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What is the most fulfilling aspect of your job in the fields of accounting, auditing, consulting, and/or taxing?

People like me often search for jobs that will allow them to make a difference in the world and give their life purpose meaning, and direction. Who knows? Maybe accounting could realize that goal. #accounting #auditor #auditing #accountant #consulting #tax #taxation #consultants

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Grant’s Answer

Hi Mireia,

For reference, I am an auditor currently working at PwC.

While I wholeheartedly agree that the people and perks (pay, job security, benefits) of the accounting profession are a huge draw, my answer more closely echoes Michael's. The part of my job that gives me the most fulfillment is the ability to step into a business and very quickly understand the ins and outs of any company and industry. Not only does this provide challenge, which I believe is important to any job, but you will be also able to gain a solid understanding of many different businesses and industries in the very beginning of your career. I have found that the knowledge you can gain from experiences in audit can set you up very well for a career in just about any facet of a business.

I want to address another part of your question before submitting this...
If you are looking for purpose and direction or the ability to make a difference through your career, you will get out what you put in. Make sure you make the most of your future company's resources. That said, in the accounting profession, I have found that many firms put great emphasis on volunteering and giving back to society.
Thank you comment icon Thank you for your insight! Mireia
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Alexandra’s Answer

As an accountant who specialized in cost management, I believe my job is key to save jobs. Part of my job is to assess if we will be on budget at the end of the year and to see how to make cost savings. I believe that forecasting the future costs adequately and accurately means that the business may not need to make people redundant and may even at times be able to hire new employees.

We are supporting the business and helping them to make sound business decisions. I can show them where they are not efficient and how they can manage their funds better. Also, I help to assess if a project or a product is financially viable and profitable, which can save a lot of money, time and resources.

Finance is at the core of everything. Without funding, you cannot help others or improve the current situation. And a good cost management or accounting work will enable your company to do much more with their money that they would do without sound advice.
Thank you comment icon Your insight is much appreciated! Mireia
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Joe’s Answer

For me over my nearly 25 year career, what has been most rewarding falls into two areas. 1) the people I have been able to work with and learn from. There are some amazingly smart individuals and it amazes me everyday that I hear or learn something new from someone. From the people perspective, the coaching and mentoring enviroment is some of the strongest I have ever experienced. 2) The variety of opportunities to work on different projects/clients and the ability to have different experiences and begin do develop your own career path. I started in audit and spent 14 years doing that but made a career change later on into the Learning & Development team where I have been for 13 years. In this group, I have served as a full-time faculty, a project manager, an instructional designer and am now in our Operations team overseeing the financial and talent management of the L&D team. Everyday is different which keeps me engaged and motivated.
Thank you comment icon Your insight is much appreciated, Thank you! Mireia
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Michael’s Answer

I think these career choices are very foundational in nature because you can become acutely aware of what a company is doing and then provide suggestions and advice as to how to improve the company. Some may see an accountant as someone that just merely keeps track of the books and records, and pays the bills. Alternatively, accountants can be so close to what's occurring in the company that they can offer suggestions to executive management for ways to save money, products that are not all that profitable and should be terminated, strategic advice on geographic regions to pursue, etc. Separately, all of these jobs generally result in a good amount of analysis and problem solving. This makes work fun.
Thank you comment icon I appreciate your insight! Mireia
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Peter’s Answer

Few things are more rewarding than a team member taking a step forward, accomplishing a goal or earning a promotion, especially when you work with them directly on a project or as their mentor. This is by far the best part of my job.
Thank you comment icon Thank you so much for your insight! Mireia
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Ramona’s Answer

Great question, Mireia. My role in Internal Audit involves reviewing a companies processes and controls in place to mitigate risk. It includes identifying gaps, recommending solutions for the business to improve their control environment and writing it up concisely in a final report. Although Internal Audit can be outsourced to a third party, it is often sourced inside the company. After spending a few years as a financial analyst in the business, my career journey took me to Internal Audit. I was asked to move into this role because my prior experience allowed me understand various business areas and how they operated. Moving to Internal Audit gave me the ability to review the controls and help the business build better or more efficient processes. The work was very interesting, the business was receptive to learning where they had gaps, and working jointly on solutions was my greatest reward. The work was new with every business area we audited and lasted about 6-8 weeks. The hours aligned with when the business was working. I found this role truly rewarding and a great launching pad for my future senior leadership roles.
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Yan’s Answer

The most fun part in auditing is that you get a chance to see different client businesses and learn something new every day including not only GAAP rules but also how the client business adopts changes across the years. Another fun part is that you get the chance to talk to management. They share inspiring stories.
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Erica’s Answer

Hi Alexandra,

First I want to say that the most fulfilling aspect of a job in general depends on what that individual cherishes most in life. For me it was the ability to have a life outside of work. I was once told that a job should not be your life but should be more of a joy that you look forward to doing....like a hobby that you get to do every day. For myself, it is the people I work with and the fact that I can be challenged in my job every single day.


