Out of the Public Eye

Posted on July 29, 2011 by Diane Thiercof

Since March I have contributed to this blog from the perspective of an individual working in public accounting.  I’ve shared the woes and wonders of tax season, billing, and life as a public accountant.  After two and a half years I made the decision to leave public accounting and join the Financial Accounting and Reporting team of The Regence Group.  Leaving the world of public accounting was not an easy decision.  It was all that I knew and I was very comfortable with it.

Like any change, leaving a job and starting a new one can be an unnerving, exciting adventure and it was in my case.  I discovered that entering the private sector was similar to a career change.  Everything I encounter is from an inverted viewpoint.  I am used to evaluating financial statements from an external perspective, but I now have more ownership of those positions.  Instead of calling the client requesting more details about account variances, I am that client with all of the details at my fingertips.

There is much to get used to when switching jobs.  For me, I left a small firm for a very large company.  There are new procedures, software and processes to learn and a new culture to adjust to.  I was nervous my first day, but eager to embark on my new position.  I quickly learned that I was really going to like my new job.  I say this mainly because of the people I am working with on a daily basis. I was fortunate to find a large company that genuinely cares about each individual employee and their career development.  They understand that the transition from public to private can be tricky and are more than willing to help acclimate me to my new role.

What I learned through this process is to make my career development my own top priority and not to shy away from opportunities because they are new and different.  I at first thought I would never leave public accounting and wasn’t even entertaining the possibility.  Looking back, I am so glad I took the leap because although I already knew I wanted a career in accounting, I finally feel I found the specific area and industry in which I want to work.  I think my message is that when it comes to your career development- don’t limit yourself!

Filed under: Job Search, Private Industry, Public Accounting | Tagged: , , , , | Leave a Comment »

How to Manage Your Time Amid Changes on the Job

Posted on July 18, 2011 by Sarah Friesen

Our work lives will never be static. If there’s one thing you can count on, it’s that staffing changes, software upgrades or other changes will force you from time to time to re-evaluate any routine you’ve established.

When I started my accounting job nearly a year ago, it took me months to capably answer this question: What’s the right amount of time to allocate to each of my myriad tasks during the workday? I eventually found equilibrium and enjoyed the confidence that came with that. But amid recent staffing changes, I’ve temporarily taken on a few extra duties, and this has forced me to revisit some of my basic tenets of time management:

  • Make time each day for both high-priority and longer-term tasks: It’s easy for long-term projects to get neglected amid the hectic pace of more urgent priorities. I set a goal every day to complete any daily tasks by lunchtime (posting bank deposits, debits/credits, entering payables), which leaves me the afternoon to delve into the numerous reports, analyses, financial statements or bank reconciliations that are to be done on a monthly schedule. I know if I don’t tend to the longer-term projects each day, any backlog will only grow.
  • Take a break: When it gets busy at work, my natural tendency is to want to skip lunch and keep muscling through assignments (trust me, I have many a day where “lunch” means a dash to Starbucks a block away). But just taking 15 minutes for a walk outside, or a half hour for a bite to eat, can give you the energy and focus you need to keep plowing through the rest of your workday.
  •  When you feel overwhelmed, do a “done” list: The to-do list can be your nemesis, especially when it seems to keep growing and you feel you can’t get ahead of it. A friend passed along this tip for gaining perspective on work stress when you’re feeling like Sisyphus pushing the rock uphill: Make a list of all that you’ve accomplished that day. You’ll be surprised at the extent of it and thus less burdened by the thought of what still needs to be finished. I did this exercise recently on a day when I was thinking about the backlog I had and was reassured to see that by early afternoon, I’d already accomplished 20 tasks.
  •  Know that things won’t go according to plan: Sure, you can map out how you should spend your workday, but inevitably your computer will crash and you’ll have to cede control of it for an hour to the IT staff. Or your phone will ring all morning long. Or the report you expected would take an hour to compile actually ends up consuming three hours. Realize that some days aren’t going to be as productive, through no fault of your own.

Granted, this is all a work in progress for me – and it will continue to evolve.

Filed under: Private Industry, Public Accounting | Tagged: , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Getting an Accounting Degree in My 40s

Posted on July 12, 2011 by Heather Zeitzwolfe

After being laid off, as many of us lately have experienced, I was suddenly faced with the opportunity to make a career change. I was excited about my jobless situation, as it forced me to re-evaluate my professional goals. Switching occupations was familiar territory for me; I had done it several times throughout my eclectic career. But now I was faced with a new challenge I had not experienced before; not only was I jobless… I was in my 40s!

I kept telling myself over and over again, “40 is the new 30!” It became my new mantra. But in tough economic times, regardless of how young you feel, switching occupations can be disastrous without proper consideration and methodical planning. I turned to my trusty Meyers-Briggs analysis for guidance and assurance, carefully examining my options over the course of several months. After finally ruling out law school or a master’s degree in Public Administration, I had an epiphany: Accounting! Why didn’t I think of this earlier? It was one of my favorite subjects in business school. To top it off, I craved a career filled with nerdy goodness and here it was in all its glory – spreadsheets, calculators, tax forms, ledgers, journals and research. My glasses got all steamed up just thinking about it.  I suddenly had fantasies of running my own small office, doing people’s taxes, volunteering my professional services to non-profits and building a stable of loyal, happy clients. Wow! I had struck the mother lode, this was the type of geeky dream I could embrace past the age of retirement.

As an alumnus of Portland State University’s School of Business, I sought counsel there immediately. Before I knew it, I was enrolled in the Post-Bac Accounting program and on my way to becoming a student once again in just a few short weeks. Being approximately 12 years since my last accounting class, I bought some books to refresh my memory. Debits, credits, T-accounts and journal entries were all once again coalescing within my neocortex. I was stimulated, pumped up and ready!

Things changed by the third week of Fall Term when intermediate accounting (ACTG 381) brought my confidence to a grinding halt. Suddenly, I was questioning my collegiate decision. I felt over my head, scrambling to remember what 12 years had filed away and even worse, had forgotten. You know the old saying, “use it or lose it?”  I had lost it. Vital information from my prerequisite classes was now a distant memory. I realized to achieve academic success my fellow students only had to effectively retain this information through summer break, while I had over a decade to forget it. I was on the verge of giving up, but I tenaciously clutched onto my geeky fantasy. I knew it would be a challenge, but I was determined to prevail. I was not going to let a minor setback stand in the way of my dreams. After all, as Gandhi said, “Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.”

During the following weeks, students throughout the accounting program were dropping the legendary ACTG 381 class like the proverbial hot potato. But I was still hanging in there, as my 40-something id, ego and super-ego pushed on towards the final exam. After surviving what is notoriously known as the “biochemistry of accounting,” I have now committed myself more than ever before to achieving my Post-Bac degree. Although I suspect even more difficult challenges are ahead, I am optimistic of my future in the wonderful world of accounting.

Filed under: Accounting Degree, Job Search, Work/Life Balance | Tagged: | 8 Comments »

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