Robert Coon Professor Guenzel ENC 1102 Really, whats Accounting like? In April 2005, The Bla !

Colle"ian hoste# an arti le alle# Accounting: What's the Real World of Accounting Like? b$ A##ison Care$ III% The arti le "i&es a on e'o&er of (or! as an a tual a ountant, pro&i#in" us (ith &arious ) ases* for #ifferent +obs% The frien#l$ $et professional tone in&ites us to loo! loser an# learn ,ore about one of the fun#a,ental +obs in a business% The Bla ! Colle"ian is an or"anization that ser&es as a areer an# +ob site for Afri an' A,eri an stu#ents% The$ run ,an$ #ifferent arti les on &arious topi s su h as s holarship an# internship opportunities, +ob huntin", an# areer plannin" a,on" other thin"s% But +u#"in" onl$ b$ the arti le, e- lu#in" the label an# short bio, the Colle"ian has no real bias in the arti le (hatsoe&er% There isn.t e&en a hint of (hat ra e the author is% /e oul#.&e been an alien for all (e !ne(% The a tual arti le tal!s to us about real'(orl# a ountin" (or!% Care$ first "i&es us an o&er&ie( of a ountin" in "eneral, listin" #ifferent areas in a ountin" su h as au#itin", ta-ation, or onsultin"% Ne-t, he ,o&es on to list so,e of the bi" na,es in a ountin", na,in" the ,a+or fir,s that au#it 0ortune 500 o,panies li!e Ernst an# 1oun", 2P3G, an# Pri e(aterhouseCoopers% Care$ briefl$ poses 4uestions stu#ents onsi#erin" "oin" into a ountin" ,ust onsi#er to help the, fin# the ri"ht +ob% 5uestions li!e (hat size fir, the$ (ant to (or! for, (hat sort of (or! s he#ule, (hat sort of offi e at,osphere, ho( ,u h are $ou (illin" to tra&el, et % Then, he presents three #ifferent 6 ases6, e-a,ples of #ifferent +obs that

illustrate the #i&ersit$ in both the a ountin" (or! an# +obs that a ountants ,a$ (in# up (or!in"% /e on lu#es (ith so,e "eneral a#&i e for the rea#er (hi h see,s li!e it oul# be sai# +ust about an$one% 7ne of the first thin"s I noti e# is that the tone of the arti le is infor,ati&e $et approa hable% /is #e,eanor re,in#s ,e of a hi"h s hool ounselor% /o( he "oes about presentin" the infor,ation o,poun#s this tone% /e "oes o&er so,e of the "eneral bran hes of a ountin", the bi" na,es in the business, an# the 4uestions a stu#ent ,ust as! the,sel&es before reall$ #i&in" in% The 4uestions are the bi""est in#i ation of the tone rese,blin" a hi"h s hool ounselor% 0irst, he en oura"es the rea#er to be honest (ith the,sel&es, statin" that (hile it8s eas$ to sa$ 68I8ll #o an$thin" for the ri"ht a,ount of ,one$8%%% 9I:ts &er$ #ifferent to be pai# (ell but to be unhapp$ (ith $our +ob%6 ;Pa"e <<= I fin# his use of ases to be interestin" an# uni4ue% It8s a #ifferent (a$ to infor, the rea#er of the &arious (or! a ountants #o% As I ,entione# before, it8s "reat e&i#en e for the &ariet$ in a ountin" positions, (ith people en#in" up at pra ti all$ e&er$ business possible% /is on lusion (as a bit intri"uin" to rea#% Throu"hout ,ost of the on lusion, it see,s too "eneral an# o&erall (ea!% >p until the last senten e (here he sa$s 6A su essful #a$ in the real (orl# of (or! is probabl$ best ,easure# b$ ho( $ou tal! about $our +ob (hen $ou return ho,e%6 ;Pa"e <?= This line is subtl$ po(erful, re,in#in" us that our (or! #efines us% The hoi e (e fa e is ho( ,u h (e trul$ en+o$ the (or!% A##ison Care$ III ,entions ri"ht before the ases that he spent 15 $ears in a ountin" as of the ti,e of the arti le, e-plainin" that he (or!e# se&eral +obs at se&eral o,panies% At the en#, there is a s,all bio"raph$ on Care$ (hi h notes he is an 3BA (or!in" at @te(art Enterprises% This bit of infor,ation is out#ate# as a 4ui ! sear h re&eale#% No(, Care$ (or!s as an Enterprise A ountant at A$n orp International% This so,e(hat out#ate# infor,ation is the onl$

