Fast track to Senior Audit Assoc. @ Big4

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  • #186680
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    When I got the offer for audit associate, I was told that because I have a few years of public accounting experience, I already have my CPA license, and I took a $6k cut in pay that they could see me making senior in a year…”fast track to senior”, if you will.

    I know I must also perform well above expectation in order to get promoted in a year and I cannot financially afford to remain at the associate level for very long.

    So…the question is what are some SPECIFIC tips you can give me to help me reach my promotion goal? My time in public accounting has already taught me the common sense aspects like take a pad and pen with you when you’re being asked to do something, use last year’s w/ps as a reference, communicate to the senior when you think you’re going to blow the budget, etc.

    Hopefully you guys can give me some more audit-specific tips…THANKS!

Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 30 total)
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  • #578784
    fuzyfro89
    Participant

    Are you being hired as an experienced associate or a entry-level staff?

    Otherwise, it seems like some bs that HR or the hiring manager/partner fed to you to get you in the door.

    Regardless, if you want to be a top performer… some specific items:

    – learn to navigate the technical resources (acct guidance) and reference the appropriate ASC when documenting your testing

    – stay up to date on updates to key forms/templates

    – forward relevant updates to guidance/templates for your client to your team

    #578785
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I'm being hired as an entry level staff.

    #578786
    Mayo
    Participant

    -Second the comment on navigating resources. Referencing ASC or firm guidance is key for Seniors and team Execs to feel comfortable that you know what you are saying and it is supported. Saves them time from having to look it up and it gives them confidence you understand

    -See new guidance that will affect your audit? Research it, write a summary, and email the Senior (while CC'ing the Manager) and outline what you have found that will need to be considered.

    -Be proactive in mentoring/coaching the first year staff when you get there. Something as simple as telling them “Hey, if you have any questions feel free to ask me before going to the Senior, as they're usually swamped” and/or telling the Senior “Hey I already told the staff they come to me with questions first, but if they don't I can try and help take some of their issues off your plate. So feel free to send them my way”

    -Read the planning docs when you get to an audit. Make sure you know the materiality used, significant accounts, fraud/significant risks, testing strategy, and anything else you think is important. The more you know the more you can improve your own workpapers, answer staff questions, and overall bother the Senior with as little as possible.

    -Take ownership of certain tasks that are not assigned to anyone but will be appreciated. For example, if your firm uses specific audit software to “house” the audit docs and audit plan, then make sure the file is in good shape. Also, things that need to be updated (i.e. status, deliverable list) can be maintained by you before the Senior asks. Again, it's basically maintenance on the file to make sure things don't pile up.

    -Understand the calendar and deadlines. Make reminders in your email client to alert you when a request hasn't come in, a meeting is taking place, etc.

    -Most big 4 if not all) use India offices as a resource to save costs.If you want brownie points try and find ways in which India employees can help the core audit team. If your team agrees, then you could offer to draft the emails/communication and instructions (trust me, no one wants to do this). Doing that will improve profitability of the engagement and effectively “automate” (meaning you go to sleep and the work is done) much of the lower level work.

    -Once you prove your technical knowledge, offer to write the first draft of any new technical memos (as long as it's not over your head). Many times the main pain in writing a memo is starting the damn thing. Do some research, follow a good example from a previous memo, and the execs and Senior will be impressed. Yeah, they'll probably edit the hell of it, but it's to be expected. Point is, you go the ball rolling and probably saved a lot of procrastinating from the Senior's end (I always put those thing off…yuck).

    That's all I can think of off the top of my head. Also, project management is a big deal. Learn to effectively manage budgets, deliverable lists, schedules, etc. I'm sure your firm has it, but here's a list of resources for project management in excel:

    https://chandoo.org/wp/project-management/

    Mayo, BBA, Macc

    #578787
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Thanks for the tips guys…

    I gave myself a three day weekend between jobs…Mayo, you just gave me a whole lot to research. Thanks!

    Idk how I feel about taking initiative in coaching/mentoring right out of the gate because I will be just as new as the other entry level associates. Maybe in a few months, assuming I'll catch on to the gist of the job sooner than they will. I'm always willing to lend a helping hand, provided I actually know what I'm doing 🙂

    I feel confident with the stuff that includes writing/documentation once I understand the format.

    On a side note, is 1 year to senior completely unheard of? Have you seen this happen before? How reasonable is this goal?

    #578788
    lalap
    Participant

    @Mayo, Wow! Thank you so much!

    Passed

    #578789
    Mayo
    Participant

    “I'm being hired as an entry level staff.”

    You know…I just saw this. I had initially read it as experienced staff. I'm actually pretty surprised they told you what they did. Experienced hires are a 50/50 shot with half of them not planning out and the other half doing exceptionally well.