I am currently a manager at a Public Accounting Firm and I have always tried to ensure that this job was something I enjoyed and not a "job" per say. In short, find out what fulfills you in life, in general and incorporate your job in the field into that life not the other way around.


I hope this helps!


Good luck
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Justin’s Answer

Hi Mireia,

For your reference I'm a Senior Tax Associate with a focus on reviewing and auditing the Income Tax Provisions of Public Companies.

For me, the most fulfilling and satisfying part of my job is working with great teams and great companies to ensure that Financial Statements and disclosures within SEC Reports are properly stated. It is rewarding to know that you're ensuring and building trust with financial statement users.
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Dan’s Answer

The most fulfilling aspect of my job in the field in auditing is seeing the end result. It might take a lot of time and effort to get there but once done, you are able to look back on a job well done. The client will be happy and so will the team!
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Brice’s Answer

Hi. I will say the possibily to keep learning and having a new challenge each day. For a person who doesn't love having to do the same thing again and again i believe the audit speciality is perfect for me because i have different client and different kind of speciality each day

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sara’s Answer

I currently work for a Big 4 and have worked on 3 different clients, and after seeing how each client operates, I can say that the most fulfilling part of working in audit is having a client who actually cares about the potential issues you have identified and their desire to remedy them in the best way possible going forward. Many people don't talk about the benefits that auditing may have on the client, but auditors have the unique ability to investigate deficiencies within the clients controls or processes that, if identified, the client may remedy so that their company can become more efficient going forward.

There is always a delicate balance between auditor and client, as we are engaged and compensated by them, yet we are often bringing them problems. To some clients, their goal may be to get the auditors out the door as fast as possible. But it is possible to create a conducive environment between auditor and client that is mutually beneficial, and this is certainly one of the most rewarding things about the job.
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Orain’s Answer

Hello Mireia,

I hope all is well with you.

I would say the most fulfilling things at my Audit job are:

1. The People I work with
2. The Client I support in my role
3. Able to coach and mentor
4. Able to give back to my community on my personal plus company budget
5. Flexibility for a great work life balance

I hope this helps.

Thanks

O.M
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Saif’s Answer

As an auditor, your main goal is to build trust and confidence, hence its reffered to as "assurance". We are the gatekeepers of the financial system by ensuring reliable and credible financials are reported. We also solve complex issues that any client might have. So to come to your point, the sense of satisfaction we gain from this practice, is that we are proud to build trust in society, and that what motivates me to work everyday.
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Carla’s Answer

The most fulfilling aspect of my job is working with my clients and my team members to help solve their problems or achieve a goal.


I do like to think of my job's impact not just in the direct impact of my day-to-day tasks, but more broadly in the opportunities it affords me to have an impact on my local and global communities. Specifically, my firm allows me time to volunteer for organizations that are important to me and encourages me to get involved in my local community. My firm is also dedicated to making an impact from a corporate responsibility perspective and takes a lead in addressing social issues like women's advancement, diversity and inclusion, and the like. Additionally, because of the financial security that my career provides me, I am also able to contribute financially directly to causes that are important to me.
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Aneree’s Answer

In the world of consulting, I believe the most fulfilling aspect of my job is the fact that I am able to learn and communicate with other business professionals on a daily basis. Not only am I able to grow my professional network, but I also get the chance to learn from them and expand my knowledge within my perspective field.
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Salini’s Answer

Providing useful guidance to the client and they are able to incorporate the proposed changes to improve their process.
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Emilio’s Answer

As an auditor, I like the aspect of being the one to review a company's financials. It turns into a lot of investigative work and the more I get into it the more it feels like I am solving mini puzzles.
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Stephanie’s Answer

I would say that the people are what make my job in consulting fulfilling. The day-to-day tasks change, but having good people around me is the constant.

Stephanie recommends the following next steps:

Make sure when you're interviewing somewhere that you get to talk with as many people as possible.
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Tyler’s Answer

Hello Mireia!


