[Star86]

Without any prior audit experience, I have been working in audit at a small accounting firm for a short time. I have not received any training and have only been told to look at the prior years’ audit work papers in order to find out what to do. Well, I might as well be studying Chinese, because it is not straightforward to me. I feel disappointed that I have not been given any direction. To anyone who has gone through or is going through their first audit job, I would like to know if this is normal? I thought all jobs pretty much gave some sort of training…

[Excel14]

@nicole2035:

Good advice in “theory”, but there are times when no psychological ploys work, and you find you are dealing with an idiot. Burning bridges is certainly not recommended, but like you said, at the end of the day it's your butt/job on the line. Some can't be “rubbed the right way”, no matter what you do. Trust me, that was my situation.

BEC (2/28/16) ----- 78
FAR (09/10/16)-----
AUD
REG

CIA, CGAP, CFE

[Anonymous]

Studying for audit and actually doing an audit are two entirely different things..so i doubt reading on an audit will do much help..

Not surprising a small firm is incompetant..

Sucks about your situation..I wouldnt quit though..Id stick it out and look for something else in the process..

Going forward though you are going to have to explain what you did where youre working at now..Id just ask questions everyday and be annoying about it..

Its there business if they dont want it to succeed and help you..they probably wont be around for long.

[Gabriella]

Picture this:
No training.
Just do like PY, it's easy! Oh, well, 1.PY was wrong and didn't get reviewed properly or 2.wrong! it's different situation this year.
Senior: “do xyz” Manager “xyz is wrong do abc”.
Senior: you wrote too much, used too much evidence. Next day, you wrote too little stuff and deleted too much evidence.
Supervisor: you must do this stuff wrong on purpose! Its so easy you're just trying to make things hard for me, you're out to get me. I'll show you by leaving some nasty review notes for you!” I also hate that you have a SO and I don't.
Manager: do EFG. Admin assistant: why are you stepping on my toes, that's MY SECTION missy! you're out to get me!
Senior, Manager, Supervisor: don't try to sit at the table with us cool kids because now we don't trust you and won't talk to you or include you on the conversation. We will exclude you from events right in front of you by inviting others at the table and not you. If you try to talk we will brow beat your ideas or anything you like we will say that's stupid just like you.
We don't like outsiders.

[ruggercpa2b]

I do not think its just a problem at small firms but it has also come up even at Big 4. I think it all depends on the people you work with. Some people are just not good teachers. Some tell you to look at prior year and they do not want to be bothered. Other want you to do a little research and try to figure things out on your own before you ask questions. I usually will say this is what I have looked at but I am still a little unclear about X.

Moniker is right in everything he just said. Go through the standards. If your firm has an audit manual read through it. Another great source are the EY FRD. We look these up a lot. And another thing is google. Just yesterday I googled suspense/clearing accounts because I needed to understand what exactly companies use this account for.

I remember my very first job out of college in internal audit. We got training but then later on as things got complex they expected you to figure it out on your own. I remember telling my supervisor that I honestly did not have a clear understanding of something and told her I wish we did better with training in that area. She laughed in my face and told me if I thought every job I would ever have I would get training I was mistaken. I disliked that woman, but now, 8 years later she was kind of right.

AUD - 73, 72 retake 7/2/2016
BEC - 8/20/2016
REG - TBD
FAR - TBD

I am so ready for this nightmare to be over. Been at this way too long.

[Anonymous]

Auditing can be daunting and confusing if you dont have any experience. I was going through the same thing when I first started my auditing job with a small firm. Unfortunately, most of your learning will be done on the job. The more engagements your on, the more you learn. Dont let it stress you out. Just do your best to learn and realize that it takes time. Looking at PY issued financials and footnotes is a good way to get an understanding of the company that your auditing. Also, dont be afraid to sit down with the client to get an understanding of how certain accounts work. Hope this helps!

[the LAST Coffee]

Give your two weeks tomorrow.

FAR 84 (AUG '15)
BEC 83 (AUG '15)
AUD 79 (OCT '15)
REG 71, 78! (NOV '15, FEB '16)

[Author]

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