INTERVIEW OF A CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANT (CPA)

Transcription

1 INTERVIEW OF A CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANT (CPA) 1. Vocation: What is your Job title/position/job description? Certified Public Accountant, owner/manager of a small accounting firm with six employees, one of whom is the spouse. 2. Do you belong to a union? No. 3. Describe your physical work environment An office suite of six rooms with several of the rooms divided into cubicles. The main office is large, but cluttered with papers, boxes, books, brochures, binders, folders, and the paraphernalia of the workplace. There is a lot of electronic equipment: three computers, a fax machine, a printer, a shredder, and a phone bank. On the premises, in the basement, there is a large archival storage area-- about 100 full size metal file cabinets. There is a comfortable, claustrophobic atmosphere to the office. A guest must move papers from a chair in order to sit down. 4. Please describe a typical day (do you travel, hours you work, etc) Rise about 7:00, breakfast on cereal, toast and coffee at home while reading The Wall Street Journal. Leave about 8:30 for short drive to the office in a small neighborhood business community. The morning is spent doing paperwork, making phone calls, and reading journals. Appointments with clients begin around 11:00. Lunch is take-out from a local deli and consists of soup and a sandwich and a coke; it is eaten at the desk while talking to staff. The afternoon is filled with meetings and with reviewing reports, and filing returns. The day seldom ends before 8:00 p.m. Home for a late supper--again frequently take-out- -TV, and bed. This is a six-day a week routine, seven at tax time. 5. How does your profession affect your ability to live a healthy lifestyle (exercise, sleep nutrition)? There is very little exercise. It is a very sedentary lifestyle. Eating habits are very bad. There is a strong tendency to be overweight, usually not helped by eating a main meal around 9 p.m. and going to bed shortly thereafter. 6. Are there over the counter medications, alternative medications that are typically used in your profession (weight loss, tobacco, steroids, etc)? Interview of a Certified Public Accountant.doc Page 1

2 Very few are used. A baby aspirin everyday as advised by doctor as a guard against stroke, occasional Tylenol for very rare headaches, Dayquil for occasional colds, Pepcid for very rare heartburn. 7. What do friends find interesting about your profession (like how often do you shoot your gun if you are a police officer?)? What types of questions do you get asked by the public? Not much. They are interested in tax loopholes. People seem only interested in accounting work insofar as it ties in with their own issues and concerns. 8. How did you get interested in your profession? Rather backed into it. Began a regimen of college study directed toward health care industry, but did not enjoy it. Discovered an aptitude for accounting in the process, thought being one's own boss would be great, and switched major to accounting. 9. What do you like most about your profession? The great variety of daily concerns. Working with so many different small businesses and individuals gives one an insight into the inner workings of retail, manufacturing, the arts, education, and the professions. Each new day, each new client, brings a new experience into the office, even after thirty years. 10. What do you dislike most about your profession? The government regulations. The complexity of the tax laws; the ever shifting vagaries of the tax laws; the variances between the laws of different taxing bodies--all these create needless paperwork and necessitate keeping double books. Also, these taxing bodies pass laws for $75M corporations and want them applied to small businesses, practically forcing small businesses into bankruptcy When confronted with these problems, IRS officials frequently respond to the local CPA with "Use your own judgment." That means, "Break the law if you think you should; we probably won't bother you or your client." The word PROBABLY is the troubling one. The CPA just wishes the taxing bodies would "get their act together." 11. Educational Background: 12. High School 13. Vocational School or College Interview of a Certified Public Accountant.doc Page 2

3 14. Graduate School or Special Training Most current CPAs have had four years of college with a major in accounting and two years of internship with a licensed CPA. Then one sat for the CPA exam (two and a half days) which was given twice a year at different state sites. Once passed the exam, to keep the license valid the CPA must take 80 hours of advanced study every two years, no fewer than 20 hours in any one year. Now most states require a five-year college program with a one year internship. Pennsylvania does not yet have this requirement. There are 51 CPA licensing exams and requirements (each state and D.C.).There is some reciprocity between states, but major retirement states like Florida and Arizona, in order to protect in-state licensees, will not give credit to licenses from any other states. 15. How does one obtain a job in your profession? Usually one is recruited while still in college. One most often works for a large firm for the two year internship and then stays on after licensing, if one is liked there. Most move on either to buy a practice and set up on their own or to join a small firm with an eye to becoming a partner. 16. What previous positions have you had since you started this profession? Most have not had previous employment aside from the part-time retail or restaurant work while in school. Very few come to this profession late in life. 17. Can you get promoted? If so, to what position and how? Within the large firms, promotion to partner is the goal. This is a merit based promotion. Bringing major clients into the firm, satisfying clients and superiors-- these things will bring about promotion. Many CPAs move toward this goal by attaining a law degree. Within the small firm, it is usually a matter of seniority and replacing those senior members who retire. Throughout the larger corporations it is an "up-or-out" policy. Those who are not promoted are dismissed, usually to straight accounting work within major corporations. Places like H & R Block use an army of young accountants and young CPAs, give them training and experience, and then retain only a very few each year. 18. What are the perks of your job? There are no surprising perks. Most come in the form of client discounts. A client who sells furniture or automobiles, for example, will extend a discount to the accountant. Arts organizations may provide free tickets or guest invitations to fund raising events. Interview of a Certified Public Accountant.doc Page 3

