What is your title? Describe what you do.
I am a Staff Auditor in the Audit department. The majority of my responsibilities involve performing various testing procedures, which assist in forming an opinion on whether our client’s financial statements are reasonably stated. I audit various accounts on the balance sheet and income statement.
Why did you get into public accounting?
I was drawn to public accounting because it allows me to see the big picture of an organization’s financials. By that I mean there are more opportunities to see and work with all the accounts an organization has. When I was on the job hunt in college, I saw a lot of the starting positions in private accounting were only for accounts payable processing, accounts receivable, or payroll. At the time, I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to go public or private, and I felt getting a variety would be more beneficial. It seemed that public accounting would have more opportunities to see that variety at an entry level.
What are three things you do every day? Do you have any morning “rituals”?
Three things I do every day:
- I always listen to podcasts on my way to and from work. I have a rotation of 5 or 6 that release on different days so I always have an episode to listen to.
- I usually meditate for 10 minutes. It’s good to just turn off my brain for a little bit, and I always feel refreshed afterwards.
- I must have coffee in the morning. I’m pretty groggy until the caffeine kicks in.
In terms of morning rituals, besides my coffee addiction, I always watch YouTube videos as I get ready.
What are the most challenging and rewarding parts of your job?
I think it’s really cool that we provide a service to organizations who want to make the world a better place. The range of missions our clients have is incredible.
Since I’m relatively new, learning how to audit has been a learning curve in itself. There isn’t a class that really teaches this, so all the learning and training happens in the field. Each client is so unique from the other, so each time I go to a different client I’m learning something new. I find it intrinsically rewarding being in a consistent state of learning like this.
What advice would you give to someone looking to pursue a role like yours? Are there specific character traits or skills/certifications you should possess?
If you’re looking to pursue a role in auditing, I would also advise researching the industry(ies) you’re applying for. If you’re thinking about nonprofit specifically, definitely see if you can take a nonprofit accounting class. In terms of traits and skills, I think being outgoing is advantageous since we do most of our work on client site. Communicating with a client in the appropriate manner is crucial. A lot of our work is also done in teams, so working with others is important. I would also say being organized and time management are huge.
What makes Calibre CPA Group different than your previous workplaces?
Calibre puts a lot of time into training and making sure you have the resources you need to be successful. Due to our size, it was easy to build working relationships with managers and partners. Where in my previous workplaces there was a big gap between management and lower level staff.
Do you have a secret talent? If so, what is it?
It’s not really a secret, rather it doesn’t come up in conversation often, but I can play the guitar and ukulele. I’m no Slash by any means, but I can usually pick up a chord progression quickly.
What smartphone feature would you actually be excited for a company to invent?
I don’t know about a feature, but if a company could create an app that would pick my clothes out for me in the morning it would be greatly appreciated.
