Getting Your CPA Exam Scores Faster

Beginning this month, CPA Exam scores will now be released faster. The AICPA has published a schedule for the fourth quarter of 2011, outlining the new dates on which you can expect to receive your results. This is great news for CPA Exam candidates, as you can now better plan your strategy for tackling all four section within the 18 month window. The biggest challenge in planning your studies is waiting for the results of your previous section before fully committing to sit for the next one. Good luck to all the Exam candidates out there!

Exposing Engagement Partners?

On October 11, 2011, the PCAOB released for comment a proposal to require auditors to disclose the name of the audit engagement partner in a company's annual report, as well as other firms or persons not employed by the audit firm who participated in the independent audit of the company. The PCAOB considers this proposal an augmentation of transparency in the audit of public companies.

While I can certainly understand the argument that identification of an individual partner would increase that person's obligation to adhere to all professional standards and the highest ethical guidelines in overseeing an audit, I feel it might further confuse investors. If a company goes under, investors will simply have another person to personally crucify for any fatal risk that may have led to the downfall. While I am not a lawyer, I can foresee a host of legal issues when investors start assuming that an individual partner is solely responsible for their bad investment. The entire structure of the LLC used by public accounting firms is overshadowed by the engagement partner's name in the audit report.

In considering the second item in the PCAOB's proposal, I think it would be helpful to know when something has been outsourced. Consider the recent mess many homeowners facing foreclosure are now dealing with, as they find out that their bank outsourced the processing of their loan to companies who made up signatures and bank presidents to sign false loan documents. Investors certainly deserve to know to what extent a reputable auditor may be relying on the work of a less reputable auditor. Simply naming firms used by the auditor would not necessarily be helpful, unless the extent of their involvement were disclosed. Perhaps setting a threshold for disclosure would be reasonable, e.g. if a third party is involved in the audit of a high risk area or conducts more than 20% of the audit, their involvement should be disclosed.

What do you think, will the added scrutiny of disclosing engagement partners and third parties involved in the audit improve transparent financial reporting and auditing?

It's Good to be Nervous

As I sent my son to preschool for the first time this week, I had a momentary pang of regret that he should feel so apprehensive about being away from me in a new environment with a bunch of strangers. I wished I could spare him from the feelings of anxiety and uncertainty that we all have when leaving a comfortable and familiar environment. Then I realized that if I did take those feelings away for him, I would be doing him a great disservice.

It is said that nothing worthwhile is easy, and it is absolutely true. If I sheltered my child from every challenging social situation or academic gauntlet, he would never know the thrill of rising to the occasion to conquer his fear and succeed in making new friends or learning new things.

We need to approach our careers with the same eagerness for a challenge if we are to experience professional growth. I've never met anyone who does not experience that momentary panic right before a job interview or public speaking engagement. But it is feelings such as these that help us perform our best. Beyond such short term challenges that end relatively quickly, it's also good for our professional health to experience regular rushes of adrenaline when asked by our boss to perform a task we've never done, or to give a presentation in a meeting through which we would normally sit silently. If you don't have the type of job where you regularly feel a mix of excitement and nervousness when faced with a new challenge, perhaps you should consider moving out of your comfort zone and looking for something new.

Even though I am currently taking a break from my full-time accounting career to raise a family, I still challenge myself in order to avoid losing my professional edge. I work part-time as an online tutor for several accounting courses, and I find my heart races with a mix of eagerness and nervousness every time a student asks me for assistance with a technical accounting topic. I meticulously research their question and review my solution over and over again before submitting it, for fear that I guide a student in the wrong direction. I constantly check my classroom to ensure I address any new questions in a timely manner, and I schedule out the due dates of items on the syllabus so I am aware of when questions might arise on particular subjects or assignments. Managing my tutoring obligations and course deadlines while trying to raise a toddler and infant who make a regular schedule impossible to keep provides just the challenge I need right now to keep me on my professional toes. As the semesters go by, if I find myself losing that bit of nervousness and getting comfortable, perhaps I will need to tutor a new course or play a different role in the classroom.

If you are completely comfortable with each and every professional responsibility you have right now, it may be time to rekindle your adrenaline and take on a new challenge. After all, nothing worthwhile is easy.

