View from the Next Rung: Moving from Staff to Senior Accountant

24 Career Development • Disclosures • September/October

By Catherine Saadat, CPA

The first time I was sent out as the senior-in-charge accountant for a

tiny nonprofit audit client, I was petrified that the client would ask me

a question I could not answer, that I would be confused by an issue

and blow the budget or that the partner would realize that I had no

idea what I was doing.

The more involved I become with mentoring staff members, the more

I realized that these fears are very common among rising seniors. The

transition from staff to senior can be very difficult, as the position

comes with both increased responsibilities and higher expectations.

These expectations can be very dif-ficult to meet … especially if you don’t know what they are! You can make the transition easier by being aware of the new responsibilities and challenges that you will face, such as:

Understanding the engagement as a •whole

Working on more complex audit areas •

Delegating work and developing up- •and-coming staff members

Acting as the main point of contact with •clients

Juggling multiple assignments and com- •pleting engagements

Understanding the engagementAs a staff accountant, I usually worked

on a few audit sections for a job and moved on to the next project as soon as fieldwork was completed. Being as inex-perienced as I was, the thought of being in charge and responsible for the entire engagement was daunting.

I found the most difficult part of stepping into the role of in-charge was changing my perspective from focusing on the details, such as an audit section, to seeing the result of the total engage-ment, or the big picture. Understanding how each audit or review section affects another, seeing the impact of an event on the financial statements as well as the tax return, and adapting procedures based on new information are just a few examples of big-picture skills.

Don’t worry. No one expects you to be able to do this overnight, but you can start developing these skills by recogniz-ing a significant or complex issue and then communicating it to the manager or partner. Pay attention to how the issue is resolved. What was the thought process behind the response? On what research was it based? What were the overall im-plications? Take the opportunity to learn from each issue and you will find that you grow very quickly.

Understanding the big picture is also paramount when planning. Tasks such as documenting the understanding of the client and internal controls, performing preliminary analytics, determining the timing and scope of procedures and tax planning all require a thorough under-

standing of the client’s business or orga-nization, a feel for the overall industry and knowledge of significant current year events.

You can learn a lot by reviewing the client files and reading the related audit industry guide. Also, discuss the job with the previous in-charge and manager. The manager has likely been in touch with the client throughout the year and will be able to update you on any pertinent information. I found this to be sufficient to get started with the planning proce-dures, and it will be much easier in the future once you have started to develop a relationship with the client.

Tackling new or complex audit areasSome of the more complicated sec-

tions of an audit, such as revenue, income taxes or investments, are typically not assigned to the staff level and thus most rising seniors have had very limited expo-sure to these areas.

I found that reviewing the prior year workpapers of any difficult or unusual audit areas identified during planning was very important. The engagement plan-ning meeting is a good time to discuss the key procedures and any questions with the manager or partner.

No matter how familiar I have become with an audit area or a client, I still run into questions. Some questions might be resolved quickly using an audit industry guide (an easy, portable, go-to resource) while others might require more re-search. Make sure that you are familiar with your firm’s resources. What books are kept in the library and when might they be useful? What tools are available online and how are they accessed? As it is likely that you will come across the same issue again, retain your research where you can easily find it.

Sometimes it may be better to go to a manager or partner for assistance, particularly regarding significant or complex issues, as you might not realize all of the implications. It can be helpful to ask if there is an example to review or if the firm has a standard response to a particular issue. Managers and partners have years of experience and will guide your research in the right direction. Re-member that figuring out the answer on your own is good, but efficiency is just as important. w

Career Development • Disclosures • September/October 25

Delegating work and developing staff members

Senior accountants are instrumental in teaching new staff because most training is done while in the field. Assigning work to staff, teaching them and answering ques-tions, all while trying to complete your own work, is one of the hardest parts of being a senior accountant.

Since it hasn’t been long since you were a staff person, you probably remem-ber what it was like when you were given a project with the instructions, “Take a look at last year and see what you can do with it.” You probably also remember that this was not ideal for learning or ef-ficiency.

