Final Blog

Posted on April 25, 2013 by

FarrisBlogger: Clayton Farris

As my time as a student comes to an end, I do not quite know how to feel. I am excited to be done – :D .  I am eager to start working – >:).  But I am also kind of sad –  :(. I will miss all of my professors and friends that I have developed close relationships with over the past five years. So I would like to use this blog as an opportunity to thank everyone who has helped me through this critical portion of my life. Don’t worry; I will keep it short and sweet.

Shout outs to the following:

My parents

My soon-to-be wife (only 30 more days……holy moly)

The entire Accounting Department at UT Dallas

My fellow TAs

PPA Class 4

So here is a big “WHOOSH” to no more studying, but always learning! Bring on the real world!

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Observing Differences

Posted on March 26, 2013 by

Guest Blogger: Xin Chen

I have come to the U.S. for about six months and finished my first semester in a graduate accounting program. I can’t stop myself from comparing my U.S. school to my undergraduate school in China.

The main difference I think is when asking a question in class. Professors here always ask if you have any questions, and students will ask questions they can’t understand and even some questions that seem unrelated to the main topic. Sometimes students just interrupt the professor’s lecture and express their opinions. In my undergraduate school in China, students seldom ask questions during the course. If students do have a problem they will ask professor after class. Interruption of the professor’s lecture is a rare condition. For most of the time, the professor is the only person who speaks in class. At the beginning of my first semester here, I just couldn’t’ understand the other students’ behaviors and thought they were acting sort of rude to the professor. But now, I know this is just the U.S. classroom culture and the professor is very happy to answer students’ questions.

Another difference is the use of supplemental class material and discussion online with the class and the professor. In my home country, the only material used is generally just class notes or slides. Because there is only one test for each course at the end of each semester, students seldom log on to their accounts except when reviewing for the exam. In the U.S. class, the professor always mentions the supplemental class material online, so students log in to their online accounts frequently to get material. And the time of each lecture and professor’s office hours is limited. If students have problems, they could ask questions through their online discussion board. In my opinion, it’s much more convenient than asking during a lecture.

Another difference I found is you can easily get involved in an organization and act as a volunteer for a program on a U.S. campus.  This is different from volunteer activities in China, which are mainly concentrated on serving at big national events such as Beijing Olympic Games and Shanghai Expo. Volunteer activities in the U.S. are driven by peoples’ motivation of helping each other and paying more attention to peoples’ daily lives by doing simple acts of care in local communities. In the U.S., no matter how rich you are or how famous you are, everyone involved in volunteer activities is treated equally as hospitable participants who will deliver maximum help.

 

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E-mail Etiquette

Posted on March 19, 2013 by

McNeilBlogger: Kelly McNeil

One piece of advice I wish someone had told me about more clearly is the proper use of e-mail in the workplace. E-mailing friends is very different from e-mailing co-workers and bosses, so I will give you a few tips for things to look out for.

When you first start a new job or internship, be very conservative in your e-mails. Be polite and make sure you don’t use any slang or put smiley faces in the e-mailJ! I kind of used the rule that you shouldn’t include something unless the person you e-mail includes it first. If they reply with smiley faces and short-type, then you can start using that with that person. Also be careful when addressing the person in the e-mail. To be safe, I would always call them Mr./ Mrs. Last name. See how they reply to your e-mail and if they use their first name, then you can start using their first name in the e-mails.

Another thing to look out for is mass e-mail addresses. Sometimes to save time with e-mailing and typing each individual address, a mass e-mail will be created. One intern I worked with made the mistake of accidentally sending an e-mail to the whole company saying that he was bored and out of work! I’m sure he got many replies and got in trouble for sending that out. So be careful to check where the mass e-mail is going to be sent and that only the proper people are included.

Another tip is to check with your managers before sending an e-mail to a client. Working with clients is a big part of being an accountant; after all, they are who you will be providing services for. If you are unsure about something a client sent, do not immediately go and send them an e-mail. Make a list of questions that you have and show them to your manager first. As an intern, you might be missing some things that were provided, and a manager can help you minimize the questions and get it down to the ones you do need to ask the client. Sometimes the manager prefers to send an e-mail to them, so make sure they’ve asked you to do it before you hit send. Also as an intern, you might not be completely familiar with the terminology and need help wording out questions so they are understandable to the client and ensure you will get proper answer. Most companies give you a buddy who is one level above you. I would send your buddy a draft of the e-mail first, and then, if they approve it, you are free to send it to the client. It is always good to have someone look over your work instead of being embarrassed by a client.

Hopefully these tips will help you in your future careers!

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Why Am I Here?

Posted on March 1, 2013 by

Guest Blogger:  Samuel Teichelman, Senior at UTD

Why am I here? Because it’s much more fun than studying or reading musty textbooks. Because I love to write. Because I’m opinionated.

But in a broader sense, why am I here? Why accounting?

I was on my way out of the restroom the other day when I bumped into an old colleague whose name I cannot remember (which seems to be plaguing me more and more as time goes on). One thing that remained with me from that conversation was our discussion of details versus concepts. And I’m a detail-oriented guy.

I’ve read the budget for the United States of America. I checked their math. I read the footnotes first. The devil is in the details, and I’ll read between the lines to find him.

And while being detail-oriented isn’t a requirement of accountants, many of our profession’s ranks love to crunch numbers and track items that require a great attention to detail. So detail-loving certainly helps.

But, the best articles seem to be qualified answers, so I suppose there should be another side to this coin which will act twofold: one, it will increase the quality and thoughtfulness of my submission; two, it will make my submission much more difficult to write.

