[songhee7]

It seems like this is one of the least popular questions because I’ve seen postings asking for advice on tax vs audit but there weren’t many responses. However, I’m also going through audit vs tax dilemma and really need some advices. I’ve passed the exam (all 4 sections) last year and got a job at a mid size public accounting. I’ve been working as a staff auditor for about 10 months and it has been hard. I already had years of experience in non-public accounting industries before I started the auditing job and all of my employers complimented on my work and they were happy with me. But public accounting was somewhat different. I’m a very detail oriented person and have very independent personality, so whenever I had questions or findings from testwork, I tried to figure it out myself at first and summarize my questions before I bring it to my superiors’ attention. And I ended up getting some comments on “efficiency”. My superiors are telling me not to waste any of my time to figure out things myself and just ask them questions immediately. Long story short, I realized that my strength could have been also my weakness. And now I’m seriously considering switching my job to tax. So I would like to ask if “efficiency” the #1 consideration in taxation as well, or accuracy & detail oriented personality are more valuable than “efficiency”? If I lack efficiency, then can my weakness in audit be a strength in tax? This is a totally unexpected situation and I really need some advice on my career path whether to continue to work as an auditor or switch it to tax. Or do I not belong to public accounting?

[splinter1643]

I actually wanted to switch from tax to audit, because I feel that I'm more detail-oriented and REALLY love structure. Seems to me like with audit, there's a specific process to doing things, and, despite the hours, I think this is something I'd love to do for a couple years before I burn out. Anyways, I'm sure you've already figured out what you plan to do, now that a year has passed, but I wanted to give some insight for anyone else who might come across this:

In tax, I was told the exact same thing. I don't think it's necessarily an issue of profession. I was told by my manager that it's a matter of balancing two things: doing your own thing vs. asking for help. Teams are on a budget and I guess they want to be as efficient as is reasonably possible. How are you presenting your questions to them? Are you presenting ALL of them at once, and closer to the end of the engagement? Maybe your supervisors prefer that you ask your questions periodically, so that they know what you're doing at any moment. This way, they can explain why something took x hours.

CPA license in progress....

[splinter1643]

This is such a long shot, but if you read this, please help me with some questions I have about making the switch. Thanks! 🙂

CPA license in progress....

[kayakate24601]

For me, it's a completely different mindset. I did taxes for an EA for three years, now in internal auditing in governmental.

For taxes, I don't have to question everything I am given, but in auditing I do. Everything is just taken with a different grain of salt and a different perspective.

B ~ 78 (04.02.12)
A ~ 70 (08.31.12) ~ 77 (10.05.12)
R ~ 81 (04.04.12)
F ~ 65 (11.12.12) ~ 73 (02.28.13) ~ 77 (04.01.13)

[splinter1643]

@kayakate24601: I agree about tax. You don't question how book income came to be $50,000. You might do some quick checks, but nothing in detail. With tax, you're really confirming your knowledge of tax laws (should you take this state tax deduction, how do you determine state tax allocations, this organization is a partnership so how should income be allocated to each partner, etc) and ideas about tax planning.

CPA license in progress....

[Author]

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