For the Dutch version, click here. On March 1 and 2, 2023, the Accounting Expedition took place. This event allowed a large group of motivated students to visit the Big Four in Accountancy. This way they could discover if a future as an accountant was for them and if so, which firm of the Big Four appealed to them the most. EY On Wednesday morning Ernst & Young, better known as EY, was allowed to kick off the Accounting Expedition. We received a warm welcome at their office, a ten-minute walk from Eindhoven station. There we were welcomed by campus recruiter Lisanne and her colleagues. During the opening, the question “What is your favorite series/movie?” quickly caught our attention. As it turned out, this partner had pretty much played Netflix and thus knew a lot of series. So besides hard work there is definitely time left to relax by watching a good series, was the conclusion. Then we moved on to an audit case. A case that consisted of detecting fraud. We were allowed to request documents and invoices from four different employees of ‘Wokking Good’ in order to discover who had committed the fraud. An even more important question was ‘how was this fraud actually committed?’ In the end, it turned out that the administrative assistant had transferred amounts to her own account. We concluded with a delicious lunch where we had the opportunity to talk to employees for the last time about auditing at EY. KPMG The second office on the first day was scheduled to be KPMG, less than a five-minute walk from EY. There we were warmly welcomed by campus recruiter Thijn and his colleagues and given a presentation about KPMG. There we learned what the opportunities are and what KPMG is all about. A partner also joined us who told a very interesting story about his career in America. When we were saturated with theoretical information about KPMG, we could get started with the case. In this we were allowed to analyze several transactions from an Excel database. From this database we then had to derive transactions that were fraudulent. Here we learned that there were all kinds of metrics and theories that could classify transactions as fraud. We ended the evening in the center of Eindhoven with a well catered dinner. Here we had the opportunity to speak with KPMG employees in a relaxed manner for the last time. Thus, after dinner the first day came to a formal end after which we, together with the participants, concluded the day at the hotel with a small drink. PwC After breakfast at the hotel we were ready for departure. This time PwC was on the program where we could almost roll from the hotel. It was very easy to reach because of its location near Eindhoven train station. In the morning we were welcomed by the campus recruiter Carmen and her colleagues on the top floor of the office. Here we first got a presentation about PwC and what the possibilities are within PwC. We also started with a tour of the office, which was certainly not disappointing. After we had finished the introduction round and the presentation, we could get to work on the case. The case we had to sink our teeth into was about a festival organization. The organization had several problems that needed to be dealt with and it was up to us to solve this as well as possible. For example, one of the questions was “how do you value tickets that each board member gets to give away to family?” or “how do you deal with criticism from local residents and what financial impact does this have on the organization of the festival? After we completed the case, it was time for lunch in town. Here we were just barely buried under the delicious food. All in all, a very successful case and lunch! Deloitte As the last office, Deloitte got to conclude the Accounting Expedition. When we left PwC, cab vans were soon ready to take us to Deloitte as it was unfortunately not within walking distance and public transport was on strike that day. We were well received by the campus recruiter Emily and her colleagues after which we could start with the presentation about Deloitte. Here we learned what is possible at Deloitte and what kind of employees work at this firm. Fortunately, there was no heavy audit case on the program here, but a Business Chemistry test. This reminded us of the DISC test: a personality test based on four colors. Red stands for direct and decisive (“Dominance”). Yellow stands for interactive and inspiring (‘Influence’). Green stands for stable and social (‘Steady’). And finally, blue stands for conforming and correct (‘Conscientiousness’). In this way we found out, through various tests, which personalities we had and in what way you can best cooperate with other personalities. Teamwork makes the dream work’ is an appropriate saying. In this way it also became clear that neurodiversity is highly valued at Deloitte. We ended the day with a well-cared-for dinner at eating café Spijker! So with this last dinner at Stratumseind, the Accounting Expedition 2023 came to an end! The train to Tilburg left late in the evening, after which we were back in what could be called the most beautiful city in the country. We would like to thank all participants, recruiters, employees and the organization for a wonderful edition of the Accounting Expedition. We therefore hope that this event provided new valuable insights to the participants and they are a step further in their career choice!