Are you biased toward your clients?

In a recent speech by the PCAOB, the organization noted that they are willing to consider auditor term limits to overcome the inherent bias in auditing. James R. Doty, Chairman of the PCAOB asked questions that all audit firms need to consider: "Do auditors read the literature? Do young auditors learn to hold onto skepticism and look for fraud regardless of long association with management?" If the answer is more frequently "no," then perhaps there is a loss of professional skepticism in the culture of the audit profession.

When I started as an auditor with one of the Big Four, some of my first clients were among the largest financial institutions in the country. This was in the early 2000's, before our current financial crisis. Many of my audit team members considered the length of our firm's association with certain members of management to be adequate audit evidence that the accounting decisions they made were valid. New audit team members were often intimidated by the confidence management exuded about their areas of accounting expertise, backed by decades of experience in the industry. However, as we now know what these financial institutions were hiding, we can appreciate the importance of pushing back when sufficient audit evidence is not provided, or if management's explanations to your inquiries as an auditor raise concerns.

Does anyone have an experience in which they or a colleague allowed their professional skepticism to wane in the face of a long-standing relationship with client management?

Being Bullied at Work

You may have rejoiced the day you graduated from high school, elated at the thought of never having to deal with bullies again. Little did you know that bullying still goes on in the adult world, especially in the workplace. A recent study conducted by CareerBuilder reports that 27% of 5,600 full-time workers surveyed have felt bullied at work. I was surprised that the figure was only roughly a quarter of the survey respondents, because I saw a lot of bullying during my four year tenure in public accounting alone. In my experience, victims of bullying seemed most often to be nontraditional experienced hires who found themselves working with inexperienced campus hires. Given the age, maturity, and experience differentials between the two groups, it often seemed to me that the experienced hires found themselves intentionally isolated from the rest of the audit team. Their job performance also seemed to be held to a higher standard than their colleagues who were recent college graduates. 37% of the survey respondents who had reported being bullied felt that their work was judged by a different measure than their colleagues.

Another form of bullying I have seen is when a person's input in a meeting or among team members is completely dismissed. This was the most common form of bullying reported by the CareerBuilder report. I recall a meeting with more than a dozen audit team members at all levels sitting around the conference room table. The discussion was dominated by two senior managers who were personally attacking each others' ideas as if they were brothers in the backseat of the family car. They completely disregarded others in the room, and in the end, the more senior person turned his back to his opponent, told him no one was going to accept his approach, and changed the subject, effectively closing the book on further discussion. From that point on, everyone was afraid to challenge this person, no matter the size of the issue, for fear of being publicly humiliated themselves. Anonymous upward feedback is a useful tool to combat such behaviors. Most large public accounting firms use such procedures to evaluate anyone in a supervisory role. By reporting consistently stubborn and insensitive behavior on the part of your supervisors, you can make them aware that their attitude causes more harm than good to both the firm and their own potential for promotion.

27% of survey respondents claiming to have been bullied said that their coworkers gossiped about them. I suspect such incidents are even more common than reported, since not everyone is aware when they are the subject of gossip.  I find this to be the most harmful of all professional bullying, because it is often baseless and the victim is ignorant of it. I once worked on an audit team that "roasted" teammates on their off days when they weren't around to hear what their coworkers really thought of them. I tried to combat this type of venomous talk by challenging my colleagues to put themselves in the other person's shoes, defending the person who was being attacked, or just telling the culprits to back off. I'm sure it didn't stop them from gossiping, but at least they refrained from doing it while I was around, so that I would not be considered a part of it.

As an auditor, you have probably already realized that it takes some thick skin just to stand your ground with clients, but you may not have expected how much harder it is to withstand an affront from an office bully within your firm. If you are being bullied by your immediate supervisor, talk to your performance adviser or mentor about it. You don't want to risk looking petty and tattling on someone every time you hear gossip, but sticking up for what you know is right. Also, refraining from joining in can help you win a small battle in the big war against workplace bullies.

AICPA Launches IFRS Certificate Program

Accounting students or professionals looking to build their technical expertise and enhance their value to potential employers should consider enrolling in the AICPA’s IFRS Certificate Program.  With the SEC set to announce their decision regarding the convergence of U.S. GAAP and IFRS later this year, accounting professionals with a working knowledge of IFRS have an enormous professional advantage. The AICPA notes that “current and potential clients and employers will look to the certificate as a measurable standard of IFRS competence.”  

