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Public
Accounting As A Career Option. Sexy? You Bet!
As I start
this month’s column, I am sat here at night in my hotel room in
Winnipeg, Manitoba, during a visit here to host some PD courses for
the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Manitoba.
If you
think February and March are cold in the Toronto area, or Vancouver,
get this – it was minus fifty-one degrees here in Winnipeg this
morning!
Nature
provides us with such extreme weather circumstances and our clients
often chip-in to provide us with extreme work circumstances.
Just look
at the work-flow our profession has evolved – not enough hours
in the day in March and April, when busy season hits, yet often quiet
periods in July and August (I guess not many clients have year-ends
in the first quarter).
Another
extreme that we enjoy in the public accounting profession is the wide
variety of work assignments that clients provide us with.
And this
leads me nicely to the point I want to make this month.
Just think
about it for a moment. Let’s take a look at a day’s schedule
for a partner in a mid sized firm of CAs, let’s call him Michael:
Michael’s
day for last Tuesday looked something like this (with Michael’s
comments in italics):
| 7.30am |
Breakfast
meeting (second interview) with a senior candidate thinking of
joining the firm
|
‘I
love selling the firm to new talent, especially when the candidate
reminds me of myself, only a younger version.’ |
| 9.15am |
Client
meeting at the office to discuss putting an SR & ED tax credit
claim together for a new client |
‘This
is an area of work that helps clients think we walk on water –
which, of course, we do.’ |
| 10.30am |
Staff
Meeting |
‘While
we sometimes have to deal with serious matters at these meetings,
I always try to end them on a high note to have the troops leaving
pumped up.’
|
| 12.00 |
Lunch
with a David Bates, Bank Manager |
‘David
and I go back a few years now and we’ve referred a lot of
business to each other. Looking forward to getting together with
him again today.’
|
| 2.30pm |
Year-end
meeting with a client |
‘We’ve
done some great tax planning work for this client – can’t
wait to see their reaction when I talk them through it and they
realize how much we can save them.’
|
| 4.00pm |
New
client presentation |
‘We’ve
put a lot of work into developing a relationship with this prospective
client over the last eighteen months. It all comes down to this
– One hour with the executive committee to talk them through
our proposal.’
|
| 5.30pm |
Back
to the office to review a couple of sets of draft financial statements |
‘Not
my favourite thing to do these days, but hey, all part of the job,
but it’s good to keep myself involved.’
|
| 6.30pm |
Partner
Meeting |
‘We
try to have some fun at these monthly sessions – but there’s
often some serious business to discuss. This month we are considering
merging with a smaller firm and I’m sure there will be some
hot debating about this.’ |
What other
occupation can you think of that provides such a rewarding and varied
workload?
When we
get close to our clients and develop a good working relationship, it’s
amazing how much vale we can add to our clients.
Becoming
a key part of a client’s management team can be a big responsibility.
However,
when it happens, as often it will, you get to the point where the client
calls you to discuss any key issue that will have a major impact on
their business, and some great things start happening;
1. Clients
start involving you in more detailed and enjoyable issues
2. Fees are never an issue
3. Clients refer more new clients to you
We should
try to dispense with the myth that Accounting is boring. If you ask
me, it’s one of the sexiest careers any bright young graduate
could possibly choose.
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