Accounting Expedition 2023: Looking back

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!