You do not need to be a CPA to enroll in this 42 credit hour curriculum, but you do need to have at least an undergraduate accounting degree or obtain relevant work experience that requires the practical application of accounting principles and concepts. Non-CPAs and non-CAs completing the program will receive an IFRS Award of Educational Achievement.  All courses are presented via a self-study webcast and are available on-demand, covering specific topics such as inventories, PP&E, investment property, intangible assets, revenue recognition, EPS, and the IASB’s governance and conceptual framework.  To learn more about the AICPA’s IFRS Certificate Program, visit http://www.ifrs.com/certificate/index.html.

Career Advice from the Capital Markets

In the Summer 2011 issue of the Pennsylvania CPA Journal, a regular contributor takes an interesting approach to building a professional life. Author David Maturo addresses the disconnect between accounting professionals relying on their technical knowledge to advance their career, when they really need to build their careers as one would think about building a company. In The Company of You: Building Your Professional Life, Maturo observes that the corporation provides a model for successfully functioning in the capitalist markets, and can provide us with a similar form for structuring a satisfying career. In summary, our career path should have the following aspects of a corporation:

• Board and Direction - You need a mission statement and goals to "channel your efforts and focus on an achievable target." You also need a board of investors, bosses, mentors, colleagues who invest in you. Surround yourself with mentors who work outside of your industry or firm, and who aren't afraid to give you constructive criticism or alternative suggestions for your career. Reach out to supervisors and colleagues that are willing to invest in you, by providing you with an opportunity to work on a new client, acquire a new skill, or campaign for your promotion.
• The Revenue Line -Apart from serving external clients in public accounting, we also have internal clients we must answer to, such as partners, managers, and staff. Building good relationships with those we work with on an ongoing basis can support our career progress. We also need to have a strong sales and marketing department, promoting ourselves with a solid resume, professional network, online presence, and self-confidence. Your personal brand is your own PR department. The way you interact with others, dress, communicate via email or over the phone, and deal with mistakes, make up your professional presentation. All these subtle daily behaviors are used by other to judge your competence and potential for leadership. So be careful what your actions say about you.
• The Expense Line - Managing your Finance Department is key to alleviating stress and avoiding being forced to make professional decisions based on salary alone. Effectively managing your personal finances will enable you to focus your attention on more important career decisions other than the size of your paycheck. It's also important for you to invest in yourself to keep up on the latest trends in information technology that can help you stay ahead of the professional curve. I have a friend who is a clinical cardiologist and researcher. He is one of the youngest doctors in his practice, and the only one who has effectively managed his use of IT to the point that it saves him countless hours a week. He has synced his iPad, iPhone, and work computer so that all notes taken during exams, conferences, and meetings are immediately filed on his computer, and can be accessed anywhere from his phone or iPad. He uses his electronic calendar to organize files, reminders, and schedules. IT should be a priority if it can save you many wasted hours on non-value added activities. It's also key for you to have a system of self audit and controls to ensure the quality of your work is consistently good. Lastly, a wellness program for managing your own mental and physical health will keep your work life balance in check, giving you time with family, as well as a chance to relax and creatively think about your future.

You may not be in a position to significantly influence your present organization or profession just yet, but you are the CEO of the Company of You. Taking the same approach to your career as a CEO takes to managing their company, you will be able to manage your professional ambitions and appropriately develop your skills along the way.

The CPA Exam Goes Abroad

In August 2011, the U.S. CPA exam will be offered outside of the U.S. for the first time. The countries in which the exam will be offered include Japan, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Lebanon. Given the accelerating demand by foreign nationals for taking the exam, the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA), and Prometric have agreed to offer the same CPA exam in the aforementioned countries during a one month window each calendar-year quarter. The exam will be offered in English, and will be open to citizens, permanent residents, and long-term residents of the host countries that have satisfied the requirements to sit for the U.S. CPA exam.  International exam candidates will need to select and apply to a U.S. state board of accountancy to validate that they have satisfied the requirements to sit for the exam in their chosen state of jurisdiction.  The NASBA is now accepting applications for international exam candidates. For more information, visit the AICPA’s website at http://www.aicpa.org/BecomeACPA/CPAExam/Pages/CPAExam.aspx.