A board year as External Affairs at Asset | Accounting & Finance
For the Dutch version, click here. As External Affairs, Celine is responsible for liaising with current and prospective partners of Asset | Accounting & Finance. In addition, she coordinates the Accounting Expedition Committee and the Orientation Committee. She is also responsible for organizing the Master Experience Days Accountancy and Finance and for the FinanceDay. In this article, Celine talks about what her position entails and how she experienced a year as External Affairs of Asset | Accounting & Finance. Who am I? My name is Celine van Es and I am 23 years old. I have lived in Tilburg all my life and did my bachelor’s degree in Business Economics here at Tilburg University. In my last year of my bachelor I decided to become active at Asset | Accounting & Finance where I was an active member of the Orientation Committee for my board year. This is one of the two committees that I now also coordinate! Why did I choose to do a board year? Before I became an active member of Asset, I never had a good idea of what a board year at a student union exactly entailed and therefore had never really considered it. When I became an active member of Asset | Accounting & Finance in my final year of my bachelor I quickly got to know a lot of nice people and found out what kind of cool events we organize besides all the informal activities we do. My master’s choice was getting closer and closer and since I wasn’t sure which master’s I wanted to do, I started to consider the idea of a board year. This would be the ultimate opportunity for me to find out which master’s degree suits me, to develop myself both personally and professionally and to boost my CV. What exactly does the position of External Affairs entail? As External Affairs, you are responsible for all business contact and therefore also deal with everything that concerns the partners of Asset | Accounting & Finance. A big part of this is acquiring partners for events and exposure opportunities. When you start your board year as External Affairs, you will visit with your predecessor over the summer to visit all the partners to discuss partnership opportunities for the coming year. This is a fun way to get to know the partners you will be working with that year and to get a good idea of their expectations and goals. At the end of your board year, you and your successor visit all the partners again in the summer and you can reflect together and look back on the cooperation. Besides the company contact you are responsible for keeping the Career Platform Tilburg up to date, where partners can post a vacancy or company profile. In addition, throughout the year you are often asked for advice or help by companies, which sometimes requires some creativity but allows you to actually mean something to companies. This also gives a lot of space for your own interpretation of this function. Point of contact for companies, what else? Besides maintaining good contact with all partners, you also keep yourself busy with other tasks. As External Affairs, you also coordinate several committees and in my case they were the Accounting Expedition Committee and Orientation Committee. The Accounting Expedition Committee organizes a two-day corporate event and the Orientation Committee deals with informal activities and actions within the association. So they are two very different committees, which also makes coordinating them very fun and varied! Besides the Accounting Expedition, you also organize the FinanceDay with a fellow board member. Because you are responsible for the organization, you learn a lot in terms of planning and communication. You also learn how much it takes to organize a great event. In the end, one of the best things about my job is to be able to look back on a successful event where both companies and students were enthusiastic. During such events you also get many opportunities to network with companies and of course you often speak to your own partners. Furthermore, once a week you will also participate in the Acquisition Meeting with all other externals from Asset’s departments. Here you will discuss all external matters of Asset such as the acquisition of new partners or things about the Career Platform Tilburg. Each external also has one or more task forces within the Acquisition Meeting. Mine is General Revenues/New Business Model, where we look at all ways to make money for Asset Tilburg. Here you make sure the brochure is updated, but you also brainstorm on new events and opportunities. What are the main points of development as External Affairs? During a board year you will learn a lot on a personal as well as a professional level. You will definitely face certain challenges where you have to learn not to let stress take over in situations and to keep an overview. You will also learn what it is like to work intensively with a group of people and how important it is to communicate well with each other. We keep each other informed about what we are doing and what we are up against. This way you can keep each other on your toes and help each other out. You also learn that it is important to indicate your limits in time when it becomes too much and to dare to ask for help. As External Affairs I also had to step out of my comfort zone at times because it is a job where you often have to defend certain positions and as External Affairs you are of course in contact with everyone. If you set certain goals for yourself at the beginning of your board year, you can achieve a lot! What I would like to give my successors In the beginning a board year can be quite hectic and you will have to find your bearings. Don’t worry about this. In the
A board year as Treasurer of Asset | Accounting & Finance – Daan van den Elzen
