest and deducted NSF check $500, bank charge $50, charge correction $270, and lockbox service $1000.

    Total: $65,260

    ​

    I'd appreciate any help!

    submitted by /u/rdoss27
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    Guys is accounting as bad as it sounds?

    Posted: 16 Jun 2019 04:30 PM PDT

    I want to go to law school and I'm picking Accounting as my major for college (I just graduated HS lol)

    But if law school doesn't work out, I'm thinking of going with Accounting. Is that a good choice?

    I always get scared at all the memes people post here about accountants working so many hours

    submitted by /u/ProudKingbooker
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    [Property Management] What to call this account?

    Posted: 16 Jun 2019 09:19 PM PDT

    Hello,

    I am neither in real estate, nor accounting... However, I need help naming a dual-entry account such that a Property manager/accountant wouldn't balk at my choice trying to come up with it myself.

    If you were required to put ALL "move-in fees" under a single account without breaking them out into specific accounts, what would you call it? The reason im not breaking them out separately is my specific purpose doesn't need to deal with the accounting logistics of the one-time fees/deposits, so I want to just put them all in 1 account to simplify it.

    For example:

    • Security deposits
    • Pet fee
    • Key fee
    • Application fee
    • Last month rent

    Here are a few of my thoughts for the account (all 'income' accounts)

    • Initial Lease Setup Payments
    • Move-in fees
    • New lease setup fees
    • ideas?
    submitted by /u/_CMYK_
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    I've applied to 300+ jobs on ZipRecruiter, and have only gotten 1 call back. Something must be wrong?

    Posted: 16 Jun 2019 12:39 PM PDT

    All of the hiring managers have viewed my application, and none are interested. I have no internships or accounting experience, but my GPA is at least above a 3.0 and I have work experience. I'm losing my mind here, should it be this hard to find a job in one of the safest fields to work in?

    submitted by /u/TheSoftParade69
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    What did your career progression through industry look like?

    Posted: 16 Jun 2019 06:29 PM PDT

    I'm just in college. My uni isnt recruited at all from the Big 4 and honestly I'd rather work in industry. I just wanted to see what others experience has been with both career and salary progression through industry accounting. If you got your cpa state when as well.

    submitted by /u/forestgather50
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    Nervous about starting my first job tomorrow

    Posted: 16 Jun 2019 07:27 PM PDT

    I'm starting my first job tomorrow and I'm starting to feel nervous about it. I just graduated with my Masters last month and I finished 2 CPA parts while I was in college. I honestly didn't expect to find a job until like the fall when recruiting session starts up again so starting this early is surprising. I've been studying for BEC and have it scheduled for next month and its going okay so far. Honestly, it feels like all my stress comes from getting these exams out the way so I can just come home from work and relax instead of hitting the books.

    I guess I'm just worried about whether I'll like working there or not. Its a pretty small firm so it could go either way. If I don't like it, should I just stay for a year to get the 1 year experience requirement out the way and look towards B4 or a mid-sized firm. Is this what they call like a quarter-life crisis or something.

    Thanks for listening to me rant. Did anyone else feel this way then they started work and does it get any easier afterward?

    submitted by /u/dawnofjigglypuff
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    CPA Hopeful - Live in Texas, planning on relocating to SLC Utah, which state do I pursue a CPA in?

    Posted: 16 Jun 2019 02:14 PM PDT

    Hey,

    Grad student here wrapping up my final requirements to sit for the CPA exam soon, and I wanted to ask if anyone has direct experience in Texas vs. Utah CPA requirements and which one I should pursue? Currently I believe the Utah CPA is the better choice knowing the circumstances of each states requirements.

    ​

    Currently I live in Dallas, TX and am planning on relocating to Salt Lake City to be with family. I have heard different advice from both my accounting cohort leaders and friends (formerly employed at the firm I am working with but SLC office not Dallas). Some say do my application of intent for Texas, others say I should prioritize the Utah CPA. Any advice?

    ​

    Important Detail: I have put in a transfer request to relocate to the SLC office, but have not heard back yet (should be august). Even if the transfer doesn't go through, I am planning on working a busy season and then moving myself if I have to swap firms.

    submitted by /u/Lv50Pichu
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    Same as last year can’t be wrong

    Posted: 16 Jun 2019 01:03 PM PDT

    Walmart outsourcing means layoffs for nearly 600 Finance and Accounting employees in Charlotte

    Posted: 16 Jun 2019 04:27 AM PDT

    What are the basic excel functions I should know before going into my first entry position?

    Posted: 16 Jun 2019 01:10 PM PDT

    I don't have a degree yet but I'm working on it. I am planning on finding part time work in accounting/bookkeeping while I'm in school. In order to be prepared, I would like to get very familiar with excel and/or other accounting software I may need.

    So I want to start with the basic requirements. Thanks!

    submitted by /u/whoisthefather
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    New Tax Associate Advice

    Posted: 16 Jun 2019 11:01 AM PDT

    I recently accepted an offer as a Tax Associate for a small (15 or so people) CPA firm. I haven't done anything with tax since I took the intro tax class 2 years ago, and I was all for going into audit since then. I enjoyed tax and I was good at it, but just thought I'd be a better fit in an audit role. So, my question is; what can I do in the 2 weeks before my start date that may help make training easier? Should I study at all or just wait to be taught everything on the job? I don't want to look clueless even if they don't expect me to know everything. Is there anyone here who went into a different field (tax instead of audit) and enjoyed it? Any advice is appreciated! TIA.

    submitted by /u/acctinstl
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    CPA eligible attorney

    Posted: 16 Jun 2019 03:17 PM PDT

    Would being a cpa eligible attorney get you a good job with the big 4?

    submitted by /u/collegedriper
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    Inventory Management Inquiry

    Posted: 16 Jun 2019 08:26 PM PDT

    Hello all,

    ​

    I own a small janitorial supply business where we install chemical dispensers to our clients, free of cost, in exchange for purchasing the refills from us. The equipment is still legally owned by us (as stated in the contract), which means the more equipment we buy, the more inventory we accumulate, wether its in our warehouse or installed elsewhere. The only time we do an adjustment is if a client is buying or if we are writing off a dispenser due to damage/lost/etc. Herein my concerns: from an accounting point of view, should we write off the equipment once installed or should we continue to account for it? If the former, should we write it off or make an invoice with a nominal charge to record it? If the latter, what is the fiscal responsibility of simply accumulating inventory?

    ​

    Sorry for the long question, and thanks in advance.

    submitted by /u/FirePanda44
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    Payroll Taxes - Pub 15 help

    Posted: 16 Jun 2019 07:57 PM PDT

    Recently moved to Public Accounting & part of the job requires to know a ton about employer's Tax Guides (Publication 15, 15-a, 15-b); never done payroll tax before and since I'm currently studying for the CPA I don't have much time to go over these tax guides. Does anyone know a site or a way to go over the material in a short period of time? Thanks!

    submitted by /u/Thetaxman_69
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    Need advice on apartment hunting

    Posted: 16 Jun 2019 07:56 PM PDT

    Choosing an apartment, but have yet to work a busy season so I don't really know what it's like. One apartment has a washer/dryer in the unit, the other has pretty much everything else (more space, better area, etc). Mind that neither are bad apartments, but remove the laundry issue and I'd definitely be in the apartment.

    My question: How much is it worth during busy season to have a washer/dryer in your apartment during those long weeks? I could see myself loathing having to wait who knows how long for a washing machine on my one day off a week, or having to drive to a laundromat or something like that, but maybe I'm just making it a bigger deal in my head. Any input?

    submitted by /u/screwthecpaexam
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