Learning

Objectives:
Research
Angela Martin
Summer Internship
2014
For the summer of 2014, I completed an Accounting Internship at Bertz,
Hess, & Co., LLP, a local firm located in Lancaster, PA. During the course of
my internship, I have asked, researched, and understood the answers to
several questions about the accounting profession, specifically relating to
attestation, IT/accounting software, and job satisfaction. The following
pages provide summaries of research, statistical findings, and reflective
commentary that I have completed as part of my learning objectives for
this internship course.
Messiah
College
Internship
Center
Accounting Internship Martin 1
Summer 2014
What is the difference between audit, review, and compilation?

Entering the first day of my internship, I still had not had an auditing course in college, nor had I
had very many upper level accounting courses. Although this put me at a slight disadvantage, I knew
that I would learn a lot about auditing during my time here. One question that was brought to me
towards the beginning of my internship was, what is the difference between an audit, review, and
compilation? I had heard these terms before, but they had no meaning to me. With the help of my
supervisor, I researched and now understand these concepts.
If you were to rate these three services in order from lowest to highest amount of opinion or
input from the auditor, it would be as follows: 1) compilation, 2) review, 3) audit. All three make up the
attestation field. A compilation requires that the auditor knows about the client and understands the
industry in which they operate. They must also consider whether the financial statements appear
appropriate and free of material misstatements. However, the accountant does not provide any
assurance that they have performed analytical procedures in accordance with auditing standards. A
compilation is simply the creation of a clients financial statements, without opinion, testing, or in-depth
risk assessment procedures.
A review could be seen as the middle road between a compilation and an audit, although a
review definitely does not require extensive assessment procedures as would an audit. The job of an
accountant during a review is to perform analytical procedures and ask questions that will provide a
reasonable basis for limited assurance that there is no material error in the financial statements and
that no major change is needed for them to be in conformity with reporting standards. The accountant
is not required to assess or understand internal controls or test accounting records. Both compilations
and reviews should be performed in accordance with Statements on Standards for Accounting and
Review Services (SSARSs), and the accountant will issue a report saying so.
An audit is the highest level of assessment service that an auditor can provide. In performing
and completing an audit, the auditor gives the client their opinion in regards to the accurate
presentation of their financial statements and that they are in conformity with applicable auditing
standards, which in the United States are generally accepted auditing standards (GAAS). The auditor
must assess fraud risk, understand the clients internal controls, and authenticate the numbers and
disclosures found in the financial statements through many different physical and analytical
examinations and procedures. The auditor issues a report giving an unmodified, qualified, disclaimer of,
or adverse opinion, depending on the fair (or unfair) presentation of material aspects of the financial
statements.
Of course, because of the different levels of service and time required by each of these
attestation areas, an audit is much more costly than a compilation or review. None of the services is
necessarily better than another. However, depending upon the industry of the client or managements
need, the client may choose one service over another.





Accounting Internship Martin 2
Summer 2014
What is the AICPA and how has it influenced and directed the accounting profession?

First of all, the AICPA stands for the American Institute of Public Accountants and is the national
professional organization for Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) in the United States. The mission of the
organization is to give its members the resources and information they need to provide quality services
to their clients. The AICPA promotes and fulfills its mission-oriented goals by separating them into five
kinds of activities: advocacy, certification and licensing, communications, recruitment and education,
and standards and performance. The board listens and responds to the needs and expectations of its
members and the general public, and thus it nationally represents the CPA profession regarding rule-
making and standard-setting. It also serves as an advocate before legislative bodies and interest groups.
The AICPA is responsible for the development and grading of the CPA Exam, and it provides exclusive
resources to its members, including CPA preparation materials, educational guidance materials, and
other accounting products and services. Simply stated, the AICPA is the backbone to the body of CPA
professionals.

How do CPAs keep up with changing standards and requirements?

Because of the efforts of the AICPA, accounting professions all over the country have access to
the newest and most up to date information available on hundreds of accounting topics. Anyone who is
a member of the AICPA will receive email memos whenever a change to standards occurs or when an
interesting or informative article is posted on the website. Also, CPAs are required to have continuing
professional education (CPE) to maintain their professional competence and the ability to provide
quality services. They may receive credit by pursing self-study, live web events, or group study training
to fulfill this requirement. Requirements for the amount of credit hours differ for each state. Currently, a
CPA practicing in Pennsylvania must complete 80 credit hours (50 minutes of participation per credit) of
CPE for the period January 2014- December 2015, with a minimum of 20 hours per year. Depending on
the state, these hours may be needed in specific accounting areas such as tax or ethics. To receive credit
for participation in CPE programs and training, CPAs must obtain a certificate or transcript from the
sponsoring organization.


Are accounting professionals experiencing enjoyment in their career?