You see, as with most things in life, creating something that is better than before requires more work than before. Ironically, as the flip side of our quasi-phorical coin, being willing to put in extra work for better results is important in accounting (and every profession, for that matter). Your journals entries may not be material, but they lead to material accounts. Your mistakes may go unnoticed, but they won’t serve you any better.

We can all strive to be better at what we are doing, and to appreciate our situations a little more. So with that being said, why am I here?

Because I have three chapters to read, a stack of homework problems to work, and somehow, in the overwhelming-ness of it all, this is the only thing I can focus on.

Enjoy your semesters, and stay focused!

 

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Social Media: Friend or Foe?

Posted on February 25, 2013 by

HenryBlogger: Diane Henry

On my Facebook account, I have over 700 “friends.” Going through the list, I can tell you exactly how I know each person, but I can honestly say that I don’t keep a personal friendship with each individual. I am not saying that having Facebook friends is bad, professionally. In fact, this social media site can be used as a networking tool to help keep you posted on what is going on in your friends’ (cough, acquaintances’) lives. What I am trying to say is that you should remain professional during your Facebook expeditions.

When Facebook first became popularized, there were numerous stories about employees getting fired for talking poorly about their bosses or jobs. And while there are so many arguments about protecting your right to free speech, why not avoid this potentially negative situation all together? I would suggest never posting anything negative about your work. It’s one thing to say “TGIF” or “I can’t wait for the weekend,” but something like “I hate my job and can’t wait to leave” or “I can’t stand my co-worker Betty” might have some consequences that you were not expecting, including ruining a positive working environment. Negative opinions about your work are not the only thing that should be avoided on social media sites.

When I was growing up, my mom always told me that it was inappropriate to talk with most people about three things: money, religion and politics. She didn’t mean that I was never allowed to mention anything relating to those topics but that I should be careful about whom I talk to about them. I believe that this rule should apply to Facebook and other social media sites as well. Of course, there is no hard and fast rule about this, but I would suggest staying away from anything that the media is currently arguing with itself about on a daily basis. A general rule that you can follow is to not explicitly take sides on one of the news networks’ hot stories.

Of course you are completely entitled to your own opinion, but as we become part of the professional world, we are encouraged to remain professional in every sense of the word. Let me give you a quick example. Let’s say you get into an argument about politics on Facebook. In some cases, you have two people that firmly believe in opposite sides of the coin. Each is trying to convince the other of his ways, while truly believing that his thought pattern is superior to his opponent’s. In the end, neither individual is going to say “Oh, you know what, you are so right. I’m sorry, my opinion is wrong.” I feel confident in saying that this will never happen—which, let me interject here to say that this outcome is perfectly fine. It is fine to debate, but what you want to think about is “do I care if my 1,000 ‘friends’ see everything that I am saying?” If the answer is no, then go at it! If the answer is yes, take your debate to a more private setting. Make sure that you are honest with yourself when answering, and as always, if you are not sure, don’t do it.

Happy social media-ing!

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State Society Membership: Not Just a Line on Your Resume

Posted on February 20, 2013 by

Check out this article from AICPA’s student website, ThisWaytoCPA.com. It discusses the benefits of belonging to a state society.  Aside from the obvious benefit of adding your membership to your resume, this article talks about the not-so-obvious benefits like learning formal meeting procedures and organizational skills, honing your networking skills and meeting professionals who can serve as mentors on career issues.

Not a TSCPA student or candidate member yet? Check us out and get on board!

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There IS such a thing as too much studying!

Posted on January 31, 2013 by

McNeilBlogger: Kelly McNeil

I know we have written previously about taking breaks during studying to let your mind refocus and rest for a bit, but this topic really hit home with me this week. All of us bloggers have started studying for the CPA exam and are getting knee deep (maybe waist level) in accounting material. The CPA exam can seem like the most important thing you have to do in your life, but I don’t want anyone to forget about other important things such as friends and family.

I have been so focused on studying this month that I have not given much time to hanging out with my friends or having dinner with my family. They are all super supportive and know how important passing is to me. Unfortunately, one of my close friends passed away in a car accident last weekend. This tragedy has really made me realize how important it is to not get completely bogged down in studying that you lose sight of your normal life. Make sure that you have a healthy balance of study/regular life so that you don’t get lost.

Luckily, I don’t have a full time job while studying for the CPA exam, which I highly recommend not having while you study. This helps balance free time with study and work well. If you have friends that are also taking the exam, have a study night each week. It is sometimes frustrating to study with friends because they might not be at the same pace as you, but if they have any questions, going over the material again with them is a good form of review. They might also be able to help you out on a section you are having trouble with.

If you don’t have friends that are studying for the exam with you, still make time to hang out with them. My boyfriend is not in the accounting field, so he could not tell a debit from a credit, but he humors me by letting me explain accounting for bonds to him. Even though he doesn’t understand exactly what I’m talking about, explaining it to him helps review my fundamentals of the topic. If your friends could give you an ear every now or then, it will help. I also have the TV on in the background while I study, which I don’t recommend if you get easily distracted. I usually turn on the game show network or funny videos so that between each question I answer, I can look up and get a quick laugh in.

No matter what your study technique is, make sure your friends and family know how important studying is to you. Their support goes a long way, but at the same time, don’t forget that they exist! Take time out each weekend to relax or go to dinner and rejuvenate yourself!

After finishing this blog I had some Chinese food and these were my fortunes, and if that’s not a sign, then I don’t know what is! Make sure you balance the two!

Fortunes

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