Hi - With Cursing Inserted
Well it has been a while since I have written here. To be frank, it has been a while since I have even come to this site. I have fallen into a rut. Now a rut isn’t always a bad thing…in the short run. Life has consisted of the following….
1. Waking up
2. Playing with my lovely 1.5 year old daughter
3. Going to work
4. Working through lunch (if at all possible, pesky social events often get in the way)
5. Driving home at a devils pace.
6. Playing with my lovely daughter.
7. Dinner, chores, bedtime for Maya
8. Spend time with my wife
9. Watch a little boob-tube to wind down from the day
10. Go to bed
11. Repeat
I used to look forward to blog posts, but ever since I moved to North Carolina the activity has lost its luster. Strange…I am enjoying myself as I write this…but the activity is no longer a draw.
Work has been consuming lately. Going to a new firm is more challenging then I expected. As an ‘experienced hire’ I am expected to know what I am doing, and for the most part that is true. However, there are a plethora of landmines that I walk into daily that slow my productivity down compared to my coworkers (I am at a senior auditor level sniffing a manager position, but being held back by my lack of certification — AHHHHHHHHHHH!). Planning for clients with a risk based approach has proven to be difficult for me. I have been assigned to clients I do not know in industries I am not familiar with. How the hell do I know what the industry and client risks of material misstatements are…I am intelligent and can give a good guess, but I guess the idea of guessing at it seems wrong to me. During the June 30 year ends I was thrown into clients in industries I am familiar with but did not plan and walked into the middle of audits that I was expected to close. Let me tell you what a pain in the ass that was.
On top of all of this I am having to learn a new audit software package, new standards that change audits to a more risk based approach (I was used to a substantive overkill audit method) and a lack of knowing what a GP3 is (that is what my coworkers call the fraud assessment workpapers…even though they are now labeled something else in the audit workpapers). I went from comfortably knowing what I was doing and being the go to guy for questions to being a average auditor that barely treads water most days. A humbling experience, to say the least of the situation.
Also I am starting to feel my age. There is a partner at my firm that is just a year or two older than me. Fuck! It is hard to feel competent when I am not even certified and that guy is pulling in a fat paycheck. Now to be fair to myself he went straight from high school to an accounting degree to a job at a firm with no detours. Whereas I went straight from high school to farting off for years to a community college to two other colleges to an economics and statistics degree path to a PhD in economics to a PhD dropout to a what-the-hell-do-I-do-now career path to finding auditing. But still…fuck! If I was disciplined and had focus and drive from an early age where could I be right now?
Talk about a gut check. I am beginning to find my stride at the new job so the pain of the last six months is subsiding. I am also to the point where I will have enough credits in accounting to take the damn certification test (which means I still have to take MORE college accounting courses-FUCK! [Why can’t I take the test without 30 units of accounting coursework…if I can pass the exam without that bureaucratic obstacle why would I be less then qualified to practice as a CPA?]). I may write more in the near future…Maybe not. RSS me and find out.
Ta-Ta.
on December 16th, 2007 at 7:50 am
Hey, this is my first time seeing your blog. I have enjoyed reading your posts and I am confident that you can blow through that CPA exam no problem. We have a lot in common. Right now I am working on a masters degree in accounting so I can become a CPA. I, too, farted around working doing body work for years after high school before I knew what I wanted in life. During high school, I spent more time in juvy than high school. After the body work era (6 and one half years) I flirted with healthcare (admin), non profit clinics, got accepted to law schools even (deferred admission.. too scared, maybe), and then got a job at a local CPA office and really liked it. I am older than many of my peers as well, and I hope to get into a firm like you. I know it’s gonna be great, but then again it’s gonna suck when I see people bringing in more money or working for partners younger than me. Oh well… I have to keep my eye on the prize.
I look forward to coming here and reading from time to time. Congratulations on the new home and new job. Take care
on December 21st, 2007 at 6:04 pm
Hey Chris. Sorry to hear about the challenges and trials - but good to see you back.
Regarding coursework, I’d like you to shake hands with the gentlemen we economists refer to as Mr. Barriers To Entry.
on December 21st, 2007 at 7:40 pm
Yeah, Krupo, I know….and the barrier to entry is my assurance of a higher paycheck. Bu at the moment the barrier to entry is a barrier to my full and happy life…bleck!
on January 3rd, 2008 at 11:03 pm
It sucks - I hope it works out for you. In Canada it’s interesting that we have an array of options to pick from with respect to designations.
CA
CMA
CGA
and even:
CPA
Not to mention the ‘foreign’ CA’s and CPA’s. I wonder if the US has similarities?
on March 6th, 2008 at 8:46 am
I feel the same way. I was “branding” myself for a career in public relations until I realized how I wanted something entirely different. Now I’m applying to schools for a master’s in accounting. I’m so old.