For the Dutch version, click here. As Treasurer, you are responsible for the financial affairs of Asset | Accounting & Finance. In addition, you coordinate the Activities, Sports, Lustrum and Investment Night committees. In this article, I describe my experiences as Treasurer of Asset | Accounting & Finance and why I chose it. Why did I choose a board year at Asset | Accounting & Finance? After spending my first semester just studying, I wanted to do something in addition to my studies. In the second semester, I decided to do a committee at Asset | IB&M because I thought it would be really fun to organize something with other students and get to know a new set of people. After a year there, I went to Asset | Accounting & Finance, because I already knew I wanted to go in one of those two directions, and because I already knew a few people there. I had a great time here for a year and a half doing committees when I finished my bachelor’s degree. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to spend a full gap year doing something completely different from studying, and after Corona I did need a fun year. During this year I can also focus on what I want to do later and have the chance to get in touch with all kinds of companies. What are you actually doing all day? Treasurer is a pretty internal job, which means that most people don’t see the immediate results of what you spend all day doing. One of the main tasks is creating and keeping track of the budget. You do this right at the beginning of the year and in doing so, you set a lot for the rest of the year. This budget is constantly updated, so you know whether there is still room for a spontaneous drink or a beer bike, for example. You are also responsible for the general bookkeeping of A&F, which you keep up to date. I do this with our accounting program Twinfield. Especially at the beginning of the year I regularly had to call my predecessor to get me through the maze. But soon I had learned this. Everything costs money, so you also know a lot about what is going on within the association. Besides the financial part, you are also the coordinator of A&F’s four most fun committees: The Activities, Sports, Investment Night and Lustrum Committee. Throughout the week, you’ll be busy putting on all kinds of events with these committees. From the Meals on Wheels, to the Mario Kart Tournament, to a fat symposium. The many informal committees are also a nice contrast to the fairly formal work you do on a daily basis as Treasurer. Together, it’s a super fun combination to fill the week! It is a unique experience that you can experience in very few places. Once a quarter the cash control takes place. Then the treasurers of the last three years come together to review my accounts and give advice for the coming period. Then I can ask all the questions I have. It’s also fun to compare what everyone ran into in their year and what is still the same now or what is going differently. In addition, A&F is part of Asset Tilburg, so we work together a lot. This year I am the vice treasurer of all of Asset, which means that I am involved a lot in the financial decisions of the association. Every week we also meet with all the treasurers of the departments to discuss matters within Asset. Of course, it is also nice to catch up with the other treasurers once a week. What are the highlights so far of your board year? It’s hard to pinpoint one moment because so many different things happen in a year like this. Some of the best are the first activity with the members, which this year was the Activities Committee’s Meals on Wheels. The Department Members Meeting was also a special moment, because that’s when you reflect on the past six months and also say goodbye to the Winter Enlightenment. But even smaller moments are still fun to think back on, such as when the Investment Night Committee brought in its first speaker, and the announcement of the new Winter Board. The year is really made up of an awful lot of little moments that together make it a wonderful year! Would you recommend a board year to anyone else? Absolutely!!! It is a unique experience that you can experience in very few places. You basically run a small company with five other people while still being a student. You have a lot of responsibility, but also a lot of freedom to set up this year and organize fun events and activities. Because of the combination of the formal and informal activities, you actually never get bored. You also get to know many new people from other associations and experience many fun things. Of course, you’ll also be at plenty of get-togethers and parties to fill your evenings. All in all, it’s a fantastic experience and definitely worth doing. I’ve never doubted my choice to apply. You get the chance to meet lots of people, experience fat things and still be able to catch plenty of parties. All while still being a student. I can only recommend this year.
A board year as Secretary at Asset | Accounting & Finance – Lars van Maris
For the Dutch version, click here. As secretary, my responsibilities include taking minutes at meetings, the association’s incoming and outgoing communications and annual planning. In addition, I have organized the Audit Activity and coordinate the StudyTour and Faces Online committees. In this article I share how I have experienced my year as secretary of Asset | Accounting & Finance so far, what challenges I still see for my final months and why I made the decision to do a board year last year! Who am I? I am Lars van Maris, 21 years old and currently a 4th year Bachelor Economics & Business Economics student. In my free time I like to play field hockey, or sit outside somewhere quiet to read. After I finished my VWO in Eindhoven, Tilburg seemed like a nice city to study, and when I found a room in Tilburg 2 weeks before TOP-week I started to build my own place. My choice for Asset | Accounting & Finance During TOP week, like many before me, I walked past the tables of Asset and then joined them. Unlike others in my TOP group, I did not then become active in a department. I did join Vidar then, and it is here that I met someone who later told me about the Accounting & Finance Department. Besides planning to study Finance myself after my bachelor’s, the activities and events I heard about also seemed very nice to me, so then I contacted the then Vice-Chairman to become active. The reason I finally decided to put myself in as secretary for a year When I started college, I already knew that I would not or did not want to run nominally with my studies. Your student time is a period in your life where you can learn so much that I knew very quickly that I wanted to make the most of it. Besides, it also looks very good on your resume if you have done some things besides your