My name is Paul de Kort, 26 years old and living in Veldhoven. I have been active within PwC for two years now, first as an intern and momentarily as an Associate at the Assurance department of PwC Eindhoven. Besides the work at the assurance department, I’m doing my Post-Master Accountancy at Tilburg University. In my free time I play football and I enjoy spending time with my friends and family. In 2011 I started studying at the Fontys Academy in Eindhoven. Here, I chose to specialize in accountancy in my third year. I finished my studies in the summer of 2015. After that, I went to Tilburg University to do a Pre-Master and I later obtained my Master’s degree in Accountancy. During my studies, I discovered that I’m interested in the financials of companies and the stories behind them. Why PwC Because I went to Fontys before I started my Master’s, I had already had two internships of six months each at accountancy firms. I did both internships at medium-sized offices in the neighborhood of Eindhoven. While writing my Master Thesis, PwC offered me the chance to do this in combination with a graduation internship at PwC. This was the ideal opportunity for me to discover a Big-4 office. What was next, the question came up: What office? I made this choice based on my gut feeling. I went to in-house events like in-house days, barbeque-nights and case-days. At this way, I learned more about three of the four big offices, and got to talk with them. Based on these conversations, it became clear to me that PwC was the best fit for me. Because of the informal atmosphere I immediately felt at my place within PwC, and I quickly bonded with my colleagues. Besides that, I noticed that PwC is open to invest in its employees. This quickly became clear to me when I got in touch with ‘The Associate Academy’. This is the 2-year accountancy training program at Pwc, where you see all different types of industries and clients in the first two years, develop yourself personally with the help of a coach, gain a lot of work-experience, follow trainings and attend social events to expand your social network. Experiences so far Momentarily I’m in the final stage of “The Associate Academy”. During this training I got the space to gain experience within different sectors. Besides that, thanks to this unique training course, I got to develop myself professionally as well as socially. “Because of the informal atmosphere I immediately felt at my place within PwC, and I quickly bonded with my colleagues.” Besides the work-related activities there were a lot of social events, where you get to know your colleagues in a different way. To give a few examples, I went on an organized weekend with everybody that started in the same year as me, and in March we went on a ski-trip with the entire office. Besides that there are also regular sports-events like indoor football or tennis tournaments. In short, there are enough opportunities to get to know your colleagues better. My tips for students Visit the many events that are organized to get a good a picture of the office culture. In the end, all offices have similar activities on the job, which is why my advice is to go for the organization that is the best fit for you. Look for a place where you feel at home! Besides that, I advise all students to write your thesis at an accounting firm. This offers you the possibility to see potential employers from the inside. Besides the impression you get from the company culture, it is possible to work in practice for a few weeks. At this way, you get a good image of everything that is going on in practice.