Most people are aware that accountants make a good living, depending on what field one
pursues and for how long they pursue it. Putting money aside, I wanted to know if accountants find
satisfaction in their career or if they struggle to find a work/life balance. The accountant is stereotyped
as not having much of a social life and during busy season absolutely hating their job. But is this
generally true? I turned to my coworkers to find out. My thoughts, before this survey was administered,
were that accountants are satisfied in their work if they feel that they are helping their clients, and if
they work in a smaller firm, employee happiness is more prevalent.
Although the firm I interned with this summer, Bertz, Hess, & Co., LLP, is local and much smaller
than many accounting firms, I thought it would be a good place to start to finding out if accountants find
Accounting Internship Martin 3
Summer 2014
satisfaction in their careers. In order to do so, I administered an anonymous survey to thirteen people in
the office. After reviewing the results, I found that my predisposition about employee satisfaction was
encouraged in the least.
Of the thirteen survey respondents at Bertz, Hess & Co., LLP, 7 currently work in Attestation &
Assurance, while 6 work in Tax. This is also a very experienced firm, in that 10 people have had 10+
years of experience in their field, and only 38.5% of respondents have previously worked in another
accounting field. While these questions were preliminary, they give a great background to the types of
people that answered questions about career satisfaction. When asked if they have formerly worked for
another firm that was larger or smaller in size than BH, 8 out of the thirteen respondents answered Yes,
larger firm, while one worked for a smaller firm and the four others answered No. The nine who
answered Yes were then asked, How would you describe employee happiness in comparison to BH?
All responses seemed to state that employees at the larger firms were not as happy, they were worked
harder and not appreciated, and morale was generally low. Of course, we have to assume that those
now working at BH left their previous places of employment due to unhappiness, therefore we cannot
apply these responses to all employees at larger firms. Many people who work at larger firms enjoy the
plentiful benefits they receive there, but many do not find that it is worth it.
The same nine people who answered Yes to working at another firm were also asked the
following: How was the workload different than at BH (during regular or busy season)? The majority of
responses stated that at the larger firms, the workload is much heavier during busy and regular season.
If the firm was tax-focused, responses stated that there was almost nothing to do during regular season.
The survey then asked about work/life balance at Bertz, Hess, & Co.:

How would you weigh your work/life balance during non-busy season?
I have an
extensive non-
work life.
Non-busy
season is
party season!
Work is
managable,
and I have lots
of free time.
Fairly
balanced.
Work can be
slightly
overbearing, but I
have time to spend
with non-work
related activities.
I don't sleep,
I don't eat.
Total Average
Rating
(no label)
0.00%
0
23.08%
3
69.23%
9
7.69%
1
0.00%
0 13 2.85

During busy season?
I have an
extensive non-
work life.
Non-busy
season is
party season!
Work is
managable,
and I have lots
of free time.
Fairly
balanced.
Work can be
slightly
overbearing, but I
have time to spend
with non-work
related activities.
I don't sleep,
I don't eat.
Total Average
Rating
(no label)
0.00%
0
0.00%
0
23.08%
3
69.23%
9
7.69%
1 13 3.85

Accounting Internship Martin 4
Summer 2014

According to these responses, employees at BH, a fairly small accounting firm, are happy and find that
they can maintain a work/life balance. Had I asked these questions to employees of a larger firm, I am
sure I would have received much different answers.
The final question I asked my survey respondents was an open ended one: What is the most
enjoyable thing about your career? Least enjoyable? Not surprisingly, all most enjoyable answers
centered around two major ideas- flexibility and helping others. People most enjoy the variety of clients
that they work with and the many types of jobs they get to do throughout the year. It also brings
satisfaction when they feel that they have helped their clients, which is done through getting to know
clients personally. At larger firms, this is much more difficult because of the volume of clients that
employees work with, especially through busy season. The least enjoyable part of their job differed, but
most agreed that tax season is the least enjoyable because of the strict deadlines and workload.
According to a 2004 research study done by the AICPA Work/Life and Womens Initiatives
Executive Committee, an average of 88% and 79.6% of females and males, respectively, in all accounting
professional positions expressed an overall concern with work/life effectiveness. There were other
surveys administered that spoke to using alternative work arrangements as a way for professionals to
deal with this balance, and whether these methods were efficient or easy to use.
In summary of these research questions and studies, I would say that accounting professionals
experience overall satisfaction in their careers. Of course, we end up with the stereotypical accountant
when the professional ends up working in a very large firm and cannot handle the workload. According
to my survey results, accountants working in a large firm such as a Big Four firm do not experience as
much satisfaction in their careers. Maybe this is biased assumption, considering I did not have access to
Big Four employees and receive their responses directly, but I think that if I were to do so, I would not
be surprised by the results. A 1969 study conducted by the Accounting Research Center of the University
of Chicago was done in order to assess accountant satisfaction by firm size. The authors summarized
results by five categories of need satisfaction, but found that in general, top level accounts in larger
firms experience more job satisfaction than in smaller firms. However, for mid and lower level
accountants, job satisfaction is found in smaller firms.
Of course, all of these results may differ from person to person. Some people feel that they
belong in a large firm, enjoy the benefits and opportunity to gain a lot of experience. But most, I would
say, find it difficult to be satisfied due to impersonal work with clients and an overbearing workload. If I
had the resources to investigate the correlation between accountant satisfaction and firm size even
more so, I would definitely conduct the survey on a large scale, including accountants from all sizes of
firms and from all ethnic backgrounds and economic statuses.


Accounting Internship Martin 5
Summer 2014
Works Cited
"2014 Best Accounting Software Comparisons and Reviews." TopTenREVIEWS. Purch, n.d. Web. 19 June
2014.
"Continuing Education Requirements." PICPA - Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
PICPA, n.d. Web. 19 June 2014.