studies. So from year one I became active at Vidar and SHOT, and about two years later also at Asset | Accounting & Finance. Within Vidar and SHOT I had already come into contact with people who did or had done a year in those associations, and after talking to them about this I thought it would be a very valuable addition to my time as a student. As I learned more about what each position does within A&F and talked to then directors about serving on boards in general, it quickly became clear to me that the secretary position would suit me best. This is where my orderliness really comes into its own and where I can learn the most from everyone else. “What do you do as Secretary on the Board and why are you always so busy?” As Secretary, of course you have the classic tasks such as taking minutes of the meetings and managing incoming and outgoing communication via email, for example. In addition, as Secretary I am responsible for 2 committees, namely the StudyTour committee and the Faces Online Committee. Also, together with our Vice-chairman Julia, I am currently responsible for maintaining our website and the events and activities we have on it. Other than that, I don’t really have very big tasks anymore, but so this does mean that I have the time to take on some more of the smaller tasks that are left between us from time to time. I also continue to play field hockey actively at SHOT during my board year and I still have to work quite often on the weekends. This all together ensures that I generally have a nice full schedule. “So what kind of ‘smaller’ tasks do you have?” One of the most common smaller tasks on the board in designing promotion and social media. For this we generally use the design programs Indesign or Canva. Throughout the year, I have used these to create promotional materials for such events as the StudyTour, Faces Online, and several other events and activities. I also occasionally take over other small tasks from other board members when they don’t have time for this, such as drafting a message for our group app or an email. I also sometimes went with the externs to the meetings with our partners during the summer to support them here and take notes of the discussions. Picking up all these small tasks gave me the opportunity to learn a lot of new things and to be able to watch and learn from many different aspects of our board. “I wouldn’t have missed this for anything and I have absolutely no regrets about my choice.” Faces Online was in the beginning a task I often spent all morning with on Wednesdays but over the months I have learned to handle this much faster and more agile and learned a lot about and from this. As Secretary, I am also responsible for the StudyTour, and although this is one of the busiest and largest committees in all of A&F, I am very happy that it falls under my position. The committee is great to work with and the satisfaction that will soon be there when we have successfully put on and completed this event is something that makes all that effort more than worth it. In addition, I have had the opportunity to attend events and activities that you can hardly find anywhere else and partly through the events and activities I have been able to greatly expand my network. “What moments will you never forget from your board year?” The first moments that will stay with me forever are the night I was told who I was going to form a board with, and the first board weekend we all went to. On both occasions I got to know the rest of my board better than the entire time before that in which I already knew them. On the weekend we
Working at PwC
Trang Tran Assurance Financial Services – Digital Accelerator For the Dutch version, click here. What exactly do you do at PwC? Besides being an accountant in the Financial Services Business Unit, I am also a Digital Accelerator where I help innovate and digitize the Assurance practice. What does your working day look like? In the morning I start up with the Digital Associates where we discuss the status of the projects and brainstorm where necessary on how we are going to build the digital solutions. We do this by drawing everything out on a jam board and constantly adjusting where necessary. Then the Associates get to work and I have meetings with audit teams to see where I can support them in terms of automating work. I then write out a digital approach per digital solution and guide the Digital Associates with building the digital solutions. When the Digital Associates are done building, I review the digital solutions to ensure we are meeting quality standards and audit guidelines where necessary. Then I schedule meetings with the audit team to hand over the digital solution. There are also major projects in between that I am also involved in. In addition to coming up with new tools that can help the practice, I also help roll out existing tools throughout the practice. And, of course, I also do regular audit work. Depending on the period we are in, I also spend several hours a day on audit work. During busy season then I do work on audits the whole period. Trang Tran | Senior Associate | Digital Accelerator What do you like about your work? That I can let my creative juices flow and that the possibilities are endless. And all within a field where everything seems so rigid. As a Digital Accelerator you are completely let loose within your own audit practice to rethink everything and see how we as accountants can do things differently and thus save time and at the same time increase quality and deliver more added value to the client and society. Tell us something about the Digital Accelerator program. What opportunities do you get here? And how do you apply these in your daily work? After an intensive but fun training where you learn technical skills such as basic coding and data analysis and visualization, you will help the audit teams to digitize. During your training you will also receive soft skills training where you will learn how to ”sell” change and the importance of being agile. These soft skills are very important if you want to bring about change within an audit firm. At my own clients, I try to automate all manual and repetitive work by deploying software that enables automation or by building robots, for example. This leaves more