Confidential Reference Report Form

Candidate Name: Michelle Morgan Reference Name: Leo Stengel,

CPA
Company: Clifton Gunderson
Requisition Number: Phone Number: (602) 604-3535

1. What is/was your professional relationship to the candidate at the time you worked
together?
I was the external auditor to Next Student. Have been auditing Next Student for about 4
years.

2. How long have you known the candidate?

1 ½ years

3. Describe a few situations which demonstrate the candidate's ability to meet their three
most important functional responsibilities.
• Her job was a tough job. When she arrived, Next Student hadn’t done anything with the
books in 6 months, so the first audit was right after she arrived. A lot to fix. The company is
doing great but it never slowed down enough to get caught up.

• She works like a slave. Works very hard for her company.

• She knows her debits and credits. We were trying to develop more procedures and write
ups, was finally starting to get some time to do some of those things. The last audit she had
total responsibility for was a lot smoother. She had fixed most of the problems, and it went a
lot faster. It’s a complex company and I think she did a good job.

4. What were the candidate's most outstanding accomplishments while in the position?
She developed a pretty good team. Had a lot of respect for the folks who worked with her. It
definitely got better after she arrived in the way things were handled and the entries that
were being made. Just the fact she started at ground zero and survived 1 ½ years there is a
major accomplishment. Also gained a lot of knowledge and got involved with bank auditors
and bank closings and the funding always went through, so she was definitely doing
something right.

5. How would you rate the candidate’s communication skills as related to their position in
terms of?
Written: Always e-mailing. Very good.

Oral: Good

Group: N/A

6. How is the candidate viewed by?

Peers: All seemed to really like her

1
ERROR! UNKNOWN DOCUMENT PROPERTY NAME.
 Supervisors: N/A

Subordinates: Liked her. Started to build a good team.

7. How well does the candidate assimilate new information?

Firm was always bringing in new LLCs, new banking relationships, and all were structured
differently. Wasn’t cookie cutter and dealing with all those she did very well.

8. Can candidate work well with poorly defined or abstract concepts?

Yes she can. Not an issue. Wouldn’t have done well at Next Student if that wasn’t the case.
At Next Student you had to piece your way through everything.

9. How much supervision is required with this candidate?

Not a great deal. Confident in what she can and can’t do. Certainly a self-starter.

10. How flexible is the candidate in a rapidly changing environment?

Very.

11. What do you think motivates this candidate (i.e... job content, money, recognition)?
Money is important, but I think she really likes being a Controller. Her job is important to
her, she likes to be acknowledged for who she is, and she really, really cares about her
company and her job. Wants coming to work to be “fun.” Satisfaction in her job and
acknowledgement for her good work. A strong team player.

12. Please list the candidate’s major strengths:

• Character

• A people person

• Accounting skills, knowledge base; a good planner; very thorough with documentation

13. Please list three areas the candidate could develop more:
• Follow up wasn’t always timely. She was so overwhelmed at Next Student there were times
she wasn’t able to get back to get some of the little things that needed to get finished.

• N/A

• N/A

IF A MANAGER:
14. How would you describe the candidate's management style?
N/A

15. Were the group's objectives met?

N/A

2
ERROR! UNKNOWN DOCUMENT PROPERTY NAME.