PCAOB Releases Potential Changes to Auditor's Report

Last week, the PCAOB issued a concept release presenting four potential changes to the auditor's report on public company financial statements. The changes, open for public comment, include the following:

• Auditor's Discussion and Analysis (AD&A) - Presented as a narrative intended to "facilitate an understanding of the auditor's opinion of the financial statements taken as a whole," according to the PCAOB. This section might include a discussion of audit risks identified, significant management judgments, and critical accounting policies.
• Expanded and requisite use of emphasis paragraphs - While emphasis paragraphs are currently optional, they might be required in a standard auditor's report to point the reader's attention to where significant financial statement items can be found in the financials and related footnotes.
• Auditor assurance on information outside the financial statements - Auditor's may be required to issue an opinion on information such as the management discussion and analysis (MD&A), press releases, or other published financial information.
• Clarification of standard language in the auditor's report - The auditor's report might also clarify the auditor's role and concepts mentioned in a standard auditor's report, such as reasonable assurance, and auditor's responsibilities vs. management's responsibilities.

While each of the above recommendations seem to address the need for investors to have a stronger grasp of the level of assurance provided by an independent audit, I fear any or all of the aforementioned changes could further bury investors in a heap of esoteric language. Studies have shown that few information within the audited financial statements and footnotes is consistently read and understood by analysts and investors, so adding even more audited information and discussion may only add to the current level of confusion.

Given that investors feel they have been duped by public companies, auditors, and hedge funds when so much market capitalization evaporated in the recent recession, I understand the legal concerns of the auditing profession and their regulators. If we audit more and disclose more, how could investors ever be duped again? They would have no excuse for making bad investments, right? The information was all there in front of them. Unfortunately, a clean audit opinion is not equivalent to an analyst's recommendation to buy or hold a security. Perhaps auditors do have it a little too easy only having to issue a pass/fail audit report right now, but I fear that the addition of some of the information suggested by the PCAOB, particularly the AD&A, would confuse investors into thinking that an auditor was making an investment recommendation. We need to be careful not to overwhelm investors. It is not the volume of information, but the relevance of it that investors are in need of.

An Overview of the New Service Organization Control Reports

Organizations that collect, retain, or process information on behalf of other organizations are known as service organizations.  Some of the most familiar types of service organizations widely used by companies are payroll processors, employee benefit plan administrators, and asset custodians. In recent years, there is also a growing reliance on providers of software as a service and cloud computing. Over the past decades, firms conducting audits of companies who use service organizations would rely on the organizations’ production of a Statement of Auditing Standard (SAS) 70 report. These reports would be prepared by the service organizations’ independent auditors and provided to any clients who relied on the service organizations’ information in preparing their own financial statements.

Beginning June 15, 2011, SAS 70 will be superseded by SSAE 16 for U.S. service organizations, which is similar to ISAE 3402 under IFRS.  The new reports are commonly referred to as Service Organization Control (SOC) Reports. There will be three types of SOC reports for companies to consider for issuance, summarized below:

SOC 1 Report – A review of user controls having an impact on clients’ financial reporting, SOC 1 reports will evaluate what is commonly known as ICOFR (internal controls over financial reporting). 

SOC 2 Report – Controls tested in a SOC 2 report will not be linked to financial reporting or financial statement assertions. Instead, SOC 2 reports will evaluate controls that fall under the AICPA Trust Services Principles and Criteria which include security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy.

Both SOC 1 and SOC 2 reports are similar to the former SAS 70 reports in that they list the service organization’s controls, how the auditor tested them, and the results of those tests. They will also include management’s assertions related to the controls tested. They are intended for restricted distribution to clients of the service organization.

SOC 3 Report – The audit work performed for a SOC 3 report is identical to that in a SOC 2, however the report issued merely summarizes management’s assertions and the auditor’s opinion, leaving out the detailed control descriptions and audit procedures. SOC 3 reports are intended to have unrestricted distribution, and those organizations receiving an unqualified opinion are permitted to display a seal on their website indicating the results of their SOC 3 report. 

