Quote:
Originally Posted by JeanLucPicard
Hey CP
I am going to be working with a small accounting firm starting mid November (non pre-approved route), and I will do the PEP core modules starting January next year.
If there are any CPAs here who have experience with articling students, or if you are an articling student yourself, I wanted to know your experience.
How is it like during the first week? What kind of assignments / expectations will I have in terms of tax, assurance/auditing, and financial accounting assignments? Anything I should watch out for?
Thanks!!
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I just realized no one addressed the latter half of your questions. It's been a little while since I delved into this stuff, but I think it's still relevant.
Knowing how to keep your CPA journey on track is important in ensuring that your experience is a positive one vs a hair pulling chaotic stressful one. IMO some of the below are good in keeping your learning on track while also juggling the responsibilities of working. But take it with a grain of salt as there's more than one approach.
First day or two will be intros/computer set up, then you'll likely be thrown into work. Responsibility wise, you're an employee now. I highly recommend you use a note book/spreadsheet or whatever to write down all sorts of tips and things you learned along the way. Additionally and equally as important, I'd keep track of the errors made on files (ie: The list of revisions). Lots of accounting is very repetitive so it's a good idea not to repeat the same errors over and over. The error page also becomes a great checklist before you hand in a file to reduce the items on your revision summary.
For note taking in the office, lots of scenarios will be paper/pen situations as you run around. Phone isn't really professional. I wouldn't recommend a phone for note taking, but it's appropriate for taking pics of things for reference later. Make sure you are allowed to take pics of the items though (ie: No confidential info). Personally, I will take many notes with paper and pen, then compile my notes in an excel spreadsheet for easy reference later on. I'll also use different tabs for different categories of information. It's also nice to be able to run calculations in excel which isn't really as easy to do in word. I learned to note take/compile late into my articling. I kinda wish I learned it earlier because those excel notes are far easier to read after a lengthy period of time than any other electronic (ie: Word/one note) or physical note taking method I have ever tried in the past.
A few quick excel note taking tips.
- Formatting in excel, I always do accounting with 0 or 2 decimals and no symbol. It's just easier to read numbers when the formatting is consistent all the time.
- type ' at the beginning of the cell means it displays straight up (vs converts to a different view/number if it's a formula). Use of certain symbols like $ and % can easily be used to change some of the cell formatting.
- Try not to let information go past column I or J. Use merge and centre + wrap text + increase row height for larger blocks of notes.
- If printing, scale to fit 1 page width with unlimited height.
- Use snip and sketch often to drop pictures into your notes rather than retype if possible.
When doing course work (ie: CPA), install something like Dropbox on your computer and create a folder for things like CPA courses, scanned reference materials (non-confidential) etc. This way you can work on different computers/if your computer fails, you won't lose your work/info. Do not put work files into Dropbox though. Work wise, read the storyboards and summary information thoroughly so you waste less time on aimless research/going down the wrong path.
Financial accounting, you might be doing bookkeeping and notice to readers by the end of your first or second week. Financial statement wise, balance sheets must balance and check rounding/formatting. You likely will shadow the prior year file to complete the file.
Tax wise, you might get experience filling in a few boxes in a tax program, but much more likely you'll initially be photocopying/scanning documents required as support for the filings.
Assurance/auditing you'll likely be asked to do tracing/vouching right off the bat which is basically looking at an accounting entry, then comparing it to the supporting documentation. Or you'll be asked to analysis calculations. It's very administrative. I highly recommend that if possible, when you first start doing this work to scan every invoice you look at and keep it in a folder to be deleted at the conclusion of the field work. Having to look up an invoice more than once if you forgot to verify certain info is a pain.
I don't know the changes to the CPA ATO/EV route (I went through CASB via the CATO route), but in my day, if your training office didn't have the ability to offer all of the necessary experience in different fields of accounting, the firm/employee would basically ask around to see if they could get seconded to another firm who could offer the required experience.
Chat frequently with your peers and others going through their articling as well. Learn about stylistic differences to determine different methodologies and determine what you'd like to internalize for yourself. Peers are always a good resource, but always be careful not to share confidential information. Additionally, be very careful about the CPA plagiarism policy (although I'm pretty sure that the CPA program is usually pretty good at going over where the line is for discussion and collaboration). Network frequently and ask for anecdotes and tidbits of wisdom/advice. Start paying attention to other students in the program. You might want to start keeping track who seems like good people to work with for when you set up study groups for CFE.
In all honesty, not all manager know how to deal with an articling student. They may just post you on projects that are important for meeting firm deadlines and not necessarily the best projects/files that are best for your development. It's your responsibility to keep track of that and speak up/remind your manager about specific experience you may need. Learn as much as you can, even some of the file finalizing and administrative work. Everything is connected and knowing how these extra things are done can save your bacon later on.
I've heard of students who take many days off (some the entire week) to study for exams. I don't think you usually need more than half a day to a day before the exam to prep if you have been keeping up with your module work. For the exams, always bring a jacket. It's weirdly windy and cold in many of the examination rooms. I also suggest bringing the equivalent of a box of cookies for a snack. For me, that was usually a roll of arrow root cookies. It's saved me in many situations when it wasn't possible to grab food and it's enough to give some to a friend as well if needed (I also bring one when I travel). I recall some of my exams taking 1-3 hours longer than expected, so the cookies were great for getting rid of the hunger distraction.
Good luck.