Off the Ledger

Dave Berry- Audit Senior

As busy season gets underway, it can be especially hard for many of us to find time to study for the CPA exam. Between working 50-70 hours a week and finding time to eat, sleep and maintain a social life—who honestly has the time to study? Just about a year ago, a fellow co-worker of mine offered some great tips for studying for the CPA exam. Now, all of those tips are great, but sometimes even the best time managers in the world won’t find time to study on their own during busy season. What’s unique about PKM is that they actually factor into your schedule the time you need to study as well as sit for a practice exam! I know some folks that did not sit for the exam before going to other firms and they never found the time while they were at those firms due to the heavy work schedule. Since passing the exam is a crucial step in every CPA’s career, as well as a valuable asset to any firm, I think it is great that PKM is so proactive in helping us achieve that goal.

Terry Ammons- Partner

We all know money isn’t everything. But, in today’s economy, having more certainly couldn’t hurt. Now, you very well may be considering a career in public accounting exclusively due to your passion for financial statements and balance sheets. And, if that’s the case—great! But if not, there is another reason you might want to pursue a career as a CPA. According to a recent story on CNN.com, CPAs are ranked #17 on the list of jobs with the fastest growing salaries. Occupations were ranked based on the percent of growth in the average salary as compared to last year’s salary. As more and more government regulations continue to pop-up, the need for CPA’s will continue to grow and salaries will continue to increase—just one more reason to consider a career in public accounting!

Ryan Barrow- Audit Associate

Have you ever caught yourself trying to figure out what exactly happened to our financial markets over the last 18 months or so? Ever wondered what, or who, got us into the place that we are in economically? Have you heard politicians or economists attempt to explain what happened which leaves you even more confused than before? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, then let me introduce you to “Big Bad Banks” by one of our client’s CEOs.

“Big Bad Banks” by MidSouth’s Rusty Cloutier is a refreshing insight into the economic fiasco that has characterized the last couple of years. Rusty offers a front row seat from his perspective into what exactly caused the worst recession since the Great Depression and what we can do to avoid it in the future. In his cleverly delivered words, Rusty takes you back to his roots of community banking and explains how far the industry has wandered from those roots to get us into the current crisis. Leaving no stone unturned, Rusty explains how prominent politicians and big bankers (yes…by name), single-handedly wrecked what has taken such a long time to repair after events such as the Great Depression and the Savings and Loans crisis of the ’80s.

If you are looking for honest and straightforward answers that do not require a Ph.D. in Economics to understand, then pick up a copy of “Big Bad Banks.” At approximately 120 pages, it is a quick and easy read that is difficult to put down. But, don’t just take my word for it!

Christian Albarracin- Audit Associate

One of my all time favorite holiday activities is taking in many of the great college football games that coincide with the Holidays. Usually this is just a great time for relaxing, and not one for making observations that prove to be beneficial in my everyday working life. However, this year was different. Don’t get me wrong, I am pretty good at developing creative reasons to justify increasing the amount of sports I watch, but I am not saying that watching college football will always prove to be the best use of time. But it did bring me at least one good realization this year, and that was the importance of organization.

That’s right organization, and I’m really thinking about it more from the perspective of the head football coach. Sometimes, we allow ourselves to wonder why these college coaches get paid so much money when they really only have to work on twelve to fourteen gamedays a year. But then when you start to think about all of the tasks they are responsible for: recruiting, conducting practices, watching film, reviewing training room report updates, speaking at alumni functions, conducting weekly press conferences and media briefings, ensuring that over a hundred 18 - 22 year old kids are doing the do’s (i.e. going to classes, study halls, tutors, etc.) and not doing the don’ts (you can probably think of a few), being a husband, being a father, and so on, it is hard to imagine how so many of them are able to get all of these things done efficiently. More than likely these men have surrounded themselves with excellent, trustworthy, hardworking people and have become master delegators—but I can’t help but think that they must be incredibly well organized in order to balance so many different aspects of their lives. I have no idea how they do it, but it did get me thinking the things that I can do to stay organized to help me meet my everyday responsibilities as we head into the busiest time of year in the accounting profession.

