[Anonymous]

I work in a small firm where we have not-so-good management/partners. If the CPA board ever decided to investigate us, there would be a lot of problems.

We have all documentation of some of our prior audits missing (we are not paperless yet). I mean, they are no where to be found. I was recently assigned with reviewing staff working papers. What I learned is that most of our staff are lazy and their working papers are riddled with mispellings, mistakes, inadequate documentation, and probably lies (I know some of them are too dumb or lazy to actually test the sample, so I suspect they mark everything “without exceptions”).

I’m no “Mr. Perfect Auditor”, but I do know that it’s in everyone’s best interest to keep adequate documentation because you and the firm can lose your licenses. So, I do what I can to make it acceptable (basically redoing alot of other’s work). I really don’t understand why the Partners are too lazy to care, even after I bring it up to them.

Maybe this is how it is at every firm (remember Arthur Anderson). I have no idea if I really need to leave this firm ASAP, or if I can slowly look for another job.

[misanthrope87]

Maybe they're just not given proper training.

B 2/12 87
A 11/11 90
R 8/11 86
F 5/12 88

[Anonymous]

Get out while you still can.

I'd document EVERYTHING you can, as far as what you've done, what you've seen, who you've spoke to about it, etc.

There is no reason to risk your license because a few of your co-workers are incompetent.

[missjones513]

lol, I like how you blew them up. I think you should consider leaving.

REG - 5/29/12 (64), 10/1/12 (74), 5/20/13 (75, expires 12/31/14)
FAR - 8/14/12 (64), 8/5/14 (75)
BEC - 11/19/12 (70), 2/25/13 (72), 11/21/13 (73), 1/21/14 (73), 8/30/14 (72), 11/24/14 (75)
AUD - 4/22/13 (65), 10/12/13 (79)

I'm done!!!

Ethics - Pass

[Anonymous]

I know the “losing working papers for issued reports” is not normal. Only incompetent CPAs would do that. I'm wondering whether auditor working papers at other firms are also of unacceptable, poor quality. I know that no one gets to actually see a firm's working papers. They say that successor auditors need to request them from prior auditors, but I hear that in reality, it doesn't happen often. Maybe this is the way of the audit world.

Some of you are going to mention “peer review”. Please…..what that really is: reviewing firm selects a sample of audits, other firm scrounges to make sure those working papers are in compliance. FYI, they let you know beforehand which audits they want to see.

missjones513, I'm glad you got a kick out of it. I “keeps it real”. I don't want to be the first person to get their CPA license revoked before actually passing the exams. If that happens, I might as well start working at McDonald's now so by the time I'm 40, I'll be a Manager.

[jelly]

I'm at my 2nd small shop, and NO, this is not the norm. My current place doesn't tolerate that type of thing, as my boss came from a relatively large firm with good training, review and internal compliance. The workpapers and permanent files that we request from prior accountants tend to have lots of holes in them, i.e. missing incorporation and certificate filngs, legal documents, etc.

My first small shop was pretty messy b/c it was paper and did not use caseware or any rational electronic record keeping. There were also some clients whose internal controls were pretty questionable.

If I was you, I'd keep a personal, extremely, detailed, log of everything that you see, “re-do,” and have conversations with (complete with dates, partner/client/vendor names, etc) and to make paper copies of everything you work on, before and after, and take it all home. If the partners are that unethical and greedy, it wouldn't surprise me if YOU get blamed for inadequate training, review and supervision of the other staff. You may also want to consider consulting a lawyer while this is going on, b/c you may need some legal representation and assistance if you need these partners to eventually sign off on your hours for your license. And definitely, yes, I would also do my best in the meanwhile, to plan a way to GTFO!

I pretty much did what I described above at the first small shop. I was in a position where I needed my hours signed off for my license. I did not use any of the information that I collected, and my boss may or may not have known about my extra xeroxing activities, but I can tell you that it was good insurance/leverage to have when it came time to leave and I was back at the negotiating table with him (and my lawyer). I never used this place as a reference, but this ex-boss probably knows better than to answer negatively whenever a future employer calls for verification. The threat of litigation, loss of professional license (and other unknowns) is usually fair enough to halt toxic accountants like this from ruining your own career.

