Useless Workpapers

Auditing for small CPA firms can sometimes be so frustrating. The kind of clients small firms usually have are  privately held companies.  It's unlikely for private companies to have an internal audit department and the kind of internal controls that are often found in publicly traded companies.  It's either because they are too small, or they have grown to too big that its huge business volume has outgrown its existing internal controls.

Although I have  been doing audits for years, I am still frustrated when taking on a new client because the accounting staff always gave me worthless reports and useless information  that I couldn't audit on. It's either because the predecessor auditor always asked for the same worthless reports and never cared if they were useful or not, or the new client's accounting staff think auditing is really a joke and just give me whatever papers that are convenient for them to get.

After spending time testing and finding too many exceptions, I often realize that I am testing on the wrong report that is totally irrelevant or report that doesn't include all the activities because it was printed a couple hours too early.  It's a huge waste of my time when the clients' accounting staff give me incomplete reports or pieces of information here and there that don't tie to the whole picture.

I bet this is never the problem with the big 4 firms, since they have more knowledgeable clients and they have much better documentation of prior year's workpapers?

The challenge for auditing for small CPA firms is to get the clients' staff to provide useful and relevant information to be audited upon..

I'm really frustrated because I had just wasted an entire day of work to find out that I was working on bad reports....  So, tomorrow I have to request the client's accounting staff to give me the right reports and to show them why the ones they gave me are no good and are useless.  Then I will have to start the testing all over again.  

Recording Time Sheets is One Miserable Task in Public Accounting

One of the many stressful things I hate about working in public accounting is the recording of my own time.  In a CPA firm, an accountant is required to account for the time he / she spends everyday.  Every hour during the day can either be billed to a client, or be recorded as non-billable administration of the CPA firm.

It sucks because clients don't want the accountant to bill too many hours and will sure complain about it when they are billed too many hours.  At the same time, the CPA firm doesn't want the accountant to incur too many administrative hours either.  When non-billable administrative hours show up often, the CPA firm's managing partner will roll his or her eyes and  will reprimand the accountant.  That means, accountants in public accounting are expected to record less time for more work they do. (e.g,spending 14 hours everyday to work for 5 clients and only bill 8 hours.).  I'm sure this doesn't happen to the accountants working in a corporation.  I never saw my clients' accounting staff stressing out and scrambling to get more work done.  They all seemed to take their time and were never in a hurry like I am....

When I spend 4 hours working on one client, which is not unusual, I better find 1 to 2 more clients to work for so I can bill my 4 hours to not just one client but to 2 to 3 clients.  The problem is, I still have to bill 4 more hours and it's already 6pm in the evening when I am done with client #3.

Am  I the only CPA who hates tracking and watching my time? Can anyone tell me if this is the issue with only shallow pocket small CPA firms?

Small CPA Firm Has Overtime Too!!!

I'm now taking a break from working.  Yes, today is a Sunday but I am working on an audit engagement. Many people think that only Big 4 firms put their employees at work during weekends.  But small firms also have deadlines they need to meet and therefore working on weekends is not unusual at all in small firms. When I first worked in a small firm, I was shocked to be required to work overtime during weekends.  But now I am used to it....And, just like the Big 4, I don't get paid for working overtime in small firms either.  I don't like it, but until I can find a job outside public accounting, I will just have to suck it up.  Oh well, my break is over, it's time to get back to work.

My First Month at My New Job in a Small Firm

This is not my first job as a Certified Public Accountant, this is also not my first job as a Certified Public Accountant in a small firm. This is however my first job at yet another small CPA firm.

Just one month into my new job, I'm beginning to feel restless and unmotivated again.  I am beginning to feel that jumping from one small firm to another is not going to help me feel more settled and satisfied about my job.

So am I doomed to only be able to work in small firms?  I tried to apply for the Big 4s, but all I got was robotic rejections from their computer the minute I submitted my application to their websites....

Am I the only CPA who keeps receiving such kind of rejection emails from the Big 4?  These robotic email rejections are beating up my psyche....