    So, my firm at least, usually takes a “wait and see approach” to experienced hires from smaller local CPA firms instead of big regional firms (i.e. Mcladrey, BDO, Grant) and bumps them down a level when they get here. If they were set to promote to senior at their smaller firm, then they usually come in as a second level associate/staff (right below senior). If they have one year experience, then they come in as an entry-level staff. Again….weird that they would say that but not appropriately put you in the position where that'd be a more natural transition.

    So just to clarify….you're coming in as the same level as someone coming out of college? Or are you coming in below Senior level but at the level of someone with one (or two if you're at PWC) years of experience?

    If you're not sure I'd definitely get the details from your HR contact.It can make a big difference on whether or not what they told you is realistic or even feasible.

    Mayo, BBA, Macc

    #578790
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I was hired via campus recruiting so I'm coming in as someone coming out of college. I've had 2.5 years experience at McG in tax though and have currently been at a large business management public accounting firm doing tax for about a year.

    #578791
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    CPA4birthday – I think you said in my post that you're going from Tax to Audit, right? If so, I don't think there is any chance to get to senior in a year since you don't have any auditing experience yet. However, I have heard of people only going through 2 busy seasons such as starting in January 2015 and getting promoted to senior around later summer or fall 2016.

    #578792
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Yep Tax –> Audit…

    Ok, so say I was able to accomplish the “2 busy seasons” thing…I'm assuming you are referring to the January – April busy season…unless there's a diff. audit busy season I'm unaware of. I thought calendar Y/E (if you have a big calendar Y/E client) was the busiest time of year for auditors?

    At any rate, I think it's fair to go through 2 busy seasons before being promoted to senior…I might actually prefer that if I find that I need more time to get used to the way audit goes. I'm not sure if this is the best indication for how I'll do, but for what it's worth AUD was a breeze for me…it just makes so much sense.

    #578793
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Yes – I'm talking about the Jan-April busy season.

    Which big4 firm are you going to? PwC usually has associates do 3 busy seasons before promotion to senior, but the other 3 generally require only 2 busy seasons.

    #578794
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Yes it's PwC…Rats! I WOULD be going to the one that makes you wait an extra year…

    Well, considering this deliberation, I'm pretty sure I could kiss that goal of “1 year fast-track senior” goodbye. Just as well… coming from tax I'll probably need as much time as possible to make the transition.

    #578795
    Mayo
    Participant

    “I was hired via campus recruiting so I'm coming in as someone coming out of college.”

    Oh….well..that's still weird that they would say that. However, you might have made a good enough impression that they oversold it a bit. It also could be just being overly optimistic.

    And to answer a previous question of yours, I've never seen it done for someone in your situation. I went to school with someone who had two years of auditing experience as a Staff, interned, and came in as a first year staff. Still took two years to promote.

    Typically, you see a Senior from, say Local CPA Firm, come in as a second year staff. The next year they make Senior. More rarely, an intern, if they have the cojones and have a good relationship with their team, ask to stay on as a part time intern and work until they graduate. Once there, they seriously outperform all their peers and even some second year staff (which makes sense if you have all that experience plus are very sharp).

    Then..MAYBE…they get early promoted. I've seen it/heard about it exactly three times. 2 at my big 4 and 1 at another big 4. So yeah, it's rare.

    Did HR say it or was it a Sr. Manager/Partner recruiting you? If the former, then maybe there's a chance. If the latter, it makes me think they were being a bit hyperbolic or didn't realize you were coming in from Tax.

    Mayo, BBA, Macc

    #578796
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    It was the former. The HR rep and I also had a heart to heart about the pay cut issue. Not going to lie, it was a shocker to take a $6k hit like that, but at the same time I guess it makes since considering I've never audited before. She advised me not to let the starting salary scare me away because there is potential to increase my compensation down the road. I can't remember if she mentioned the possibility to make senior in a year before, during, or after this heart to heart conversation.

    #578797
    Mayo
    Participant

    Well, I'd follow up with her and ask her exactly what that would entail. I mean if it's possible, I'd get some real metrics behind that statement.

    -How will you be rated? Will your peer group be first year associates or second year?

    -What are the requirements for you to make it to Senior your second year? Is it by rating? By the opinion of your Partner at your main client? Does an old sage read scattered chicken bones on the ground? Does the groundhog need to see his shadow (admittedly, this would be pretty cool criteria.)?

    -Has she seen that kind of transition before with your situation?

    Part of me still feels that she said it partly out of feeling bad for your paycut and as encouragement for you to accept the offer. But that doesn't sound quite like HR, so I think at least asking for more details is a good idea.

    Mayo, BBA, Macc

    #578798
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    Email with questions for HR rep = sent!

    LOL @ groundhog day reference

    Same…I feel it could've been said as a way to ease the pain of the pay cut, but I still think knowing what I need to do to make it to senior will help me at the very least meet expectations.

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