If you invest time with new staff by ex-plaining the objectives, reasoning behind the project and how the step or project fits into the overall engagement, they will learn a lot more. Also, teaching helps staff progress in their careers, which will en-able them to take on your responsibilities in the future, leaving you to move into more of a supervisory role.

For example, explain that subsequent disbursement testing is done to gain as-surance that accounts payable and accruals are complete as of the end of the year. If you can identify areas of difficulty and anticipate questions, it will be helpful to address these up front as well.

Always give staff an estimate of how long it should take to complete the as-signment. This will help them gauge their time and know when they should ask questions. Check in occasionally to see how they are doing. While some staff might ask questions every two minutes, others spend hours going down the wrong path. It is much easier to catch and cor-rect a problem as it is occurring. Because everyone learns in different ways, you may want to change your approach until you become more familiar with the staff’s learning and work styles and you find what works well for them.

The best way to balance your work with training is to ask staff to take a proj-ect as far as they can before asking ques-tions. Also show them how to find client information easily by looking at prior workpapers, the financial statements or client files. This will reduce the number of questions and will increase your efficiency because you will not have to continuously stop your work to respond to questions.

Communication with clients One of the scariest parts of becoming

a senior is the increased client contact. I remember being very nervous about talk-ing to clients because I was still becoming comfortable with my role and working on developing a solid knowledge base. What if they asked me something that I couldn’t answer?

Before going out to the client site, make sure you are aware of the lines of communication. For example, who is the main point of contact for the accounting questions? Sometimes clients prefer all questions are passed through manage-ment, while some prefer that questions are directed to the accounting depart-ment. Consider running questions by a manager or partner first to ensure that the response is not already known or to see if they would prefer to broach the issue themselves. Sometimes sensitive issues like litigation or going-concern are left for the partners to discuss with the clients.

Show respect for your client by mini-mizing the interruptions in their work day. During an audit or review, the cli-ent’s accounting staff is trying to get their normal work done as well as respond to your inquiries and requests. Wait until you have collected all of the questions for an area then ask the questions in a clear and concise manner. You may find it helpful to explain what you are trying to achieve in order to get the best response. Make sure you are organized and have ad-equate detail ready so that the client can research their response.

If you are asked a question that you are unsure of (and you will be), it is perfectly acceptable to respond by saying that you need to look into it further and will get back shortly with a response. Make sure that you understand what the client is asking and respond to them a timely manner. If necessary, pass the request to the manager or partner on the job.

Juggling assignments and completing engagements

It is common for seniors to have multiple assignments in various stages of completion ongoing at any point. Although you have moved onto another job, you will still be responsible for keep-ing outstanding jobs moving, even while you are out of the office.

Because distractions are inevitable once you return to the office, complete as much work as possible while at the cli-ent site, including any financial statement preparation. Make sure that you have ev-erything you need from the client before leaving the field, such as any information necessary for tax return preparation. Confirm any key dates and deadlines and communicate them to the engagement team.

Once you return to the office, you will be responsible for navigating the various levels of review, wrapping up loose ends and finalizing the engagement in a timely manner. Managing and prioritizing work will become imperative. Create a daily to-do list keeping in mind the level of completion of each job and any deadlines you must meet to determine which as-signments are a priority. For example, smaller assignments that can be done quickly, larger jobs with small outstand-ing items or jobs with upcoming dead-lines should be done first.

Embracing your new roleMy favorite thing about public ac-

counting happens to also be the hardest part of the job: It is a never-ending learn-ing process. Stepping into the role of a senior accountant is one of the biggest changes and challenges you will face in your career. New skills such as delegat-ing, teaching and communicating will take time to develop, and gradually you will become more comfortable with the new responsibilities. Look to someone at your firm, perhaps a mentor, to help guide you along the way.

Catherine Saadat, CPA,

is an audit supervisor

with Thompson,

Greenspon & Co. in

Fairfax, where she

specializes in audits

of construction and government

contractors. She graduated from the

University of Mary Washington in

2004. Contact her at cas@tgccpa.com.

26 Career Development • Disclosures • September/October