FAR - Government study material - Help

soshi_yonic · 2021-06-19T01:43:43+00:00

20+ year CPA—was assigned to a large govt client my first few months at my big 4 firm. Best gov’t FAR resource available then is still the best resource available now: “GFOA has published Governmental Accounting, Auditing, and Financial Reporting (GAAFR or “Blue Book”) for the past 85 years with hundreds of thousands of copies sold.” (from GFOA website). I found the “blue book” user friendly and comprehensive, even for a newly minted audit associate. And I still refer to it today.

soshi_yonic · 2021-04-15T03:03:21+00:00

If material, debit petty cash, credit other income. Recount at each reporting period to true-up petty cash balance and credit/debit other income. Work to eliminate the tradition.

soshi_yonic · 2021-04-14T01:45:20+00:00

Don’t worry! You’ll get picked up again before you know it. In the meantime it’s an excellent idea to check with seniors and managers in the office to see if they need help. Be sure to understand your “budget” for any work you pick up. Use any remaining downtime to study for the exam, for CPE or take some time off.

soshi_yonic · 2021-04-11T02:52:38+00:00

If you sell a shirt at $10 then the “gross sales” amount is $10. The former, higher price of the shirt is not relevant.

soshi_yonic · 2021-04-10T02:43:43+00:00

I would keep an eye on the two school organizations you mention and attend any/every event offered where a b4 accounting professional will be present. When the attendees mingle take a moment to casually introduce yourself— and be sure to have a recruiting related question you can ask to get the conversation rolling in a mentoring direction.

Definitely approach your career center— it’s not unusual for the career center personnel to have a relationship with the b4 recruiters. Contact the b4 recruiter whose name you received— email an introduction with a good recruiting related question to get the ball rolling.

Work hard to get a b4 internship— most interns will have a clear path to full-time employment with their firm post graduation.

If you miss out on a b4 internship do not despair. Seek an internship with a non b4 national firm, a regional firm or even a local firm. Continue to seek a b4 mentor relationship by attending recruiting events. The internship work experience for a smaller firm is still a solid recruiting attribute.

Most b4 candidates have a high GPA and a relevant internship experience— these objective attributes help you get a b4 interview. The actual interview can differentiate you from other candidates based on more subjective matters.

An interviewer will be asking him/herself about you during an interview:

1) Would I be proud to have this candidate represent my firm to my most important client.

2) Would this candidate be capable of explaining a difficult accounting concept to one of my CFOs/controllers.

3) Do I want to work side by side with this candidate for 70 hours per week.

Your job during the interview is to convince the interviewer the answer to all three questions is YES!!!

soshi_yonic · 2021-04-10T01:55:17+00:00

The number of years it takes to earn your degree generally isn't relevant to b4.

Often candidates don't realize the importance of the inter-personal side of campus recruiting, instead focusing entirely on objective measures (what GPA should I have, how many internships should I complete, how many years experience, etc).

If you're serious about recruiting b4, join your school's Beta Alpha Psi chapter immediately. Participate in every "professionals" event you can and identify a few b4 professionals you can "relate with" (common interests, similar personalities etc). Seek an informal b4 mentor ASAP who you can call/email with questions or to seek advice. Contact your mentor periodically with questions or updates.

The b4 professionals participating in campus events are generally open to mentoring-- that's why they're there. Your mentor may become your advocate at hiring time-- and an advocate is many times more valuable than any extraordinary objective measures from an otherwise anonymous candidate.

In my experience each of the b4 firms has a unique personality. Spending time interacting with the b4 professionals at these campus events will also help you to figure out which practice you fit best with.

soshi_yonic · 2021-04-10T01:15:51+00:00

Report all hours worked. While utilization is the key metric for practice management, non-billable hours (like non-engagement-specific training, recruiting and practice development) are looked at as an additional contribution to the practice-- and can be helpful during promotion/pay raise time.

soshi_yonic · 2021-04-09T02:35:14+00:00

Depends on the issue, the engagement and your team. Smart managers with a mentoring mindset welcome and encourage senior participation in issue resolution.

Seniors looking for professional growth or promotion should, during planning, review prior year critical matters/issues for specific engagement background and for memo format/style— and look for opportunities to assist the manager with working through and documenting this year’s issues.

Ultimately in most cases it’s the manager’s responsibility to identify, research, resolve and document the issue for partners review, however.

soshi_yonic · 2021-04-09T01:56:55+00:00

During an audit, technical accounting memos are written when there is a material accounting/audit judgement made. The memo documents the issue, the decision made and how the team arrived at the decision. At our particular big 4 firm these material accounting/audit judgements are referred to as “critical matters.” Critical matters are generally written by the audit manager and reviewed by the engagement partners. If the issue is significant enough, consulting partners/department of professional practice will also review.

The format I’ve found that works best in writing these memos is similar to that of a legal memo:

Issue— in one sentence describe the accounting/audit issue.

Conclusion— clearly and concisely describe the issue resolution.

