A Day in the Life of an Auditor: Paul
City: Los Angeles, CA
Title: Audit & Assurance Senior
Company: Deloitte & Touche LLP
5:15 a.m.– Wake up, go to the gym, and eat breakfast back at home. I like to get up early and workout, if I can. It gets more difficult when the hours get longer, but I feel like working out in the morning prepares me to have a successful day.
8:00 a.m.– Arrive at the office. It takes me no more than 10 minutes to get to my client, which is awesome. Today, my managers are here and there are a couple of other seniors as well. I am working on addressing review notes from my managers on testing documentation. I also have another client that I worked with earlier in the year that is preparing to file their financial statement. I will be assisting with any questions that come up after a review of that work and participating in status meetings.
12:00 p.m.– Audit lunch. When the managers are all at the client site, we try to go out to lunch as a team. Going out for lunch is always a nice treat. Even when we don’t go out for lunch, we try to get out of the audit room a few minutes each day as we all appreciate the benefits of getting some fresh air.
2:00 p.m.– My desk accommodations differ depending on which client assignment I am on, but at my current client, I have a big external monitor, which is helpful. My desk is simple, I just have my notepad and phones on it. Internally, I attend status meetings for my clients. I also attend meetings where any matters that have come up are discussed. My external meetings are very similar, as I will meet to go over our request listing with the client and discuss any questions that have arisen from the testing selections made.
4:00 p.m.– Sometimes I have status meetings in the afternoons and generally I try to leave the office around 6:15 p.m. I meal prep at the beginning of each week, which makes it easy to go home and eat one of my meals, watch TV, and then read for a few hours. I try to go to bed by 10 p.m. so I can get up early.
Questions & Answers with Paul:
What was your major in college?
Accounting.
When was the last time you had to travel for work?
I had to travel for a week to the Midwest last month. I am expecting to travel two more times throughout the rest of the year, each time for about one week. Travel is mostly dependent on the client you are assigned to, though.
What has a career in Audit done for you?
Something that I did not realize going into this profession was how many connections I would make. Looking back, it makes sense since 50+ people are starting in my office each year. You get to meet a lot of great people. Those connections extend outside of work and you often find yourself hanging out with them after work or on the weekends. I’ve made a ton of friends through Deloitte.
What do your breaks look like?
There can be up to 10 of us in the audit room sometimes so breaks can happen randomly throughout the day. Usually it will be the result of someone thinking out loud or asking a general question to the room. We will get coffee from time to time and for lunch, some people on the team bring it and others go out and buy. We always eat together, though, which is something I really enjoy.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
Throughout my career, I hope to continue to learn and be challenged. Looking back at what I have done so far in my career, the most rewarding times have been when I overcame a challenge and learned something valuable.
What is one thing that you do with your career in audit that surprised you?
Use my creative side. I didn’t expect that I would be able to be so creative in this job. Each day we are challenged to think how we can audit our clients’ financial statements more effectively and efficiently. As staff and seniors, we are empowered to critically think how we are testing something and are given the freedom to suggest changes. This not only allows us to be creative but helps us to learn more about the audit overall.