instan e of su h in the arti le% No(, the a,ount of #etail Care$ "i&es in ea h of his ases is also #efinitel$ (orth notin"% Bust the (a$ he8s porin" o&er the #ifferent for,s an# reports "i&es the rea#er a ,u h better ;or hazierC= i#ea about so,e of the ore (or! in a ountin"% There are also a fe( hu,orous ane #otes that li&en up the ,oo# of the arti le% It see,s that Care$ has a fe( assu,ptions% I8&e noti e# he ta!es a little ti,e to tal! about be o,in" an# ,aintainin" a CPA an# loo!in" ba !, there is this feelin" that this e-perien e (oul# ,ore a uratel$ refle t CPA8s rather than a ountants o&erall% It.s so,ethin" that I an.t 4uite e-plain, partl$ be ause ,$ !no(le#"e on the sub+e t is li,ite#% I., not e&en reall$ sure (hat the #ifferen e bet(een bein" a CPA an# a re"ular a ountant is besi#es CPA.s earn ,ore but it.s ,ore ri"orous% There8s also the fa t that Care$ is presu,in" that the rea#er, assu,in" the$8re be"innin" a ountants, is ulti,atel$ neutral about (here the$ (ant to (or! as e&i#en e# b$ the +obs bein" rather ran#o, an# unrelate# to ea h other% I.# also li!e to note that the basis for e-plainin" (hat real a ountin" is li!e is pra ti all$ base# onl$ on the author.s personal e-perien e% /e prefa es ea h ase b$ referrin" #ire tl$ to hi,self an# his areer% /o(e&er, in spite of this, the #es ription of the +ob see,s rather ob+e ti&e% /e briefl$ lists the #ifferent !in#s of te hni al (or! li!e the reports an# su h but also "oes o&er other aspe ts li!e the tea, one ,i"ht be (or!in" (ith, #uties be$on# si,ple nu,ber run hin" an# le#"er re or#in", nuan es that ,a!e the +ob easier or tou"her, et %

All in all, this arti le pro&i#es us (ith a (on#erful insi"ht into a ountin"% The in&itin" tone ouple# (ith the (is#o, onl$ e-perien e an "rant en oura"es the rea#er to reall$ onsi#er (hat Care$ is (ritin" about% The 4uestions to en oura"e thin!in" about ho( an a ountant ,i"ht fit in to the profession are also "reat to help the rea#er as ertain their relati&e stren"ths% The

ases Care$ pro&i#es is probabl$ the stron"est e&i#en e to larif$in" (hat a ountants #o% The$ are (ell'e-plaine#, li"htl$ hu,orous, #etaile#, an# o&erall infor,ati&e% The on lusion be"ins rather feebl$ but ,ana"es to pull a "reater'than'e-pe te# i,pa t in the final line%

Dor!s ite#E Care$ III, A##ison% 6A ountin"E Dhat8s The Real Dorl# 7f A ountin" Fi!eC%6 Bla ! Colle"ian <5%< ;2005=E <1'<?% A a#e,i @ear h Pre,ier% Deb% 1G 3ar% 201G% )A##ison Care$ III, Aallas A ountant an# 3BA%* Fin!e#in% o,% N%p%, n%#, Deb% 1G 3ar% 201G%bla ! olle"ian% o,% The Bla ! Colle"ian% 1G 3ar% 201G