time for the really interesting topics such as fraud, continuity, estimating items and other topics that you as an accountant also want to spend your time on. What role do you think innovation/new technology plays within accountancy? Accountancy is changing and it is only a matter of time before much of our work is fully automated. This does not mean that we as accountants are no longer needed but this means that we as accountants are going to need a different skill-set and add value in a different way. Because of the amount of data that our clients have available today, we as accountants will have to learn how to analyze the data and how we can thereby replace our traditional auditing work by, for example, performing integral data analysis and zooming in on the outliers. This also means that we as accountants will only add more value in the future because by building smart algorithms into our data analyses, for example, we can detect fraud faster and through predictive analytics we can serve clients better. In addition, I also believe that we will move more towards continuous auditing which will allow accountants to actually add value at any time of the day and not just after the financial year. And perhaps soon we will all work on the blockchain and we as accountants will no longer validate the transactions but the blockchain itself. What role do you think innovation/new technology plays within PwC? Innovation is very high on the agenda at PwC and PwC invests a lot in upskilling its people. PwC also invests an awful lot in developing new tooling and making existing tools available. Often people think that innovation is not possible at a Big 4, but precisely because PwC is not a startup and there are sufficient resources available, we can innovate and make the impossible, possible.- Tell us something about your development/coaching/mentoring The way I develop myself is by making mistakes. The skills I need to build digital solutions, I teach myself by just doing it and gradually learning from my mistakes. And the moment I don’t know where to start or if I get stuck then google is my best friend. Google, Youtube tutorials, forums and asking others to think with me. These are the ways to learn the fastest. However, PwC does have enough training courses so that you have at least the basic skills. These are online courses through Udacity and internal courses where you are adequately guided in developing these new skills. “I can let my creative juices flow and the possibilities are endless.” What would you like to say to your future colleagues? We are the future and we are ultimately going to make a difference for generations to come. The world is changing, our clients are changing, and therefore we as a profession need to change as well. The technological revolution is happening right now at this very moment and that’s why it’s just incredibly cool to become part of this change right now.
Working at Wesselman
For the Dutch version, click here. “You get every opportunity to pursue your dreams.” Mithat Yucel combines his role as Assistant Accountant at Wesselman Accountants | Advisors with a Master’s degree in Accountancy & Controlling at Maastricht University. “A tough study, but Wesselman takes this into account – even during busy periods,” he says. Lotte Elsenaar sits down at ‘De Berk,’ one of the stately meeting rooms of the monumental building on the Aarle-Rixtelseweg in Helmond. She decided, after studying Tax Law & Economics, she also wanted to obtain her RA title. “That decision didn’t happen overnight,” she explains candidly. “A study requires a lot of time and energy, and I wanted to combine it with my job as an Assistant Accountant.” Essentially different According to the duo, this is what sets Wesselman apart from other firms. “At Wesselman, you are listened to as a person. You get every opportunity to pursue your dreams,” Mithat answers. Lotte and Mithat also appreciate the small gestures from Wesselman. “Just a little present, a gift with your birthday or a bunch of flowers when you buy a new house. Happiness is in small things,” adds Lotte. “We have lunch together with our colleagues every Thursday. Very nice to be able to catch up,” says Mithat. “Definitely! These lunches are always super well taken care of,” Lotte adds to him. “Every week it’s a treat! We have – apart from this weekly lunch – a control lunch with the team once every two months; all personal and business highlights and successes are discussed and celebrated then!” Making big steps Lotte and Mithat talk about GROW conversations, which focus on personal development. Together with your manager, you look back on the past period and determine your learning goals for the coming period. “You get to determine your own path,” says Mithat. Goals and expectations are also mapped out during the pre-audit meetings. Everyone gets to indicate his or her development points. “I have learned a lot with regard to mentoring juniors,” adds Lotte. “My supervisor gives me regular feedback. That feedback allows you to develop further.” Never the same Every client is different; there are different risks involved everywhere. “That’s what makes it so much fun,” Mithat explains enthusiastically. “I pick up certain posts, chart developments and work through to-do’s.” The basics are good. “We start the day with the team,” Lotte explains. “Very nice, because that way everyone knows what’s going on. Sometimes you work in the office, other times on location. A nice variety and the perfect opportunity to discuss important matters with the client. The role of Assistant Accountant is very diverse!” Wise counsel Still, there is one thing the pair would like to give students. “Make careful considerations,” Lotte replies. “Look carefully at which firm suits you and don’t underestimate the pressure – of working as well as studying.” Mithat nods in agreement. “In addition, it is also important to look into the educational possibilities. I study in Maastricht because for me that was a finer and especially more practical choice than Nyenrode. There is no right or wrong and you should mainly do what feels right for you.” Would you also like to work at Wesselman? Then contact Milou Kutscha at hrm@wesselman-info.nl or 0492-54 85 55. Who knows, maybe we’ll have a cup of coffee together soon.