Through each of these services we are providing the solution to an important problem our clients face. This has been the cornerstone of my experience with PwC, every day I try understand and apply that mindset to the assigned work. It really helps to take a step back from the smaller tasks to understand holistically what we are working towards for a client, and what a successful engagement means to them. At the end of an assigned task or engagement, I'm able to take that mindset and appreciate that I just played a key role in helping our clients achieve various goals which is a great feeling.
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Matthew’s Answer

There are two aspects to my job in auditing that I find most rewarding. 1) Building relationships with clients as I understand the nature of their business and help them through difficult or complex transactions, and 2) coaching and developing staff to enable them to grow their careers.
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Aya’s Answer

As an auditor, the most fulfilling aspect is to correct most of the misstatements in the financials.
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Dieter’s Answer

I currently work as an Indirect Tax-VAT consultant at EY and there are a number of things why I really enjoy my job. First of all, and maybe the most important, I really like the team I working with. Secondly, we assist clients active in different sectors and across the globe which all have their specific needs. My experience from having discussions with clients is that they really appreciate if you advice them in understandable and practical way (sometimes less is really more).
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Jacqueline’s Answer

Accounting Firms can certainly provide opportunities to make a difference in the world and your community. As a personal example, my firm is involved with a program called Creative Computing in which we teach coding via a program called Scratch to minority and under-served 4th and 5th graders to foster their collaboration, problem solving, and critical thinking skills. It has been an incredible experience getting to know the bright and curious students in our classes over the 9 week program and to impart in them a love of technology and an understanding of the future job opportunities that will be available to them within the STEM space.
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Snow (Xue)’s Answer

For me, the most fulfilling part of my job in the fields of accounting and auditing is that i get to work on different clients and am able to always learn something new from each client. Additionally, I can get to work with different teams and meet people who come from a different background than me. Not only I am able to learn from different clients and different team members but also from the different tasks I am assigned to each day as well. Last but not the least, I can easily switch my prefer line of service, so I have plenty of opportunities to explore what I am really passion about.

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Layal’s Answer

The most fulfilling aspect is the success factor - when you give an advice to the client and you see it happen. You can see that they have implemented it and it was a success. To be part of the solution is key and to give practical advice not just theories.
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Saania’s Answer

Hi Mireia,

Great question! I think the most fulfilling aspect of my job is getting to meet different people and being able to work together as a team and cover for each others strengths and weaknesses. In my field, we often form teams to work on a certain client, and you never feel alone during that particular job. If you are stuck on one thing it is likely that another person on your team has the answer. Being an auditor has taught me how to work with my peers better and allowed me to learn how I prefer to help others and be helped by others.
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Whitney’s Answer

Hello!

The most fulfilling part of my job is working with my team. I have always enjoyed working in a team dynamic and that we are all working towards one goal.
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Simeon’s Answer

The most fulfilling parts of my job are some of the technical skills that I pick up on my job. Also, it's nice to get to see new parts of the city and learn about different types of businesses. Plus, the people at the of the company are pretty passionate about making the world a better place and use the firm's reach and resources to help. It does a lot for company morale.
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Lauren’s Answer

I love this question and that you're thinking about this, because your job should be fulfilling! For me it is definitely the people within my office...I know everyone and it is a great sense of community. That easily translates into the work force and managing our team dynamic working together as well, because you have those solid relationships.
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Analise’s Answer

I am in management consulting and I would say the most fulfilling part of my job is the impact that I am able to have on the companies that I help! Being able to meaningfully contribute to the success of companies with powerful missions makes me feel like I am able to have a lasting impact in my work!
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Danielle’s Answer

Hi Mireia,

This is a very insightful question. For me personally, the most fulfilling part of my job as a manager at PwC is working with my teams, coaching them and seeing the growth of the individuals. For me, it really is about the people. What is most important to you? If you can answer this, I am sure you will be able to find the right job to help you feel fulfilled.

Best wishes on your journey!
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Abbey’s Answer

Although I am an intern and have not been in the field of accounting very long, the most fulfilling part of my job is working alongside my teammates and collaborating to assist the client. It is enjoyable to work closely to people with the same interests and end goal as you to instruct the client on business decisions and ultimately verify the accuracy of the entity's financial statements. Furthermore, working long hours can be exhausting but you develop friendships with your teammates beyond work which makes the long hours worthwhile.
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Vic’s Answer

I think the most fulfilling aspect of my job (consulting) is that I get to learn so much in such a short amount of time. Each new project is a completely new "course" you could call it. You are expected to learn about the industry and project subject area you are working on and advise on it. This is stressful of course but learning to me is something that keeps me going. When I no longer learn things from this job - thats when Ill quit.
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Mark’s Answer

The most fulfilling part of my job is engagement. I get to engage with clients to try to solve their problems and offer a fulfilling, rewarding experience to them. I get to engage with staff, to assist them in achieving their career goals, address their concerns and challenges, celebrate achievements, and support them inside and outside of work. My engagement with both my clients and team members helps foster my skills and continued development, and ultimately makes my job more rewarding!