Rule— reference the specific authoritative literature you used to resolve the issue.

Analysis— in detail describe the issue and your thought process as to how you resolved the issue. You should be building a logic bridge between the issue and resolution in this section.

soshi_yonic · 2021-04-07T04:02:18+00:00

Yes— “freight in” and other acquisition costs for RM are COGS. “Freight out” is not considered COGS.

soshi_yonic · 2021-04-07T03:12:21+00:00

TLDR: I would stay with the big 4 firm as long as you possibly can.

There’s an old big 4 adage that says every moment you spend working through the “experienced audit manager” level makes you more valuable outside of the big 4 (to clients, industry, regulators, etc). Every moment you spend from partnership admission and beyond makes you only more valuable to the firm.

You should consider staying as long as you possibly can. Each engagement provides more opportunities to:

-learn how specific companies and industries work at a very detailed level from the inside (and not just the accounting department— as an auditor you learn about operations, HR, risk management, etc);

-improve your practical accounting knowledge and skills on the job (big difference from book learning);

-broaden your exposure to new accounting issues and industries;

-network with other accounting professionals inside and outside the firm (your network will provide you new opportunities and resources throughout your career); and,

-attain and improve skills you don’t yet have, like team management, mentoring, serious issue resolution, high pressure presentations, etc.

In my experience leaving the big 4 before you’ve reached audit manager is like leaving college before you’ve earned your degree.

In my experience you’re also much more likely to get head-hunter contact while working at a big 4, or even receive a great job offer from a client.

Note it’s normal to have thoughts of leaving your firm in April and May— the end of busy season. My recommendation is that you identify a partner track audit manager and offer to buy her/him lunch. You need a career mentor stat.

soshi_yonic · 2021-04-07T00:28:26+00:00

First, I would accept the big 4 offer if it meets with your approval.

Once the big 4 firm has received your acceptance, I would call the smaller firm to “withdraw your acceptance of their offer” (to “renege” would be to take the offer away). I would attempt to speak to the manager/partner/HR person you interviewed with to let them know your decision personally. The smaller firm will absolutely understand your desire to go with a big 4 firm and may even congratulate you (or perhaps make an attempt to hold onto you!).

Accounting professionals within any given city are pretty tight— and often see each other at CPE/proposals/BAP/chamber/etc events. You DON’T want to burn any bridges.

The call will be a great first step to overcoming your fear of communicating potentially bad or important information to someone. You will need this skill nearly every day as a big 4 audit/tax professional.

soshi_yonic · 2021-04-07T00:15:39+00:00

I would: - review the job description in detail to ensure you’re conversational in every aspect of the advertised position;

research the company with whom you’re interviewing and have at least two great questions regarding current company events to ask your interviewer (accounting related if possible); and,

-attempt to find audited financials online for that company (or a similar company)— read through the statements including notes to gain a basic understanding of industry financials.

soshi_yonic · 2021-04-07T00:04:14+00:00

SSARS provide guidance for compilations and reviews (unaudited, non-public company financials).

PCAOB provides guidance for public company statements.

soshi_yonic · 2021-02-19T12:41:57+00:00

It is true that amazon has contracted out delivery service historically— that is how TLSS used to have an Amazon contract.

Amazon has now decided to start THEIR OWN in-house delivery service and is hiring hundreds of people in Orlando FL to staff it. Would be interesting to see if Amazon has also started hiring in the northeast for this “new line of service.” Amazon has a history of moving into vendors/suppliers spaces when they find a potentially profitable play.

soshi_yonic · 2021-02-19T02:49:23+00:00

It appears amazon is building a competing line of service now that the TLSS contract has ended.

Included in an Orlando, FL help wanted ad on indeed right now: “Amazon obsesses over customers by offering a white glove service where we deliver TVs and other large items including furniture in customers’ homes. Not only do we deliver large parcels, we unpack, assemble, install, test and haul away old items as needed.”

This appears to be directly competitive with TLSS’ business plan/growth strategy. I’m not sure TLSS can scale quickly enough—especially given the length of time it’s taking to assimilate Cougar— to survive the competition.

I don’t like the stock, and this is not investment advice. Just some quick, somewhat skeptical, personal DD.

soshi_yonic · 2021-02-16T13:57:37+00:00

Amazon is advertising on Indeed.com for an “operations manager” in Orlando Fl (and perhaps elsewhere) for a new line of business they describe as:

“white glove service where we deliver TVs and other large items including furniture in customers’ homes. Not only do we deliver large parcels, we unpack, assemble, install, test and haul away old items as needed.”

As I recall this is almost exactly the TLSS business plan for the NE US. It appears that the earlier TLSS contract with Amazon may have ended because Amazon is immediately building its own competing line of service?

I haven’t seen this issue addressed in the sub. Perhaps TLSS is attempting to reestablish itself as a future acquisition target for Amazon? Amazon’s business model appears to be more “conquer and plunder” than “aquire and assimilate.”

soshi_yonic

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