Working at Koenen en Co
What I really like, and what makes me enthusiastic, is that everyone at Koenen en Co wants to make the best of it together. The best for the customer, relating to both the content and the relationship. More fun leads to a better result. It reinforces each other. We really want to get things done well together, every day and for each customer. That is what makes me proud to work here. I studied accountancy at Fontys Eindhoven. Quite soon after my graduation I started at Koenen en Co. I was looking for an open organisation, with a nice working environment and a lot of opportunities to grow. I can be myself here and I can learn a lot. After a bit more than a year I started the post-‘hbo’ study “mkb-accountant”. This is really nice: I can integrate all the assignments in my job. I learn fast, especially because there is time for answers. I have a personal mentor, who is my first contact, but I can also go to other people for help. When I do so, I don’t get the answer straight away, but a conversation that gives me more information about how you can find the solution. I work here for 2,5 years now and the assignments are getting more and more challenging. We are together in an HPO-project. This means that we are growing towards a high-performance organisation. This stimulates us to action. It is a chance to show what we are standing for. The organisation is viewed from all perspectives, trust, open-minded and solution-oriented. That is what I like, because I think that is the way to build on a sustainable success. Or like we say it: “Suczes”. Pick an employer that picks you! It doesn’t matter if you are the accurate accountant or the commercial suczesmanager to be, at Koenen en Co the most important thing is that you can be who you are. At that moment you are at your best. We love it when you say what you think, when you are involved in the maximum result and when you are critical about yourself and your environment in a positive way. We offer you a workplace where working together in an open way, results and fun are the conditions for suczes from yourself and from our customers. It’s not just for any reason that we write suczes with a Z. To achieve the maximum result, we advise organisations in six (zes) dimensions: Strategy, Management, Innovation, Staff, Processes and Financials. The dream of the entrepreneur is the central point, with a broad perspective. The Koenen en Co view: enthusiastic, no-nonsense and full of courage. We work everywhere where the customer is, with offices in Maastricht, Roermond and Venlo. Are you joining us? Koenen en Co is looking for trainees and starters who dare to be themselves. Who stand for something, even without shining cars or shoes. Who understand that the outside is nice, but that the content is what really matters. We expect 100% effort and 100% you. Because only you can do what you can do. Because honesty takes the most time. Because stupid questions don’t exist. That’s the way we work on your suczes and the suczes from our customers. Together we let entrepreneurs practice Suzces. Just do it.
Working at de Belastingdienst
This is Bonny. She is a student and follows the Dual accountancy track at the ‘Belastingdienst’. Within a few years, she has developed herself from a student to an independent accountant. During my bachelor program in Economics and Business Economics at Erasmus University, I already knew that I wanted to work in the field of accountancy. However, I did not want to work for a big, commercial company; rather, an employer with a greater societal impact looked like more interesting to me. I talked about this with some other students and one of them told me about the Dual track in accountancy at the ‘Belastingdienst’. Beforehand, I did some research, went to an inhouse day and quickly realized: this track perfectly suits me’. A lot of time for studying The Dual accountancy track consists of periods of study and work. The first six months, I was studying full-time. This is a very pleasant aspect of the track: studying is a fixed part of your week program and therefore does not have to happen in your spare time. On Mondays till Thursdays, I followed courses at the Belastingdienst Academy and on Fridays I went to Nyenrode for my (pre)master program. The Belastingdienst Academy courses are very practical; you are taught about different tax resources and audit techniques from teachers who work for the Belastingdienst themselves. “Studying is a fixed part of your week program and therefore does not have to happen in your spare time.” Working and studying The first period of studying is followed by a period during which the focus lies on working, which is what I am currently doing. Per week I work three days at the MKB part of the organization, spend one day at the Belastingdienst Academy and one day at Nyenrode; the perfect combination of working and studying. During those three days at MKB, I mainly perform audits together with my mentor. This holds that I perform pre-research, join company visits and construct final reports. Working with companies within MKB is pleasant since it is the entrepreneur itself whom you are in contact with. An additional advantage is that the contact is quite personal and informal. As an example, I recently brought a visit to a local ‘snackbar’. Their tax returns were not correct, and we quickly realized that own usage was not tracked correctly. In such cases you have the possibility to directly settle how these tax returns should be tracked in the future. Within a few weeks, I will finish my work within MKB and continue working for the organizational department ‘Grote Ondernemingen’ (freely translated: ‘Big Enterprises’). Working for GO sounds exciting to me since fiscal issues are to be handled differently and you work within bigger teams. Interesting, yet demanding So far, the Dual accountancy track completely fits my expectations. The main focus is your study program and you are basically in control yourself. For example, when joining a company audit you can decide yourself whether you take the lead or prefer to listen and learn. In addition, I have met many new people, both within the Belastingdienst organization and at Nyenrode. The track’s content is very interesting yet demanding. If everything goes well, I will finish the track next year. I hope to get the opportunity to directly start with a nice job, yet that should not be any problem giving that I am gaining so much knowledge and experience within this organization.
