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Meet an Auditor: Jenna Dougherty

August 2018 Update

Jenna - Young Auditing ProfessionalName: Jenna Dougherty

Current job and location: Audit Associate, KPMG LLP, Philadelphia, PA

Number of years with the firm:  3 years

Hometown: Moorestown, NJ

College/Major: William and Mary/Accounting Major with a Concentration in Finance

How long have you now been employed with your accounting firm?

I am finishing up my third year at KPMG and my new client is the lead sponsor for the Philadelphia Eagles and the Lombardi Trophy was at their location one-day after they won the Superbowl.  Being a huge Eagles fan, I had to take a picture with it! It is something cool that we get to do with our clients.

Briefly describe your current role, and how it’s different than when we last connected.

I am currently the lead senior at a large, public company in the power and utilities industry. In this role, I oversee around 15 other senior and staff associates. The last time I wrote for the blog, I was a staff associate who mainly assisted my seniors in completing control and substantive testing. Now in my role, I still work on control and substantive testing, but spend much more of my time in the risk assessment process of the audit. This relates more to the planning phase of the audit and identifying our audit approach. I have been exposed to more complex audit areas as well which has been a great learning opportunity for me. In my current role, I also spend a lot more of my time teaching other seniors and staff than I did early in my career and managing the audit.

What are you most excited about in your current position?

I love being able to teach to other seniors and staff now that I have more knowledge of audit. I enjoy being able to help others. I also enjoy being exposed to new and technical accounting areas so that I am challenged and continue to learn.

Now that you have advanced in your career, is there any new advice that you would offer to undergraduate students who are considering a career in audit?

The one area that I regret not spending time on as an undergraduate was with computer skills, especially excel. The more I have progressed in my career, the more that I see how important having strong excel and computer skills play a role in being effective and efficient on the job. I would encourage anyone interested in an auditing career to focus on your computer skillsets!

Finally, what do you most look forward to in your professional future?

I look forward to the day when I can sit down and run a meeting with the CEO or CFO of a large public job! I am far away from that, but it is something that I strive for and will be working towards.


Original 2016 Post

Jenna_FeaturedImageName & Age: Jenna Dougherty, 24

Current job and location: Audit Associate, KPMG LLP, Philadelphia, PA

Number of years with the firm: 1 year

Hometown: Moorestown, NJ

College/Major: William and Mary/Accounting Major with a Concentration in Finance

Briefly describe what is your current role at the firm?

I am currently an audit associate who works within the consumer market industry. My primary focus in this industry is working with professional staffing companies traded on the stock market. Within my role, I help manage and complete team responsibilities and tasks; these can vary on a day-to-day basis from control and revenue testing to risk assessment and planning meetings.

What one personal quality helps you most in your auditing career and why?

One personal quality that has helped me with my career is being assertive. As an auditor, it is important to be confident in yourself when you are speaking to the company executives. You gain confidence by being a good listener first, analyzing and understanding the situation, and then being able to provide steps needed to reach the desired outcomes and solutions. I have had difficult conversations with company executives, but being assertive has helped me facilitate these conversations. Additionally, I have benefited from being assertive by suggesting new ideas, and adding value to my team.

What experience as an undergraduate student provided you with the best preparation for your job and why?

By far, the best experience that I had as an undergraduate that prepared me for my job was being a member of the William and Mary lacrosse team where the weekly time commitment was 30+ hours. Not only did it provide me with unparalleled experiences working in a team environment, but it also challenged my ability to prioritize and taught me the value of hard work. I work with a team on a daily basis and it is crucial to understand how to work effectively and efficiently within a team environment. Additionally, by nature of the job, my list of things to get done can at times seem endless. It has been very important for me to prioritize what needs to get done and to manage my time. Because I spent so many hours on the lacrosse field, it taught me how to prioritize my workload in college. Lastly, hard work is not a quality that all people possess, but it is a quality that can set you apart from others. Lacrosse showed me the value of hard work and how to persevere even when faced with continuous obstacles and challenges.

What advice, personal or professional, do you have for students considering a career in auditing?

My personal advice would be to always have a positive attitude, because positivity makes everything better! My professional advice would be to partake in classes or extracurricular activities where you work with others, so that you can continue to build your skillsets on how to be a leader of a team and how to be a member of a team.

What has been the best part of your job and why?

The best part of my job has been the people that I work with. I have made many friendships from work, broadened my network, and have really gotten to enjoy working with those around me!