Wednesday, March 24, 2010

The Beginning of the End

I pretty much love this time of year. The sun's still up when I leave the office, it get's a little bit warmer every day, and everyone is all 'a-buzz' about March Madness, all of which are signals of the beginning of the end of 'busy season'. And I can hardly believe that I have made it through another one. That makes four, in total, that I have been through, counting my internship.

So, a little about busy season, for those of you who are not public accountants. My busy season is not related to tax season whatsoever. April 15th means nothing to me, except that I know that I have to have my own taxes filed by that date. I deal very little in taxes and have never completed a tax return. Unless, of course, you count the return that I helped my sister with this year, which was all done on Turbo tax.

Well, if I don't do taxes, then what the heck do I do all day?! Perhaps you have heard of a little company called Enron. Well, in a nutshell, my job is to make sure that Enron doesn't happen. No me, myself, obviously, but that is the best way that I can think to describe the purpose of my job. It's to perform an examination and verification of accounts and records of different companies to ensure that investors and banks know what is going on so they don't get 'Enronned'. The typical auditor may have several different engagements they work on, which means several different deadlines occuring in high frequency starting in January and through March, and dropping off somewhat in April and May. Our deadlines are not related to tax returns that are due, but are related to reports that are due to investors and banks. And that is why we have a 'busy season' from January through March.

So far, I have helped out with four different busy season engagements, including a two week stint in Minnetonka, MN. At the peak of my busy season, my day went like this:

5:30 a.m. Up to work out (b/c you put on weight fast during busy season if you don't make time to work out.)
8:30 a.m. At the office in front of my computer with coffee and surrounded by 3-ring binders, stacks and stacks of papers. Blearily checking through my email for the day.
11:00 a.m. Wondering where the morning has gone and how in the heck I'm going to get everything done that I need to do for the day.
11:30 a.m. Time for lunch. No time to drive anywhere. Walk across to the client's cafeteria (it's about as good as it sounds). We have about 30 to 45 minutes to veg-out, 'enjoy' lunch, and chat about things besides work.
12:00 to 12:15 p.m. Back to the office (or more of a storage room actually is where they have the auditors crammed into). Somehow I have a million new emails, and three new stacks of paper have shown up on my desk.
3:30 p.m. My mandatory afternoon 'stand up for a while and get a diet dr. pepper and snack' break.
3:40 p.m. While I was away from my desk (more like a long cafeteria table where I am shoulder to shoulder with the other members of the team) someone dropped something else off for me to take care off.
5:30 p.m. Thinking about how normal people are off. But we still have another 5+ hours to go.
6:30 p.m. Dinner has been ordered and has arrived. Someone dole's out the food and we eat in front of our computers. Maybe taking a few minute facebook break.
10:00 to 11:00 p.m. Someone finally gives the orders to pack up and go home.
Rest and Repeat.

Sounds fun doesn't it? And my busy season is relatively easy compared to a lot of other folks. One of my peers was working until 12 or 2 a.m.!! The good news is, I just started on my fifth (and last) busy season engagement for the year, which means my busy season will be winding down shortly (hooray! hooray!). Len is probably more excited about that than I am because it means dinner gets made occasionally, laudry is done, house is regaining cleanliness, and my sanity is slowly starting to return.

So here's to spring, warm weather and the end of busy season!!! May the end of my busy season be more consistent then the warm weather that we get with our spring.

3 comments:

  1. Thanks for the description, always wondered what you really did. Can't see how you have been able to hang in there this long. Proud of you and all your hard work but can see exactly why you are ready to move on to new adventures. Thanks for sharing. Hope yall are hanging in there during these past few rough months and looking forward to slowing down and a new adventure to come your way.

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  2. Banana, sounds as though your job is more in depth than I ever thought. You are an amazing woman who will be great at anything you do. We can't wait for the next adventures of the Cornelius's. We love you both.

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  3. I ADMIRE you! :-) You are a hard worker and put 110% into everything you do! Glad and proud to call you my best friend :-)

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