In today’s technologically advanced world, email programs such as Outlook, Lotus Notes, etc. offer great tools to help you stay organized electronically. Using Calendar, Tasks, and Notes functions allow you to easily record events, “to-do” items, and other miscellaneous information related to both your work and personal life to help you try and maintain that all important work-life balance. Nowadays, it is even common to be able to sync this information to your cell phone or pda, so that you can have it with you wherever you go. Take it from me, you might find inputting this information to be frustrating at first, but as you become well practiced in doing so, you begin to easily see the benefits. More than likely your employer will have these resources available to you, so it might not be a bad idea to begin practicing some good organizational habits now. Obviously this may not be the organizational method that bests suits your personality, but the main thing is that you find some method of preventing the madness that an unorganized life can bring. I have heard rumors that there are people out there that have absolutely no desire to be organized; however, I have found that these folks are very few and far between in our profession.

The duties of a college student can often times seem overwhelming, but this is a great time to develop or improve upon your organizational habits, so that you are better prepared to handle the increasing amount of responsibilities that come your way as you transition from college life to the “real world.”

Chelsea Carpenter- Audit Senior

Contrary to popular belief, being in the accounting field is not always as humdrum as many assume. As a CPA, I am required to be out in the field and traveling quite a bit. This makes for many interesting stories, but I don’t think any of them have quite compared to what I experienced just last week. It was the very first day of busy season, and my flight to Lafayette, LA was scheduled to depart at 9:30 a.m. I could not sleep because I was so excited and anxiously awaiting to start the first working day of the New Year. I was also really excited because I did not bring my computer bag. My fiancé, Casey, had this incredible book bag with tons of pockets; it is especially made to carry a computer. He was so nice and cleaned it out for me before I went on my trip. I got up early, packed my suit case, and off to the airport I went. I got to the airport in record time, and checked in with no trouble. The security line was a little long, but I was not worried—I had plenty of time. After standing in the security line for 15 minutes it was now my turn to place my items on the conveyer belt to be checked, no worries, I am good right? WRONG!!!!!! Casey’s awesome book bag had so many great pockets that he had forgotten to take everything out and, to my surprise, there was a huge knife in his bag… two inches to be exact. They pulled me aside, placed my face to the ground, and tied my hands behind my back. Well not exactly, but it made you keep reading, right? Seriously, they pulled me aside, asked me all these questions and my first response was “that is not mine!” Let me tell you don’t ever respond with those words to a TPA employee. They asked me several questions, took my license and ran a background check. When everyone had calmed down and my knees stopped shaking, they measured the blade of the knife. The TPA employee told me if it had been one inch longer they would have taken me to jail. Well, they finally let me go and I think I cried all the way to the gate in fear and happiness. I still was able to make it to the gate 45 minutes early and just enough time to drink my Starbucks. So, for anyone who still thinks that being an auditor just makes for long days of number crunching—think again!

Andy Abeye- Copy Room Manager

Your attitude may have as much of an impact on how successful you are in your career as your education or experience, according to USA Today’s Entrepreneurial Tightrope column, which equates success in business with a winning attitude. Learning how to have a winning attitude at work may require you to shift gears mentally and implement a few changes in your office behavior, but the benefits of improved career trajectory and satisfaction often make the adjustment worthwhile.

Step 1 Make plans. Create far-reaching goals as well as smaller plans for daily activities. Even if your plans sometimes need to change to work with your circumstances, taking the time to make plans will help you work smarter.

Step 2 Write your personal mission statement, outlining your goals at your job. Refer to it often to be sure that you’re still working in a way that works for you. A personal mission statement can help you stay motivated and on target in your career.

Step 3 Look for opportunities. Consider the tasks you have to do every day or every month and ask yourself if there is a way to do them better. Watch for undone tasks that suit your interests and make them part of your job. Look for ways to rewrite your job description to fall in line with your personal mission statement, and your increased job satisfaction will positively affect your attitude.

Step 4 Volunteer. Offer to help coworkers with duties, take on responsibilities for special projects. Become a key player in your corporate culture. The more you act like you have a winning attitude, the more you’ll find that your attitude is reflecting your actions.

Step 5 Share your knowledge with your coworkers and team.

Step 6 Be positive. When difficult tasks come your way or something negative happens, put a positive spin on it so that you don’t let the negativity affect your work performance.