Mark recommends the following next steps:

To understand whether this is the right field for you, I think you need to ask yourself what are your values and goals. And then speak with other professionals in this field to see if their experiences align with your values and goals.
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Amra’s Answer

People generally do not like being audited, and just want to see the end of the audit, and auditors gone. But when your auditee thanks you genuinely for helping them improve their process, address the risk or resolve a problem, that is when I know I am doing my job well. Hope this helps!
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Josephine’s Answer

Hi Mireira,

Having worked in the public accounting firm and as an internal auditor of a private organization, these are my most fulfilling moments:

- when clients thanked us for helping them to improve on their process
- when we see a difference in their behavior as a result of feedback we give them from audit.
- when we are able to see meaningful insights through analytics or automation to tie the narrative of audit
- when clients solicit our inputs after the audit due to our expertise

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Lindsey’s Answer

The most fulfilling part of my Audit career has been the people. This is two fold, both people I have been able to learn and grow from but also the people I have been able to mentor and see them grown in their career. As far as purpose, my leaders and company does a fantastic job of making every person connect the dot as to how their job duties contribute to the overall success of the company. This makes everyone feel like their job matters.
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Megan’s Answer

I currently work in auditing at PwC. Our firm has many opportunities for, and even encourages employees to participate in volunteering that is meaningful to you. They will also match your donations to certain charities. Personally, I have participated in Junior Achievement (JA), a program where you teach a program about financial literacy to a classroom. I was able to do this during working hours. For me, it is fulfilling to work for an employer who cares about local communities and encourages employees to take an interest in them as well.

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Melissa’s Answer

I work in the International Assignment Service. We assist foreigners with the preparation of their US Tax Return. I find this rewarding as they appreciate you taking the time to explain US Tax law to them as this is something new to them.
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Cara’s Answer

The most fulfilling parts of my job are (1) the people and (2) the endless opportunities. During the 14 years I've been in the accounting industry, I've built relationships with so many great people including colleagues and clients. Many of these people have become close friends and feel like an extended part of my family. Also, working at a big firm like PwC has also given me endless opportunities to try new things, take on new roles, develop my career, and travel the world. The people and these opportunities have been the number one reason I've stayed at PwC for my entire career.
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Sabeeka’s Answer

I am employed in expatriate tax at a leading Big 4 accounting company. The most rewarding aspect of my job is building personal connections with taxpayers and delivering exceptional client service. While it can be challenging at times, I truly enjoy assisting newcomers (inbound) to the US in understanding US tax matters/topics and assist in identifying the most favorable filing positions.
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Ian (Carl)’s Answer

I work in public accounting, and there a couple things that I find really fulfilling about my career. To start, you are given a lot of leadership opportunities at such an early stage of your career; along with this, you are able to develop significant relationships with client contacts that are usually upper level management (controllers & CFOs). The nature of public accounting is that it's very dynamic and there are a lot of different tasks that get thrown at you. This job can be be very challenging, but that's also part of the reason why it's fulfilling. You are continuously learning and your days are never boring.
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Catherine’s Answer

I am currently an internal auditor. Before, I have worked as an external auditor. I think the most fulfilling aspect of my job is the continuous learning experience. As an auditor, the nature of our job is to audit different companies in various industries. With this, I have been exposed to different corporate culture, operation, industries and people. Also, I get to travel to different places at the same time. In addition, I believe that auditing industry gives a lot of pressures to professionals due to the tight deadlines specially for external audit work of which my experience taught me well how to handle pressure and take it in a good way.
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Martin Olivier’s Answer

Helping people solve complex tax issues, that will make a difference in their life
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Sakina’s Answer

So many things (1) meeting people from different backgrounds (2) believe it or not, but work really helps to get disciplined (3) learning something new every single day including about taxes, and what is going in various industries - it is amazing to learn about businesses of your clients especially if you also work with startups and innovative companies. Especially now with the tax reform and new rules, it is best time to learn rules fresh because everybody in the tax consulting industry is trying to grasp new regulations, (4) it is fun, lots of employers have so many social and fun events (5) new friends (6) it feels really satisfying when you know that you helped your clients to optimize their tax structures, or helped to get a deal closed.
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Mark’s Answer

As an internal operations auditor, the most rewarding things for me is ensuring that the work I am auditing is accurate. If I identify errors, I enjoy working with the auditee to determine if there is an opportunity for process improvement, such as developing and implementing controls to eliminate future issues. It feels good to add value and be part of the solution, rather than someone who identifies the error.
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