Couldn't pass again!

[Anonymous]

Thanks Jelly. Funny thing is the partners are from the Big 4 (or I should say the Big 8). They are old-school, so maybe this was how it was done pre-Enron/Sarbanes–Oxley. Maybe, there is a correlation between bad working papers and not being paperless.

Right now, I am currently performing substantive testing for a client I have never audited before. They just dumped me here without any planning, understanding of the entity, fraud/risk assessment, or discussions. They like to dump me into the middle of audits where I don't feel comfortable performing testwork. I have currently been applying to other positions, but there are not many external-audit staff level jobs available.

[Anonymous]

Jelly has some great advice. Also, CPAs are not supposed to “work” in areas beyond their professional competencies. It sounds like you are doing that – but at the direction of the company partners. Even though you don't have your license yet, could you still get professionally reprimanded and if so, would it negatively affect your licensing ability? Maybe you try to move into an area other than audit – but you probably need to leave sooner rather than later.

[Anonymous]

Yes, you can still get in trouble for performing unethical acts even if it's before you obtained your license. I doubt the firm will get investigated, but I just don't want to work for an unethical firm.

1) You start getting into bad habits. 2) You have to work with morons or lazy deadbeats. 3) It demoralizes me knowing the Partners don't give a crap about Quality of Work.

Thes are all good enough reasons to leave the firm in the first place.

Why would I move out of audit? This is where the best experience, growth, and potential comes for a CPA. Just because you had one bad girlfriend doesn't mean you should stop dating women altogether.

[makinthemagic]

I'd do what DocHalladay says. Places like these have a bad habit of protecting the rule breakers and spitting out those who seek to enforce the rules. As good as your story is, you don't want to have to explain it in a job interview.

Bec 4/11/11 91
Aud 7/11/11 75
Reg 8/31/11 80
Far 5/24/11 86
Ethics - 98
California Licensed CPA
Illinois Registered CPA

[Anonymous]

I work in a very, very small firm, the boss, his daughter (part time) and me. Nothing is done without someone else reviewing it. We don't move to the next step without proper documentation and working papers to support our work. We have a peer review every 3 years but just because there isn't going to be a peer review that year is no excuse for being sloppy. There was a person here where I live that did financial statements and tax returns. Two years ago she died on April 12th. A lot of her clients came to us because they were desperate. Everyone of them has commented on how much more efficient we are than she was. Forget the fact that she didn't have a clue how to fill out a tax return (her philosophy was “plug retained earnings”) but she didn't have any working papers for us to decipher what in the world she had done. That will NEVER happen in our office. I say start seeking employment elsewhere immediately!

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all the replies. I just wanted to give an update on my situation:

Our peer-reviewer has found many findings in our working papers (no surprise there). One of them is that our audit reports for one of our clients we have had since 1999 are missing a specific disclosure!

I have been actively searching for a new job, and I have 2 potential Senior positions I've interviewed for, and I feel I will get an offer from one (if not both). I have also submitted my hours here to one of our partners so he can sign-off before I leave. If I don't get him to sign it now, I'll be in the same situation my ex-coworker is in: he passed the exams and he's been waiting since June for this lazy deadbeat to sign-off his hours. I feel this joke-of-a-firm will be only a distant memory for me, soon. Now, comes the hard part: passing the exams.

[Anonymous]

The year was 2012. We were on a summer assignment in steaming weather at one of our clients. An overheated CPA removed his suit jacket, revealing a T-shirt with an iron-on sporting the Mad slogan “Up With Mini-Skirts”. Well, we all had a good laugh, even though I didn't quite understand it. But our momentary lapse of concentration allowed Charlie310 to get the drop on us. I spent the next three years in a POW camp, forced to subsist on a thin stew of fish, vegetables, prawns, coconut milk, and four kinds of rice. I came close to madness trying to find it here in the States, but they just can't get the spices right…

[Author]

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