My Life Working at Ernst & Young

Hey Rebecca,

UPDATE: First Public Client--Learning Experience; Busy Season Client Updates, CPA Exam Update!

Sup! 

It’s been a long while since I’ve posted on my EY blog! First of all, yes, I’m alive, and yes I still work at EY! It’s been a crazy experience since I started back in August. Where do I begin?

UPDATE SINCE LAST POST:

I was assigned to a client in October 2014, who recently merged with a public company. We had to do SOX 404 testing and interim testing, and of course, me as a brand new staff 1 with about 2 months of experience (really its 0), I felt thrown into the fire. To sum it up, I did HORRIBLE, and by horrible, I mean, going way over budget on my work, asking too many questions, and even found myself trying to fit in studying for two CPA exams while I’m supposed to be working on workpapers. I learned a lot about myself and about EY during the 5 weeks I’ve worked with this client. I learned to develop and ask of expectations as far as the quality and time it takes to complete something, as well as taking better notes so my questions don’t get asked again later on. I’ve also learned how to communicate to seniors and managers and improved on how to focus better on things. I got a pretty critical review from the engagement team and much of it was well-deserved; I can’t just put the whole ‘I’m new’ excuse to everything. I had to talk with the manager on the engagement as far as his concerns but he told me ‘your career is not over; you have potential and I can see it, now just reflect and apply it to the future and you’ll be fine’. I definitely reflected on my mistakes, talked to my family and my counselor, and moved on.

& moved on I did! I went on to my next client and I learned that a lot of my time in EY is affected by the relationship you have with your senior. As a staff, I spent A LOT of time with my senior and I’m happy to say that I’ve been blessed to work with seniors who I get along with really well. We got work done and felt good about putting in extra hours, since we also had a good time doing so. I made it a priority to meet or exceed expectations and I was determined to move on from the horrible experience I had back in October/November. So I did. The manager even asked me to help out down in LA because we finished our work so fast! Like my counselor said, as long as I’m improving and trending upward, I can have a long career here. 

BUSY SEASON UPDATE:

I then transitioned to three clients, all with the same senior, which was great because I developed such a strong relationship with him. It’s funny because as much as he makes fun of me, I can make fun of him too; it’s relaxed and we get our work done really quick. We used literally half the budget and our upper management was happy. I haven’t sent out requests for reviews yet, but I can tell I’ve been improving since the public client experience and I’m sure the reviews will reflect it as such.

I have had experience with technology and casino clients for busy season, and I’m glad we didn’t have to work Saturdays, which I felt I’m lucky. We did work a bit over 40 hours but nothing too crazy (again, may be just the luck of the draw). My goals this busy season were to get at least 3′s on my reviews. I worked hard, to show that I belong, and like they say,  I didn’t choose the audit life, the audit life chose me!

Went to Reno for 3 weeks as part of my busy season, and it was cool to go out of town again. I liked the free food, but ended up bringing in my meals to avoid weight gain (I GAINED 10-15 POUNDS SINCE I STARTED). I’m working hard to get back in shape and cut back to 160lbs. It’s tough when we got lunch and dinners with the team. Glad the season is almost over.

CPA EXAM UPDATE:

This post serves as my experience in wrapping up the interim work for my Reno client and my experience with Audit 102 in Redwood City!

The Reno client was pretty much my first 'real' client. I had a week of experience at Rezolve, Inc.but I was basically just helping out with bits and pieces. Looking back at it, my senior on that engagement gave me two walkthroughs to do and I signed off on them, but I really didn't know what I was doing. It was my first day! 

Now that I was on the Reno engagement, I was able to work on revenue testing and the first day was a learning day honestly. I had to understand how and what to do to perform substantive procedures. It was pretty nerve-wracking to think of interacting with CFOs, Controllers, and department heads on requesting stuff. But I got acclimated quickly and I was able to work on three different revenue streams for my client. I was able to own up to narratives, walkthroughs, and substantive testing for all of my revenue testing, and it was a great, great learning experience. I feel like I left the engagement understanding how and why I am doing and what the purpose of my work is all about. 

As I moved into Audit 102 training, I was again excited to be with my co-worker James; he's someone I really get along with when I started at EY, and I don't travel out of town often, so it was great to have someone with me from Day 1 going to a town/office I never been to. Redwood Shores reminds me of the home office I'm at because it is really suburban and upscale. I'm glad to have the experience of going to other EY offices and having my badge actually work lol!  Anyways, I really liked my Audit 102 training. Because we had some actual experience in being auditors, I was able to connect what is important and what is relevant to our jobs. I enjoyed Matt and Ryan and pretty much their staff who taught us. I actually learned a lot and I'm glad to have them as resources for when I continue my EY career.