Checked, but not noticed or noticed, but not handled? – Column Ron Dohmen
Imagine this happens to you: You have just arrived at the office to discuss audit problems, if two investigating officers ask the front desk for one of your client’s file. This client you are responsible for, appears to be suspected of tax fraud. You quickly start to wonder how this is possible. Did I miss anything? And if I did, can I be blamed for it? Multiple accountants go through this confronting scenario every week. The expression “opportunity makes the thief” is still valid unfortunately. It is for a good reason that opportunity is part of the widely known fraud-triangle. This part is extra important for accountants, as this is the only aspect of the three he can contribute to prevent fraud. A critical accountant could reduce the possibility of committing this crime namely. If fraud is committed already, it is conditionally the accountant’s responsibility to inform authorities as soon as possible to make sure the financial consequences are ended and reversed. “From my own experience, it turns out that it doesn’t really matter what the accountant should or must have seen but unhoped-for didn’t. It especially matters what he did notice without taking action sufficiently.” Accountants are not clairvoyant. Neither are they investigating officers or fraud experts. Yet the outside world expects more and more of them in terms of fighting and preventing fraud. These expectations are often not deserved, but sometimes they are. From my own experience, it turns out that it doesn’t really matter what the accountant should or must have seen but unhoped-for didn’t. It especially matters what he did notice without taking action sufficiently. That is the core of a professional-critical attitude, of having a backbone. And that is what society struggles with and why financial and legal service providers like accountant are sometimes addressed in the slipstream of criminal investigations. Public accountants deal with high workloads and periods in which it is inevitable that the private life is pushed backwards. Deadlines have to be met and everything within the limits of the budget. Students regularly tell me they have to make choices they don’t support because of this. An invoice that is sampled for a check and is not approved, is pushed aside and is replaced for another one. Besides, there is no time for looking at year reports from another perspective, like the tax office does. This authority uses the report for other purposes and uses other directions of auditing for some balance posts, resulting in surprising discoveries sometimes. As an accountant you would do well if you allow yourself to take tame for questioning: isn’t it weird what is happening here? If doubts arise, it is important to respond to them. Do not agree on straight forward answers without verifying. It is not possible to monitor every event in a company, this is logical and no one will blame you. But if you did note things that (in conjunction) cries out for an explanation, it is a bad case if you did not do anything, ore too little with it. Give space to your amazement and shrink the chance for your client to fraud. It is important that you approach your client in weird situations, before one approaches you.
Working At KPMG
My name is Yves van Marle, 27 years old. During my study business economics, I gained practical experience from an internship at a healthcare institution and an internship at an accounting firm. After finishing my higher professional education, I started my Master Accounting and Control at the University of Amsterdam. I finished this study in July 2015 after a thesis internship at KPMG. After finishing my Master, I made a six month world trip. When I came back, I became a trainee with KPMG and I started with my post-master Accountancy at the University of Amsterdam. Developing broad professional skills and personal growth are key points during this process. By working at KPMG and following my post-master, I want to develop myself into a starting professional. Why KPMG? During my Master, I visited several events like inhousedays, dinners and workshops. I really enjoyed the events at KPMG, mostly because I had a good connection with employees from KPMG. Furthermore, it was really clear to me which departments and activities there are at KPMG. So, based on my feeling and prior good experiences, I decided to apply for a job at KPMG. “Try to attend as many events as possible during your study and get a good picture of the culture at a company.” My experience at KPMG At KMPG, I get the opportunity to develop myself from a student to a professional in a short time span. This is, among others, due to the dynamic work and the amount of time I spend on customer contact. Moreover, these contacts are with a large variety of customers. You grow quickly in your work and job level, ensuring that you continue to develop yourself as a person and as a professional. In addition to working, KPMG also organizes all kinds of informal events to get to know your colleagues better. So, a ski trip this year was one of these activities! KPMG employees under the age of 31 automatically become members of ‘Connect’, a platform for youngsters. ‘Connect’ organizes various activities throughout the year, such as breakfast sessions, lectures, pub quizzes and golf clinics. In these activities, focus is on social, academic and personal development. My success of the past year This year, I participated in a first year inspection of a large listed company. There were a few strict deadlines. This was hard, but together with my team we put muscle in to it and completed the assignment on time. The fact that we did this together, gave me a very satisfied feeling! Through this assignment, I also learned how to deal with deadlines while also ensuring the interests of the customer. I would like to tell you this Try to attend as many events as possible during your study and get a good picture of the culture at a company. I wrote my Master’s thesis at KPMG and I definitely recommend to do this. This gives you a unique opportunity to get a view behind the scenes of a company for a couple of months. In addition, it is also a great way to establish your network. This will certainly help you in making choices for your future career!
