Graduate Profile - Accounting

Do you know what your first few weeks of work are going to be like? Here are some comments and advice from one of our Commerce graduates now working in one of the 'Big 5' Chartered Accounting firms. She has a graduate position in the Audit Department.

What did you do in your first week of work?

I visited a client, an advertising agency, for the week with a senior and a manager. There were only three of us because it was a relatively small job. I was given cash payments and cash receipts, which meant I had to choose twenty four different transactions throughout that year and then trace them through to the invoice, the balance sheet and the bank deposit slip. The same applied with cash payments. My whole week was occupied with working for that client. Somebody else who was a graduate, however, spent that week in the office. It just depended on whether everyone had jobs or not. You might have a week of work and then no work for two weeks. Even though I was able to visit a client in my first week it does not necessarily mean that all graduates were out in their first week.

Was it what you expected?

What do you do when you do not know something?

What advice do you have for graduates in their first week of work?

Obviously you cannot choose the clients you go to. I would suggest, however, that you volunteer for as many jobs as possible. That is, not only the jobs where you go to a client but also those where you stay in the office. That way you can get an idea of the different things that happen in the office, where everything is and how it is filed. Once the managers realise that you know what to do on the computer or about the filing they will keep coming back to you and asking you as they know you know how to do it. For example, in my second week I had nothing to do. We were given a few training manuals to do on the computer as a self help way of learning how to do e-mail and software programs. I went ahead and did all of the manuals that we were required to do and then did several extra and kept asking for more. This then meant that later when the other graduates were having problems I knew how to do it. It was not long until the managers realised this and now they ask me to do more things and give me more information and I can discuss it with them. One of audits’ downfalls is that it has a quiet time during the year from about February until June where there is little work and graduates tend to be stuck in the office without much to do. It is because of this that I volunteered to help out in another section. It was not particularly interesting work to do but it did give me an opportunity to work out the filing system. The managers then asked me to do things, instead of the other graduates as they had no idea how things work and where things were stored.

What are some of the pitfalls graduates should try to avoid?

One of the major pitfalls would have to be not asking questions straight away or clarifying when someone explains something to you. Unfortunately the mangers sometimes assume that you know certain information, whereas you might not know because you all came from different universities. They can sometimes go ahead explaining, assuming that you know what they are talking about, but it is all going over your head. If you do not say "Ok, so by that you mean ……..", and you just sit down and try to do the work, you will find that sometimes you’re sitting there thinking that you have no idea what to do. You feel a bit stupid to go and ask the questions later, especially if you had acted as if you understood before. That is one thing that I have found I have to do, that is, reiterate what they said to make sure that I have understood what they are telling me. It is also good to check occasionally that what you are doing is correct.

What is one of the most interesting activities you did in your first week?

I was lucky enough to visit a client but the most interesting part would have to have been the actual client, more than the work. I was interested in advertising when I studied it at uni so I found it very interesting, as the client was an advertiser. More than just doing work there it was understanding how their business worked and the different adverts they had done.In my third week, however, I had the opportunity to visit a client with a colleague who was only a year above me and we completed the whole audit ourselves. This then gave me the opportunity to figure out how things fitted together and I was able to do a lot more than I would have had it been a large audit with more staff involved. I have noticed that a lot of people want to audit the big companies and that is great for exposure of a different kind, but I think it is also good to audit smaller companies as then you get to be involved in the whole auditing process as opposed to just doing the cash for a big company which takes a whole week.

Is there anything else you think a commerce student might want to know?

In the firm I work for, auditing seems to be very flexible in the hours we work and the activities that we do. The department is also very social, as you do not tend to see each other during the week. You are hardly in the office and if you are, others are not, so after hours everyone meets and goes out together. Being a new graduate I have not been put on as many jobs as others so I might at some stage be the only person in the office with no mangers or partners. It is easy not to see some people for four or five weeks if the are on a large job. You do not arrive at work everyday and see everyone and stay with them. In corporate finance and tax they spend everyday at their desk doing their work and see each other all the time. In auditing we have two people to a desk. There are never the same people in the office nor is all staff in together, so it is easy to share desks and not run in to each other for a while.

What are employees expected to wear?

Dress code is professional. Males wear suits and there is an unspoken policy that you wear your jackets to clients and outside the office. If it is a forty degree day you might not but other wise the men wear matching suits, that is all blue, not pants and a sports jacket. Females also wear tailored suits not large open type clothes. Females can wear pants but for some reason females do not have to wear jackets all of the time.

Is there anything else to add...

After three weeks of work I am feeling a lot more confident than I was before. This is probably because I know most of the auditing staff now and the different staff to ask about different questions. I tend to find that becoming friendly with the receptionist and administrative staff is definitely to your advantage because they know exactly how everything runs within the office. If you have a problem you can ask them how to do things and they can refer you to the person who will be able to assist you. It is beneficial to be known not only by those you go on audits with, but also the administrative staff as they are the ones who are there everyday and know how the office runs. They tend to be the ones who can help you the most in the long run, especially when no one else is in the office.