As more and more organizations rely on service organizations for critical IT functions and processing of financial information, auditors should be familiar with the content of the new SOC reports and how they will impact their clients’ audits.

SEC Considering New Approach to IFRS Convergence: Condorsement

On May 26, 2011, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published a staff paper in which they offered up for public comment a new mechanism for possible convergence of U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principals (GAAP) with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). The approach is being coined "condorsement," and suggests that, should the US adopt IFRS entirely, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) would act as an advocate representing the U.S. perspective to the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) in the formation of new IFRSs. The staff paper repeatedly emphasizes that, by putting forth this new approach for consideration, the SEC is not declaring their intent to adopt IFRS. They eagerly state that this is merely one of many options for which they are requesting public comment. The staff paper also notes that the SEC has already thoroughly discussed and received comments on more commonly understood approaches, such as full adoption of IFRS on a specified date, full adoption over a transitional period of several years, and an option for U.S. issuers to apply IFRS or retain U.S. GAAP.

The approach is called condorsement because it fuses elements of a full endorsement method with those of convergence. According to the staff paper, "the framework would retain a U.S. standard setter and would facilitate the transition process by incorporating IFRSs into U.S. GAAP over some defined period of time (e.g., five to seven years). At the end of this period, the objective would be that a U.S. issuer compliant with U.S. GAAP should also be able to represent that it is compliant with IFRS as issued by the IASB. Incorporation of IFRS through the framework would have the objective of achieving the goal of having a single set of high-quality, globally accepted accounting standards, while doing so in a practical manner that could minimize both the cost and effort needed to incorporate IFRS into the financial reporting system for U.S. issuers. It also would align the United States with other jurisdictions by retaining the national standard setter’s authority to establish accounting standards in the United States."

While this is just one of many possible means of moving toward adoption of global accounting standards, the thing I appreciate most in this approach is the emphasis on practicality in minimizing the cost and effort of US issuers to incorporate IFRS. Rather than having a gradual adoption, or a revised U.S. GAAP that minimizes the differences compared to IFRS but still stands apart, this method would enable financial reporting by U.S. issuers to be fully compliant under U.S. GAAP and IFRS. This would make IFRS a truly global set of accounting standards. The concept of condorsement would also have the U.S. playing a collaborative role in the setting of global accounting standards, rather than fighting to stand alone.

We are still a long way off from the SEC's final decision as to if and when they may require U.S. issuers to adopt IFRS in some manner, but the recent staff paper suggests that they are beginning to think outside the box and consider all reasonable options.

CAQ's In-Depth Guide to Public Company Auditing Released

This month, the Center for Audit Quality (CAQ) released the In-Depth Guide to Public Company Auditing designed to give readers who are unfamiliar with financial reporting and auditing a “behind-the-scenes look inside the financial statement audit process to provide further insight into the work the independent auditor performs to issue an audit report.” While intended for non-accountants, I think this guide is also a great resource for accounting students who are preparing to interview for their first public accounting job. This 20 page guide provides a fantastic overview of the specifics of public company audits, such as:
• The key players in a financial statement audit
• Assessing risk
• The Role of materiality in an audit
• The structure and role of an audit team and its members
• Overview of the audit process from beginning (developing an audit strategy) to end (communicating results to management and the Board)
• Example audit procedures
• The audit opinion

While all of these things are likely covered in an undergraduate auditing course, the CAQ Guide offers a thorough overview that would be ideal review material for any student going into a public accounting interview. I found the discussion of materiality, as well as the overview of the audit team to be particularly useful, and something that I did not quite grasp until I was actually working in the field. If you have a thorough mastery of everything in this Guide, you’ll be more than ready to prove to an interviewer that you have what it takes to be a successful auditor.

