Kayla Nguyen

Interview 11/20- Teresa Dempsey

What is your job title? Where do Tax Manager, Andre & Associates, enrolled agent
you work? (If appropriate)

Can you give me a description of Preparing and reviewing tax returns, counseling
your job duties? people on their financial items related to tax returns,
tax planning, talk to brokers and exchange people
so that everything is properly put on their tax
returns, meet with clients, supervise people’s work
and role in firm and meet with advisors, send
organizers and make sure they’re prepared,
accounting

What prompted you to choose Went to university with the intention of doing
your field of study? something else, had an accounting class, liked it
better than the degree chosen initially

Helped hand done tax returns and typewriting

What coursework or preparation Accounting and tax courses helped to get a start of
do you feel was the most helpful what was really needed, then what you learn in
in preparing for your job? work it is a fraction of what you have learned

What was your major? Accounting

What classes did you take that More basic math up to algebra rather than trig or
benefited you in accounting? calculus

How was your CPA exam Took the exam out of college, did not need the
experience? 150+ hours, had to take the exam in one day; exam
is all or nothing, did not score high on one part so
How many hours did you have to could not say she passed the exam
study?
Exam was whole life for a whole year
How did you prepare?
Bicker program, live class every Saturday, studied
with books

What did you do on the first day Like orientation, get a cube, meet these people, here
of the job? is how to login to your computer, figure out the
expectations like dress code (skirts and jackets).
Were you anxious about Then they passed out reading material and then
anything? charge time to clients and reading, very strict and
high expectations back then

Stressful at time bc major accounting firm expects


What is the atmosphere of your
work environment like?
How do you balance work and
family life?
Do you have a comfortable
amount of leisure time?
How do you handle stress?
What do you see as the most
rewarding parts of your job?
most challenging?
What skills do you feel are
particularly important in doing
your job?
How is corporate different from
private practice?
Over the years, in what ways
have you seen accounting
change? Or what changes have
you noticed that affect the way
things are done?
60+ hours a week and 80+ hours during busy
seasons
Local firm, laid back, tax season is more stressful
bc lots of material needs to be put out in a short
time span, putting a lot of hours in, good friends
and goes out to do things with each other
Very difficult, married to someone who gets off
work earlier and can help with dinner, can attend
kids events
In the spring and fall, no; summer there is more and
in winter, like December, there is more.
Unfortunately, eating is sometimes how we handle
stress; exercise for about 30 minutes a day and
knitting/crocheting
Someone comes in and they look at tax returns and
they are able to give advice and save them money
on their tax returns
Challenging part is getting that last little bit of
information necessary to finish the job
People skills, ability to relate to them and make
them feel confident bc they are telling you the most
intimate parts of their lives, have to listen to them
Large accounting firm was very regimented and
make sure time chargeable does not go below a
certain percent; constantly watching how many
hours you put in and review is done based on that
plus your output. Only a certain percentage of
people get promoted and the rest get let go or
watched for another year. Small firms hire to stay
Typewriters and heavily dependent on computers
and programs, blessing and a curse, however, if
computer goes down and software is not working
then you’re stuck
With the financial sector
growing and the need for
accountants increasing, is it more from big to small rather than small to big
profitable to work in corporate or
a private firm?
What programs do you use to
perform your tasks?
What qualities do you look for
(or would you look for) in
potential employees?
Content recommendations
Big firm experience is helpful to get experience
there before you decided future plans, easier to go
Ultratax, File Cabinet, Tax Tools, Excel, Word,
T&R programs, research software, QuickBooks
Reliable, honest, related to other people in the
office and clients, knows something about
accounting or can be taught, interested in math,
have to be able to see that small things are
important because we build on small things to make
larger things, attention to details
For everyone in the accounting community, Enron
was ironic because Arthur Andersen acts like the
best of the best, only the top people could ever get
in, looking back they messed up their whole
company through cheating, most firms are anti-
cheating and it messes up their livelihood, a few
dollars are not worth the license she worked hard
for, Arthur Andersen employees ruined their lives,
thought they were better than everyone else