Wily Types – Column Marc Schweppe
“An accountant used to be somebody who checked people for possible involvement in financial malpractices. Nowadays, accountants are mostly wily people who devise tricks in an obscurely illuminated twilight zone. On the edge of the cliff bloom the most beautiful flowers.” A quote by Youp van ‘t Hek in his column on the last page of the Saturday edition of the NRC Handelsblad, early September 2017. Regarding this picture: the role of the accountant as confidential agent of social traffic, as independent controller, as the person who provides assurance with (financial) data, is far from reality in Youp’s opinion. Is the comedian alone in his view? Unfortunately not. In the same week that this opinion was published, several members of the Dutch House of Representatives railed against the Minister of Finance about accountants. “When I think of accountants, I think of scandals”, stated Renske Leijten, MP for the Socialistic Party. As an example, she enumerated a series of fraud scandals which involved accountants. Pieter Couwenbergh, columnist for the Financieel Dagblad, described failing audits as “rituals associated with daily life.” In most cases, accountants perform excellent, their clients are satisfied, they deliver demonstrable added value for companies and add certainty to financial information. And that year after year. They are appreciated for their expert judgment, their independent view and their knowledge of figures and organizations. But one case of fraud mentioned in the Financial Times or the Guardian, with an accountant of the Big Four who did not do enough to prevent it, and the goose is cooked. Then, accountants are ‘wily types’. And we can’t but confess honestly that too much went wrong in recent years. If too many incidents occur, we may speak of a structural problem. Interests were too big, bills were too high and clients were suddenly named ‘blue chip clients’. Auditing firms became service providers and provided non-stop shopping. The accountant was more and more seen as a flexible account manager, who had to guide his advising colleagues inside. Sometimes, audits were deliberately sold with a loss. The consultancy revenues would compensate for this loss. ‘Applause for the audit team that brought the prestigious assignment in this way!’ Yes, eventually this will go wrong. The basis for the problems that the profession still has to deal with, originates in the two decades before the Enron Scandal in 2001. Which does not mean that everything went well after that. Audit firms are currently working hard to improve the audit quality. The measures from the sector improvement plan (the report ‘In the public interest’ from the Institute of Chartered Accountants) are neatly implemented. But according to the latest analysis, the core of the problem is deeper: lack of knowledge of the rules and regulations, too tight deadlines, partners who are not sufficiently involved, unbalanced teams, lack of a professional-critical attitude. Unruly problems, which require a real change of culture. That is a lot harder than installing a decent board of directors or taking an oath. But this has to be; change has to come from within. “You can’t present junk as a gem, even if you present it bright.” It’s due to communication, claim some accountants, if they feel that society does not understand them. But communication cannot justify things that are crooked. You can’t present junk as a gem, even if you present it bright. Doing your job well, that works. The good news is that the youngest professionals has been raised with these issues from day one. That they grow in a profession which changes its focus from commerce to quality. So now, accountants sometimes make the headlines because they refuse to sign for a client. ‘No, I do not sign, because it is not alright.’ One can hope that we will read similar stories in the future. Trust can be earned back with proven quality. Then, that reputation will eventually be okay. Be good and tell it – in that order.