[Star86]

Without any prior audit experience, I have been working in audit at a small accounting firm for a short time. I have not received any training and have only been told to look at the prior years’ audit work papers in order to find out what to do. Well, I might as well be studying Chinese, because it is not straightforward to me. I feel disappointed that I have not been given any direction. To anyone who has gone through or is going through their first audit job, I would like to know if this is normal? I thought all jobs pretty much gave some sort of training…

Thankful

[Biff-1955-Tannen]

During my internship they were more than happy to answer questions, and encouraged me to ask questions. Are you asking questions and they just say look at PY?
If so, that sounds like a horrendous place to work for.

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Nobody calls me chicken

AUD 93 Jan 16
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[Track55]

Give your two weeks tomorrow.

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REG - 92

California - Internal Audit

CPA since December 2016.

(took seven tries, 1 year 10 months).

AUD - 74, 99 !!
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[Star86]

Well, when I do ask questions, I feel as if I am imposing onto their busy schedules. And when I do get answers, I feel as if they are short and do not give me much direction to apply to the next steps. I feel as if I am constantly going back to their offices asking questions as opposed to getting “big picture” answers so that I can possibly answer my own questions.

Thankful

[Excel14]

I'm out of work right now, because of a supposed “trainer”, who was basically a pompous person, and who could have cared less about actually helping anyone. Unfortunately, all of the psychological tactics I tried to use to get what I needed, didn't work with this person. Management took her side of things because of tenure, so I didn't make it past my probation period. The sad part is, I knew what I was doing, and was steadily proving myself on my own. So while you may not want to hear this, I am living proof that life isn't fair.

What do they call an accounting person, who only managed a 75 on all four parts of the CPA exam....you got it, CPA!!!

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CIA, CGAP, CFE

[Star86]

Sorry to hear about that, Excel14. You and Track55 have given me a lot to ponder. It can be disheartening to be really excited about starting a new job only to discover that it's not the right fit, but I would like to stay optimistic, for I believe in the saying that life is a journey and not a destination. 🙂

Thankful

[Demha]

I would suggest studying and passing the AUD section, if you haven't done so yet. Then everything should come together once you pass the material. Take control of your career and lead yourself to success. That is what I would do, and if you do make mistakes, don't worry because all that really matters is that you gave it your best shot.

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[Star86]

Thanks for the encouragement, Hassana!

Thankful

[monikernc]

your situation sounds like a challenge. yes, you can study for audit and it will help. during my internship they assigned some tasks that made no sense to me at the time. i had not yet had a class in it. my coworkers were nice but the schedule was rushed.

first identify whether the client is a nonissuer or an issuer. then start reading the standards that apply. for a nonissuer start with au-c 200 from the aicpa website. you can read it online tonight about 32 pages. all the standards, as boring as they are will provide the information and context that you need to understand what PY workpapers produced and represent. real audits are not as antiseptic as the standards make it sound but it will give you a foundation to build.

for issuers you will need to follow the pcaob standards for each phase and they track the activities in much the same way as the aicpa standards do for nonissuers.

if your employer's response is suggesting that they want you to work more indepently then this will allow you to show the initiative to meet the task.

good luck and give it your best.

i will add that if you are going to stay in audit you will need to know the standards backwards and forwards so you might as well get on with reading them.

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Experience was the worst part of the journey for me. You?
If you want things to change you have to do something different.

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[foreseeableCPA]

Unfortunately, I have had the same experience. I've worked at two CPA firms and both have referred me to PY. PY without a doubt is a great starting point, unless testing has significantly changed in the CY. Fortunately, the firms I worked for were big enough to allow rotation of teams. Some supervisors were not very welcome, whereas some sat down and worked alongside me. Supervisors will either make or break your experience. I'd try to stick it out a bit longer if I was in your shoes. Public accounting is always a bit rough in the beginning. If it doesn't get better within 2-3 months, I'd start looking.

CPA - Class of 2013
CIA - Class of 2016

[Panda7]

It sounds pretty normal to me specially since it is a small CPA firm or at least that has been my experience. I started working for this firm few months ago and so far I'm pretty much in your shoes.They just give me assignments and no guidance whatsoever. I ask tons of questions though and i feel bad because i know they're busy but at the same time i feel like they have to understand specially because i have no prior public accounting experience and they knew that prior to hiring me. Ohh well we will see what happens at review time. Best of luck!!

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[Excel14]

@star86:

Unfortunately no job will be the right fit, if you run into certain people that aren't all about providing the tools needed for success. I don't consider myself an individual who needs to be “spoon fed”, but all of us need a certain amount of training. In my case, I ran into a woman who is retiring in a few years, and was also this “doom and gloom” type of individual. Some were born to train, others not so much. Good luck to you!

What do they call an accounting person, who only managed a 75 on all four parts of the CPA exam....you got it, CPA!!!

BEC (2/28/16) ----- 78
FAR (09/10/16)-----
AUD
REG

CIA, CGAP, CFE

[Star86]

Thanks everyone for all of your advice!

Thankful

[Track55]

The question isn't “is he getting the material'. The question is “is he getting treated like a sack of —-” and the answer is yes.

Small places are the worst. Larger places do have training. The place I am at now had 4 months. Granted it is internal audit not full-blown preparing SOX reports audit.

Jobs can be right fit. If you can get into a “Top 100 Workplaces to work for” type company, you will be very happy. I have been asking questions every day since last year and everyone helps me.

AUD - 99
BEC - 83
FAR - 86
REG - 92

California - Internal Audit

CPA since December 2016.

(took seven tries, 1 year 10 months).

AUD - 74, 99 !!
REG - 74, 92
BEC - 83
FAR - 73, 86

Studying for Ethics exam

California candidate
Business and Industry

[nicole2035]

I'm going through the same thing at my new job and it's easy to blame yourself. The thing is we're taught if we complain or mention the lack of training that we seem as if we aren't ‘team players'. Those people you are asking, you just need be tough and push the questions back on them but i have to emphasize: MAKE VERY GOOD FRIENDS WITH THOSE PEOPLE. You need them so you really aren't in the position to go tell anyone about your lack of training. I suggest kissing their butts a little bit and see if that'll make them more open to helping you. Also don't be so insecure to think you're messing up their busy work flow, you gotta get stuff done too, never be too afraid to ask. I've learned to stop asking people if they have free time and simply walking up to them and asking them on the spot because it was up to them they'd never help you with anything.

I know it's politics and it's hard to be fake, but you need to make sure you're in good with your superiors and at least rubbing these people who don't want to train you the right way. You are gonna have to do some self training.

[Anonymous]

Training at small firms is hit or miss. Small firms often don't have a lot of budget for training, and at the same time, they don't have a lot of budget for staff who aren't generating revenue. They can offer a lot of opportunity for self starters who can jump in. However, they can be a challenge for people who put “self starter” on their resume but aren't. I'm not saying that's the case with OP, just making a general observation.

The advice is good to ask questions when you're stuck. I had a career in tech before I moved to finance and it was really frustrating to give a task to a new hire and not get questions from them, so you assume they're making progress, only to find out they were stuck and too shy (or too proud) to seek help. It was also frustrating to be interrupted with questions the new hire could have found on Google in less than five minutes. There's a happy medium in there somewhere.

[Author]

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