Technology Etiquette

This past week I attended a professional development seminar for women CPAs. The attendants covered a wide age range, and during lunch we got to talking about the pervasiveness of technology in our lives. A baby boomer expressed her fear that Generation Y would have limited social skills because they could only communicate through texts and online chats. In her opinion, this was evidenced by the fact that many of the young staffers at her firm would rudely check their cell phones or be texting under the desk while in a meeting or speaking with a partner. The staffers' lack of eye contact and distracted conversation seemed to indicate to her that they had no idea how to interact in a professional setting.

It had never occurred to this colleague that perhaps no one has told Generation Y that it is inappropriate to be texting while talking to more senior professionals. This is because between Generation Yers, checking your cell phone while out to dinner or in the middle of a conversation is completely acceptable.

I find that more senior professionals, though demanding the full attention of others when they themselves are speaking, are often the first to pull out their laptops or Black Berries in the middle of seminars and meetings. They seem to think that their status grants them the right to address important work at the presenter's expense. At the same time, they assume that because a less senior professional is texting, they couldn't possibly be addressing a work-related matter. The fact is, staffers work around the clock just like managers and partners. Everyone's responsibilities are equally important to them personally.

My challenge to Generation Yers is to be cognizant of your audience when assessing technology etiquette. If you are working for an old-school partner who fails to embrace email and considers a cell phone to be an emergency only device, try to be understanding and give them your full attention when in a meeting or conversation. Turn off your cell phone if they come to your desk so they don't feel like they are competing with your message beeps.

To those professionals who once did business before email and texting, realize that younger professionals have grown up with technology, and look at is as a productivity tool, not just a game. Generation Yers are still capable of having a good-old-fashioned conversation, but they often prefer electronic means of communication because it is more timely and efficient, enabling them to better multi-task.

Given the pace at which technology evolves, the rules of etiquette are being constantly rewritten. In order to keep up, try and understand your audience. Empathy goes a long way in avoiding offense.

Insight on your Professional Reputation

In my upcoming eBook, Engagement: Jump Start Your Audit Career in Public Accounting, I talk a lot about the importance of maintaining a reputation for being professional, hard working, and effective. Below are a few additional words of wisdom:

A reputation once broken may possibly be repaired, but the world will always keep their eyes on the spot where the crack was.
Joseph Hall

Along with success comes a reputation for wisdom.
Euripides

Associate with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for it is better to be alone than in bad company.
George Washington

It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it.

Benjamin Franklin

It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently.

Warren Buffet

Scholarship Opportunities

Many national scholarships are available to accounting undergraduate students, most of them awarded by various professional organizations. Applying for these awards is an impressive introduction to the sponsoring organizations. During my undergraduate accounting studies, I was awarded an annual scholarship by my local chapters of the American Society of Women Accountants and the Institute of Management Accountants. Both organizations invited me to attend their meetings, and I was surprised to find myself the only student in attendance. As I began frequenting the organizations' activities, I got to know many of the members and they provided me with some helpful career guidance. I also picked up a lot of professional pointers about networking, business etiquette, and professional education. I encourage all accounting students to not only apply for the scholarships below, but to take advantage of the opportunity to network with the sponsoring professional organizations. The time invested in your own personal development will last long after the scholarship money has been spent. Some of the following organizations also offer awards to high school, graduate, and PhD students pursuing their accounting education.

• The American Society of Women Accountants - eligible students should be either part or full time, pursuing a bachelors or masters degree in accounting, having completed 60 semester hours with a declared major in accounting. Scholarships are awarded by individual chapters throughout the country. To find the chapter nearest you, visit www.aswa.org.

• The National Association of Black Accountants - eligible students should be an ethnic minority, an active members of the NABA, and be enrolled in a full-time undergraduate or graduate accounting program. For additional details, visit www.nabainc.org, go to Membership and Programs/Students/National Scholarship Program.

• The American Institute of CPAs - The AICPA offers a variety of awards to high school students, undergraduates, and graduates. They also host a leadership program for minority accounting students and provide grant fellowships to accounting doctoral candidates. For more information, visit www.aicpa.org, interest areas/accounting education/resources/scholarships and awards.

• The Institute of Management Accountants -The IMA is a professional organization that goes to great lengths to reach out to accounting students. Applying for a scholarship is a good way to connect with the IMA. They also have student chapters that compete for various awards and in professional competitions. For more information, visit www.imanet.org, membership/membership categories/student member.

• Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting- Even though ALPFA offers limited scholarships to students, they have a strong network of student chapters and various regional and national events to provide resources to accounting students. ALPFA has a partnership with a non-profit to provide financial assistance and financial counseling, as well as access to scholarships. For more information, visit the student page through www.alpfa.org.

Accounting Takes the Blame...Again

A friend of mine recently told me about a company-wide crisis at her office that had everyone unfairly pointing the finger of blame at the Accounting department. Her mid-sized company had prepaid two months worth of health insurance premiums well in advance of the due date. Despite years of timely payments and a solid relationship with their insurance company, the insurer lost the check in their mail room and immediately canceled the company's insurance coverage. Rather than call the company and ask where their payment was before canceling health insurance coverage for 50+ employees, the insurance company failed to notify anyone. It was only after employees attempted to file claims for care that they found out they had no insurance. Understandably, everyone in the company was furious, and when a mob mentality breaks out, someone has to bear the brunt of the anger. As a result, Accounting was lambasted and assumed to be the guilty party.

Fortunately, my friend, who happened to cut the check for the insurance premium payments, had a well documented trail of evidence vindicating Accounting from any wrong doing. It was thus determined that the insurer had been responsible for the misplaced payment.

This situation reminded me of how crucial the accounting function is to any organization. It is a shame that our critical existence is hardly ever recognized when business is carrying on as usual. It is only when an error is made that the importance of accounting is acknowledged, and then only as the scape goat.

Throughout your accounting career you will always be blamed for the errors of others. Just remember that your work and reputation should always speak for themselves. Don't be vexed and try to verbally fight back or shift the blame. Let your documentation and record of consistent adherence to professional and company procedures speak for themselves. Most of the time, those who were quickest to accuse the accountants will ultimately find themselves in the position of convicted defendant.

What Decreasing Audit Fees Mean to You

If you are a staff auditor, you will likely feel the pinch of tightening audit fees at your firm, whether or not you're aware of the cause. In the April 2010 issue of CFO Magazine, an article titled Auditing Your Auditor notes that audit fees have been dropping across the board since 2007. This is not so much a product of a weak economy, as it is the result of the industry returning to normalcy after a series of dramatic events since 2000. Given the scandals of the early 2000's, along with the passage of Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) in 2002, auditors dumped risky clients, thereby decreasing the supply of auditors, while the complexities of SOX were blamed for significant fee increases. The Big Four in particular were able to command premium prices because they had the scale and breadth of expertise to audit large public companies, for whom the SOX burden was heaviest.

Now that companies of all sizes are scrutinizing their budgets amidst a tough recession, many CFOs are taking a second look at the audit fees they have been paying. In many cases companies are changing auditors after decades of loyalty to the same firm. To give you an idea of the pressure auditors are currently under to compete for business, CFO Magazine notes that "in 2004, more than a third of auditor changes were the result of audit firms walking away from clients. Last year, 82% of auditor changes were because companies fired their auditors."

So what do dropping audit fees and higher audit firm turnover mean to you as an audit staff person? For starters, you'll be putting in more hours since your firm may hire fewer staff or simply assign fewer staff to each engagement in the wake of decreasing fee revenue. You are also likely to see more emphasis put on engagement budgets by partners, managers, and seniors. You may be reporting on a daily or weekly basis, the hours you incur on an assignment, or be given a strict timeline within which you should complete your assigned responsibilities.

Companies are also demanding greater value for their audit fees, so you might just see a more hands-on approach from your managers and partners. They may be out in the field frequently to reassure their clients that the audit is well supervised and receiving their fullest attention.

A recurring theme among clients is also the increased use of internal audit in conducting an audit. Rather than pay a high hourly rate to independent auditors for organizing audit documentation or performing control tests, many companies are relying on their internal auditors to assist when possible. Thus, staff auditors might find themselves meeting more frequently with internal audit, including them in their audit planning and relying on them to coordinate the collection of audit documentation.

Lastly, an overall decrease in audit fees for any accounting firm probably means that indulgent annual training meetings where associates from across the country spend a week at a luxurious hotel and convention center are put on hold. You might find a more conservative regional training session in rented office space more commonplace. Some firms are even forgoing annual holiday parties and employee give aways, or smaller bonuses. If your firm is being pressured by clients and competition to lower audit fees, you will be impacted sooner or later, regardless of your level within the firm.

For more about the current trend in audit fees, visit CFO Magazine at http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/14485723/1/c_14485781?f=related.