The Art of Effective Supervision

As early as one year into a career in public accounting, you will likely be expected to train and supervise the newest class of staff. Whether it be interns or recent graduates, the on-the-job guidance you will be expected to provide should not be given without occasional direct performance assessments. I say this because many professionals who are new to oversight responsibilities do not realize the need to directly communicate their expectations and approval (or critique) of the supervisee's performance. I have seen countless examples of audit seniors and staff who provide the same instructions to their interns or staff repeatedly. The staff continue to make mistakes, but because they are never directly corrected or further advised, they have no idea they are making mistakes. The senior is often frustrated because they falsely believe their instructions are intentionally ignored by the staff (who is understandably unaware of their missteps). Unfortunately, many seniors often vent such frustrations to other coworkers, when all along, the supervisee has no idea their professional performance is being trashed. This makes them powerless to improve themselves. You can see the downward spiral in professional development from which many new staff suffer, merely because their seniors do not know how to appropriately manage supervisees.

Even if you are informally asked to "show someone the ropes" on the job, the responsibility of teaching them and helping them to improve their job performance falls upon you. Therefore, that new person is the first person you should talk to if you have a concern about their performance. Complaining to your coworkers does nothing to help your supervisee improve. Even if your charges do not solicit feedback from you, you should sit down with them and directly discuss their performance on a regular basis. Do not be afraid to tell them how they can improve their work, but also encourage them to continue doing those things at which they excel.

Some staff will take longer than others to catch onto the way an audit is executed, requiring a significant investment of your time as a coach. I once had a staff working under me who was highly intelligent but struggled socially. Every day he asked me how he could have done something differently to be more effective. He regularly asked me to walk him through his workpapers and crique them. It was a large investment of my time to keep him on my team because he required so much direct supervision in order to adequately fulfill his responsibilities, but in the end I was satisfied to see him overcome his professional hurdles and become a better auditor. Other seniors had given up on him out of frustration. While trashing his job performance to my coworkers may have helped alleviate my personal frustration, it would have not only discouraged him, but would have been unfair.

Regardless of your formal level of supervision, you need to be willing to invest the time needed to develop your charges and give them an opportunity to learn from their mistakes and improve their professional performance. After all, you would not be the accountant you are today were it not for the patience and instruction of more experienced professionals.

New Management Accounting Designation

The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) based in London, vote next month to create a joint venture that would issue a new global management accounting certification. According to both organizations, the new designation is designed to promote the CPA designation as a high standard of accounting excellence internationally, as well as highlight the global importance of management accounting. While requirements for obtaining the new designation vary, AICPA members with at least three years of managerial and financial accounting experience would be eligible to complete an accelerated track to certification.

It is important to be aware of the various designations required for positions or industries included in your future career plans. If a career in financial, managerial, or global accounting is on your radar, you may want to further investigate the new AICPA/CIMA designation and align your experience and education with those required to earn the designation.

Developing Your Communication Skills as a CPA

When jump starting your career as a staff member in a CPA firm, it's easy to feel that you have light years ahead of you before you need to worry about things that partners do, such as providing consistent client service, bringing in new business, and building up the firm's network. While you focus on your daily responsibilities as a staff, senior associate, and eventually manager, it's easy to get lost in the details and forget that your upward mobility in the firm hinges on your ability to communicate.

While working in the Big Four, I felt that the firm was often negligent in developing the communication skills of their less experienced staff, forcing them to focus their attention on the details of workpapers and audit execution. These skills are no doubt important, but an unintended consequence of this focus was that many new staff committed major gaffes when interacting with clients. There were several instances of staff on my audit teams who didn't realize that it was inappropriate for them to march into a senior VP's office and demand they provide information that someone else on the audit team had already collected, or staff who paid no attention to the client's repeated requests for updates and time lines as to the progress and completion of the audit, resulting in a shock when unexpected audit work was subsequently billed.

In the aggregate, such experiences erode your firm's relationship with their clients, and over time result in a loss of business and reputation. That is why the AICPA posted a poignant video in the Journal of Accountancy, discussing the importance of developing the communication skills of CPA staff at the earliest stages of their careers. Even if your firm does not set such standard for you as a staff person, you should hold yourself accountable to them, as a means of measuring your progress in developing your communication skills and nurturing your potential to be a leader in your firm. In the video, Troy Waugh, CPA, provides three great suggestions for developing such potential in CPA staff:

1. Assign every staff member a certain number of hours in their first year to provide great client service. Make them accountable for those 100 hours, or whatever the number may be. Ask them to document what that time entailed and how they feel they best served the client's needs. Make this measurement a part of their annual performance evaluation. By holding them accountable for client service, it reminds them of the important role they play in developing the firm's relationships, since they are on the front lines regularly interacting with the client.