4 19. How do you get paid (contract, per mile, per hour, etc.) How can you make more money? The account bills clients by the hour. Small firms bill at $100 per hour. After all expenses, the average CPA makes a yearly salary of between 80,000 and $150,000. Starting salaries for the accountant right out of college are about $44,000. A senior partner in a major firm could make $1,000, What is the most stressful part of your job? The greatest stress is that caused by deadlines. The April 15 deadline is known to all, but there are quarterly deadlines as well. These times extend the workday to sixteen hours easily, and fatigue makes errors more likely. 21. What emotional problems are common in people in your profession? Many suffer from "burn-out." They just become fatigued keeping up with the constantly changing laws. The pressure gets to others. If one does not enjoy the work, it can bring about depression and a feeling of futility. 22. What type of physical activity is required in your position? The problem is that very little physical activity is required. It is a sedentary job that requires a lot of typing and reading, but not much else. 23. What things happen that really make you angry? Nothing at the immediate level. Employee errors can be annoying, but the anger is more a seething at issues beyond one's control. The SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002 makes accountants angry, so angry that they could throw things or just leave the profession. It is not the intent of the law (to prevent more ENRONs) that causes the anger, but the way it is written its complexity and short-sightedness. A course at Penn State: McKeesport, on Section 404 of this Act has a twenty-nine page syllabus. This kind of government activity makes CPAs angry. 24. What other professions do you work with, and how do they affect your job (make your job easier or harder)? All taxing bodies are hard to deal with. Those agents that the CPA actually gets to know are very important and must be stroked. It is no good to be angry with them. All clients are very important. Aside from that, the people who repair and supply office machinery are the only ones who have immediate impact on the enterprise. Interview of a Certified Public Accountant.doc Page 4

5 25. What health risk behaviors are common in your profession? (tobacco, alcohol, specific drugs, sex, stress, marital or family discord, etc.) Surprisingly, there is no longer much smoking, but alcohol is a problem for many. Drinking to relax and drinking with clients can lead to dependency. Also, there is much family strife associated with the profession because of the long hours and long weeks. The divorce rate among CPAs is slightly above the national average. 26. How does your vocation affect the personal life of you or people you know? The job limits socializing outside of the client pool. One's friends tend to be one's clients. The absence from home works against strong spousal or parental relationships. One does tend to solve the problem by bringing family into the business. 27. What activities and/or hobbies do people in your profession like to do? There is not much time for activities outside of the work experience. One eats at the restaurants of clients, goes to plays staged by clients. Escape comes in time away. Two weeks spent hunting in the fall are great. A week at the beach in the summer is ideal. Aside from the escapes, however, there is not much time to play. 28. Are there any items of clothing, or props that someone portraying a person in your profession would use consistently? (Hats, keys, stuff you d keep in your pockets or bags, day planners, work boots, particular costume, or types of clothing ) Dress is almost always "business casual." There is seldom call to wear a tie. Appearance is conservative. One always has pens in one's pocket; the cell phone is always on; the lap top is never far away. 29. If a person in your position were to get fired, what would they most likely have done to justify the termination and what would the steps involve? Do lay-offs happen in your occupation? If one gets fired, it is usually early in one's career, and then one usually surrenders the CPA license and goes into general accounting with a corporation, or one makes a complete career change. Most firings occur because corporations hire four or five people for what is really a single opening. After a year or two, the corporation keeps the one they find most suitable and dismiss the others. Firings later in one's career would be the result of demonstrated incompetence or some serious error in personal or professional judgment. Interview of a Certified Public Accountant.doc Page 5

6 30. During all of these questions, listen for jargon used by the interviewee words they use that are lingo specific to their profession. Ask them to define those words if it is not clear to you. GAAP General Accepted Accounting Principles CEO Chief Executive Officer CFO Chief Financial Officer AIC American Institute of CPAs PAOB Public Accounting Oversight Board. Interview of a Certified Public Accountant.doc Page 6

7 CPA Vocational History Interview Evaluation Form This evaluation will help guide future development of this project. Please fill this out and return once you have finished the case. 1. How useful was this case template? Not at all Extremely useful Comment: 2. Did this template make your case better? Yes/No if yes, how? 3. Did this template save you time? Yes/No if yes, approximately how much time did it save you? 4. What suggestions do you have for improving this template? 5. What other occupations would be useful? 6. What suggestions do you have for this website? Please fill out and return to the UPSOM Advanced Clinical Education Center. Fax number: (412) acec@medschool.pitt.edu Interview of a Certified Public Accountant.doc Page 7