One thing on my mind that I want to do is talk to my counselor. I feel our relaitonship diidn't get off on the right start because I submitted my goals like literally 1-2 days before the 45 day deadline; and she didn't review them until after the 45 days is over. She told me I was on the list of people who didn't submit goals in a timely manner, but I have yet to hear back from my e-mail regarding clarification on it, since I did submit goals before the 45 day deadline. I just take it as a learning experience; I need to get the ball rolling and get things done faster and not wait til the last minute; it worked for me in college but I feel that to be successful at EY, I just have to get the things I need to do done and done well in advance, because things might get in the way and affect my performance. I just want to make EY proud and work hard; it doesn't help that the CPA Exam is still in my life; I have FAR and AUD to take this testing window and I'm just balancing:

Exercise - EY Work - CPA Study - Family/Friends 

every day. I just struggle with FAR and I just need to get their Final Review or something becauuse the amount of material is seriously daunting. I dont know. I just want to be more toned, lean out, lose fat, while also enriching my mind to pass the CPA, and make EY proud; all while keeping my girlfriend and family happy. It's tough, but I can't complain; I must take care of my mind, body, and those who I love.

Today is my second day on the client site for one of the casino clients out here in Reno, NV! I'm having a pretty good time enjoying the auditing life and what EY has to offer me. I'm put on the Reno engagement originally for three weeks, but it's cut down to two weeks since I have staff training on the same week.

Anyways, it's great to be around a couple other first years and a new senior onboard. It's great to explore the casino, and eat amazing food that would cost me a fortune! Room service is a great perk, as well as a nice fitness center to work out in! Got a room all to myself and the audit client is just right downstairs. I don't think I even stepped out of this building yet! 

It's really official now. I'll be handing these bad boys out like Oprah! One for you!

Hello! So Day 3 is now over! I'm really thriving here and feeling welcome on my engagement team. I have had the pleasure of meeting my counselor, who is also our manager on this engagement. Everything's going well; I feel fat though from sitting down all day but today I got to actually ask questions from the client's controller! How exciting! I also got taken out to lunch by my counselor and discussed goal setting and any questions I have since I'm super new.

Hey Topi,

Good choice in choosing an accounting degree in college. I knew that's what I wanted to do going out of highschool, and I have never regretted that decision. I'm glad you are into fitness; it's great for MANY MANY reasons. Balancing fitness and a full time job is a challenge, but it comes down to one question... "How bad do you want it?"

If you want it bad enough, you will make time for working out/exercise. Imagine all the physical, psychological and physiological benefits you'll receive out of lifting weights and doing sprints and being active; you'll be hard pressed to find better use of your free time after or before work. The life is great my man. Livin' the dream!

Today marks my first day out on the field, representing EY. When I have arrived at the client site, I gave a call to my Senior, who unfortunately was not at the client site. What a great start right!? I waited about 20 minutes and a Staff 2 saved me and opened the door for me! I was nervous because I wasn’t sure if I was even in the right spot to meet, and I definitely did not want to be late. It turns out I was the first one on the engagement team who showed up!

Hello!

I finally have some time to write about what an amazing experience I've had this past week! It's official guys: I'm part of the EY family! I will be working in Assurance Services! LOO started in our home office and it was a morning of just an overview of what it's like to work at EY, as well as administrative matters. We were taken out to lunch and given a tour around the office. I met my peer advisor and other staff members. Great environment. Then we were off at 3pm to go to the airport with my coworker!

WTEY is like an orientation for new hires. We were able to meet new hires from Las Vegas, Redwood City, and Seattle (The actual orientation was in Seattle). It was exciting getting on a plane and traveling without my family for the first time. Luckily I had some coworkers who took similar flights as me, and two of them were on my flight. We had different seats but hung out together waiting.

I was able to enjoy Seattle, walking around after our orientation with other new hires. We checked out the harbor, the market, and even the first original starbucks in 1912! I was able to take many pictures and videos! The Sheraton is the hotel I stayed at; it had a great gym for a hotel and I worked out there the first day I arrived! It was important I was at least a little active while sitting down hours on end during trainings. I wanted to make sure that I don't become a fat accountant, and it helps me feel better about myself!

I RECEIVED MY SCORE TODAY!!! 83 ON BEC! REGULATION & BEC DONE! 2 DOWN, 2 TO GO! WOOHOOOOOO

Took my BEC portion of the CPA exam on July 13th, and I'm STILL waiting for my score to be released by the board! I'm expecting a pass, but we'll see. I WANT MY SCORE!!!! I've been waiting so long; I know it's coming out this weekend. I'm so nervous.