2. Require every staff person to join a Toastmasters club for the duration of their first year with the firm. These weekly clubs provide an encouraging environment for professionals to develop their public speaking skills. From prepared speeches, to class room facilitation, to impromptu discussions, Toastmasters will make you a better communicator in every professional situation.
3. Staff should understand their clients' hierarchy. They should be familiar with the people in the C-suite, the accounting managers, controllers, treasurers. By making these points of contacts and knowing how to navigate the organization for information as you conduct your audits, you will be building a strong network that will serve you well when those people move to other companies. This will enable you to bring in new business to your firm in the future. Having a pipeline of contacts will be a boost to your professional potential as you are eventually considered for promotions.

It's never too late to think about the next few steps in your career. If your ambitions include advancing within your firm, you cannot neglect the importance of being a good communicator. Following these suggestions will help you stay on track in your personal development, and will undoubtedly set you apart from your peers.

Selling a Nontraditional Background to Accounting Employers

I recently received an interesting inquiry from a student who is pursuing her master's degree in accounting. She found her way to the field after spending more than a decade in the seemingly unrelated field of theater design and production. She wondered if she should even divulge her "creative" background on resumes when applying for accounting positions. Would employers be able to see past her unique experience and recognize her potential to be a successful accountant? Given the dynamic and copious opportunities available to accountants, it is not uncommon for people from many different professions to find a second or even third career in accountancy. The key to selling your potential to employers is all in the presentation. No matter what your experience, frame it in a way that emphasizes the skills needed in the accounting profession, specifically for the job to which you are applying. If you too had been a theatrical production designer, you likely had to work with teams, supervise team members, manage your time appropriately to meet production deadlines, and even manage budgets for productions. These are all experiences that can be framed to highlight your skills relevant to the business environment. You may not realize it, but your seemingly obscure experience may have given you a lot of client-service skills. Even as a theatrical production designer, one would have to consider the demands of differing production companies. On a job application or resume, present such experience in a way that illustrates your understanding of the needs of a client-service professional.

If you are currently pursuing an accounting degree before kicking off your second or third career in the field, don't wait until you are finished with your degree to apply for your first accounting position. I suggest considering an internship or volunteer accounting work first because often professionals try to make a major transition from a completely different field into accounting. They present their many years of experience in their previous fields, evidently having been successful. However accounting employers sometimes question if the person would be a good fit in their profession since they have no related accounting experience. They may think that perhaps such candidates might not find accounting as interesting as they had thought, and might quickly get bored or switch to yet another field. If you can demonstrate that you've already gotten your feet wet with some real accounting work, it will show them that you understand what it takes and are committed to succeeding in accounting.

For more ideas on how to gain internship experience, see my blog post dated April 8, 2010. Even if companies aren't hiring interns, you can still create your own internship experience and impress employers with your dedication to joining the profession.

Don't be afraid to present your background and experience to employers, no matter how much it may seem to diverge from accounting. Just be sure to frame it in a manner that will make them appreciate all you have to offer the profession as a great accountant.

Public Speaking on a Daily Basis

Many people have the false impression that accountants are quiet, socially akward professionals who choose a career like accounting to minimize interaction with others. That couldn't be farther from the truth. As accountants, we need to interact with clients and peers on a regular basis. No one can go it alone. That's why communication skills are vitally important for CPAs. Early on in your public accounting career, you'll likely be required to do some amount of public speaking. Even if it is simply providing an update to your audit team or clients on a regular basis, a small meeting is still an opportunity to polish your public speaking skills. If you get nervous in these situations (which we all do), then here are a few tips to help you put your best foot forward every time you have to speak to more than one or two people:

1. Always be prepared - Other than impromptu meetings, any meeting that is on the attendees' schedules before the actual date means that an agenda, outline, or plan should be prepared. No one wants to feel you are wasting their time in a useless meeting, so be sure to have an objective for every planned interaction. If someone else is calling the meeting, always assume your input will be requested, and have something prepared to talk about: an update on your portion of the project, the status of an audit, ideas about planned audit procedures. Whatever the topic, be prepared to say something and write it down to help you keep your train of thought.
2. Think of about your audience - Many people stand before an audience and worry about themselves: Am I talking too fast? Are my hand gestures too distracting? Am I using "um" too frequently? I hope they don't notice how much I'm sweating. By focusing on all the things you are self-conscious about, it often draws attention to those very things and makes you lose your train of thought. Focus on your audience any time you are speaking. What do they need or hope to hear from you? How can you best communicate the problem you need to address as a group? How can you solicit input from everyone in an effective manner? What do you need to say to keep everyone awake and engaged in the conversation? By answering these questions as you speak, you will naturally move the conversation in a productive direction, involving not just yourself but your participants. No one wants to stand before an audience, ask them a question, and get absolutely no response in return. If you focus on the needs of your audience rather than your own self-doubts, they will volunteer their input and join the conversation.
3. Facilitate, don't just present - This suggestion is a continuation of the above recommendation. Even if you are asked to be the main speaker at an hour long meeting, don't think of it as a presentation. Meetings are held to either inform people of something useful, address a problem, or develop a strategy for execution. All of these aims involve more than just the speaker. Plan what you are going to say as a faciliatation of discussion, rather than a presentation. You shouldn't be behind a lectern with 100 slides of data, rambling on about everything you know. Ask the audience questions throughout your presentation, seek their input, throw out interesting suggestions and see what sort of response or questions they generate. Facilatate the group discussion, rather than being the only person in the room with something to say.

By being well prepared, making your audience the primary focus of your discussion, and soliciting a response from the other meeting participants, you can make every professional group interaction effective.

Bouncing Back from a Bad Interview

As much as you prepare, research, and rehearse, sometimes you just can't avoid a bad interview. I once got lost going to an interview, arrived over an hour late, then spilled my lunch all over me when my host took me to the company cafeteria. I left the place feeling like a dog with my tail between my legs. Needless to say, I didn't get a job offer. Sometimes the interviewee just seems to have it out for you. I had another interview with an accounting firm that seemed almost hostile toward me. I found it strange they would invite me for an interview as though there was some interest in me as a job candidate, when the interviewer was checking his watch incessantly, talking about how important he was to the firm, and allowing little time for me to respond to his questions or ask questions back. He then brought in a partner to tag-team me, making the interview feel like an inquisition. Despite leaving with the feeling that I would never get a call back, I was invited for a second interview and eventually received a job offer from the firm. Given the less-than-welcoming attitude of the firm's employees, it was an easy decision for me to decline their offer.

Whether you are having a bad day or your interviewer seems to have woken up on the wrong side of the bed themselves, we've all experienced interviews where we left feeling beaten up and inadequate. One rough interview can be damaging to your psyche, particularly if you have an entire week or season of interviews lined up. In bouncing back from these negative experiences, it's important to remember that you always have a second chance. Don't assume that one awful interview performance with a particular company will show itself in subsequent interviews with other organizations. Fortunately, your next potential employer has no idea you had a bad previous week and completely flopped with another interviewer. Treat each and every interview as a clean slate.

As painful as it can be, you need to review your mistakes as objectively as possible in order to work on areas of improvement. If you feel you performed badly in your last interview because you hadn't prepared any questions, or failed to conduct sufficient research about the company you were interviewing with, be sure to go above and beyond in these areas next time. The first example I mentioned above taught me that being logistically prepared for an interview is just as important as being mentally and technically prepared. After that experience, I always ensured I knew how to get where I needed to be, that I had the appropriate attire, and that I allowed more than sufficient time to arrive. By putting my best foot forward from the moment of arrival, my clumsiness disappeared as well (meaning no more lunch mishaps).

Even if you do have a bad interview with your dream employer, don't sell yourself short and assume you are out. Some mistakes can be overlooked. As an auditor, I once hosted a group of interviewees and found many of them to fumble through the initial icebreaker and meet-and-greet session. It seems nerves had gotten the better of most of them. But as the day of interviews, lunch, and panel discussions progressed, they all seemed to increase in confidence and competence. The group turned out to be one of our most impressive recruiting classes in several years.

If and when you have an interview experience that leaves you cringing, just remember that you start anew each time you go into an interview with a new organization, that every negative experience is a learning opportunity, and that you still have a chance to turn things around.