For the Dutch version, click here Krenar Berisha is a self-employed auditor and an ambassador of the NBA. In this interview, Krenar tells us about his experiences in the audit practice and how important the NBA is for auditors. Can you tell us something about yourself? I am Krenar Berisha, born and raised in the most beautiful town of Noord-Brabant: Tilburg. Despite the fact that many (former) colleagues have tried to convince me that there are more beautiful cities in Brabant (especially colleagues who live in Breda), they haven’t been able to convince me. I started my student career at VMBO, then moved on to HAVO, and finally started HBO Accountancy at Avans University of Applied Sciences in Breda. In my final year of study and during my orientation phase, I came in contact with Baker Tilly in Breda through a (former) fellow student. Because of the positive stories about Baker Tilly, I became enthusiastic and started working there at the end of 2016. At the same time, I started the pre-master Accountancy at Nyenrode. After my first year at Baker Tilly, I decided to make the switch to KPMG. KPMG, a so-called big four office, is active in the highest segment of the market, which offers a lot of challenges. This challenge finally made me decide to make the switch. In addition to the challenges that an office such as KPMG offers, I also found the personal guidance very pleasant. In your early years, you will receive intensive guidance so that you get to know the profession well. In addition to my job and studies, I have also carried outside activities in recent years and I have been an ambassador for the NBA since 2019. After a few years at KPMG, I decided to start working as a self-employed person. Entrepreneurship has always been my ambition. This eventually made me decide to continue as a self-employed person. I also had the ambition to start working as a teacher. Since last summer I have been a teacher at the Fontys University of Applied Sciences in Eindhoven. I do this in combination with my current work at the municipality of Roosendaal and GR de Bevelanden. Many vacancies in our sector nowadays require extracurricular activities such as a board year, did you do something like this besides your studies? No. I did not perform any relevant curricular activities during my studies. A tip I can give here is: start setting up a network. A study association such as Asset can be of great value here. You can build up a network, which you can benefit from during your career. A tip I would like to give you is to use LinkedIn. This is a social media platform to maintain your business contacts/network. You just told me that you are an ambassador of the NBA, can you tell me something about the NBA? The NBA is the Dutch Professional Organization of Auditors. There are currently more than 22,000 chartered accountants in the Netherlands. These are both Auditors (RA) and Accountant-administration consultants (AA). They are all registered in the register of the NBA. This organization promotes the professional practice of the accountant. They do this by, among other things, drawing up rules of conduct, testing the accountants’ knowledge, and providing education. At the end of the practical training, there is a final exam in which the ability to act as a novice professional is tested. However, before you can complete the practical training to become an auditor, you first need to complete your theoretical training as a Chartered Accountant. With our ambassadorship, we try to make the profession attractive for students of higher vocational education (HAVO/VWO) and students of higher vocational education (HBO/WO) in their first or second year. We try to introduce students to the accountancy profession at an early age. As ambassadors of the NBA, I have given guest lectures and made promotional videos. We do this with the NBA Impact Challenge: a case in which the young people will advise a starting DJ as an auditor. Furthermore, I expect the profession to look completely different again in 10 years’ time, especially looking at current technologies and developments. The field of accountancy is very broad, which allows you to grow in all directions in the financial world. This is also something we want to demonstrate with the NBA Impact Challenge. You don’t often see that people of immigrant background are engaged in the accountancy profession, then it’s certainly nice that you volunteer with the NBA to show that side of things. That is (still) true. Nowadays you notice that, especially in the suburbs, the target group of immigration background is getting bigger and bigger. There is a new generation emerging with many different backgrounds. But regardless of background or origin, applies to everyone: you just have to do your stinking best, and then you’ll get there. Personally, you will never see me use my background as an excuse. I will always do my best and this can only work to your advantage. To what extent does the NBA give you the freedom to fill in the ambassadorship? We get a lot of freedom. The general idea from the NBA is: ‘you have been students and know what students think and want to know, so engage in dialogue with the students and show them what you think of the accounting profession. The NBA thinks along with you about the activities in an advisory role, but apart from that, we have the freedom to fill in the ambassadorship. Our goal is to give a clear and honest opinion about a day in the life of the auditor. Do you think the NBA has an essential role in sketching an accurate picture of the accountancy profession, or do you think the Big4 should play a greater role in this? Of course the NBA, as the professional organization of accountants and auditors, is indispensable to the profession. However, every auditor, whether registered or working, has
Working At EY
First, a brief introduction of myself. Just like any other lost high school student, I chose the bachelor business economics because it was quite known that there are broad career opportunities after you completed this study. After completing the bachelor, I chose to follow the master accountancy to gain more knowledge about a new field of interest of mine: the audit/control practices. In addition to this, it appealed to me to work at a bigfour accounting firm in the future. During this master I attended an in-house day of every bigfour firm. With that being said, I experienced the in-house day at EY as the best one. As a result, I managed to be hired for a thesis internship at EY Eindhoven. I had a nice, pleasant and educational experience at this thesis internship. Afterwards, this formed a fair reason for me to start my career at EY. On the day of writing this article, November 20, 2019, EY Eindhoven is dealing with a 23-year-old starting accountant named Robin Hu. A day at EY is different for each colleague and mainly depends on the client you are working on. For example, you may have to go to a client with the team to carry out the control. Besides this, you can also work with the team at an EY location if it is not necessary to work at the client. This occurs, for example, when all required documents and information have been received from the client. For me, the day looks slightly different than for most accountants at EY. So far, I have only been working with one client, the largest client at EY Eindhoven. Due to the fact that it is a big client, this requires some time and it also explains why I have only had one client so far. It is important to mention that I requested this prior to my start at EY. I saw that this was possible and saw it as a challenge for myself, to start with the largest client. My team and I mainly work from the EY Eindhoven office. It is a large team and most colleagues are already quite experienced. Because of the fact that we are often together as a team, we have the opportunity to discuss a lot with each other and to support each other well. Although my work is fairly new to me, my more experienced colleagues help me a lot to carry out all my tasks. At the same time, I learn a lot about the field and about the client with the help of my supporting and supervising experienced colleagues. They believe that it is important for me to learn a lot and that I also develop myself. To EY, the development of its employees is extremely important. EY offers me many opportunities to develop myself as a person, for example the time EY offers us to study. Each person is also assigned a coach and a confidant. These people support me with the work-study-life balance and any problems that I experience both in business and in my private life. Moreover, informal and formal courses are given internally at EY to help you with your development, such as accounting courses and work-life balance courses. “I don’t really see working at EY as “working”, but more as an experience to develop myself as a person and an accountant, and to have fun and work hard together with my colleagues at the same time.” EY has a lot to offer, but what do I think of EY? It will probably sound very cliché, but in the end it’s all about the pleasant atmosphere ad culture within EY. The bigfour firms offer almost similar conditions, but the atmosphere and culture can be very different between these firms. The atmosphere and culture that I have been able to experience at EY (Eindhoven) is open, warm and informal. I am very happy with all the colleagues I have met so far. It is also often very pleasant and fun at EY, and everyone is willing to help each other. After all, we all work together. Furthermore, we also work very hard at EY and there is also space to do this. EY organizes periodic events where we get to know each other as colleagues in a different way. I have experienced these events very positively. Finally, I want to mention that you do not notice much of a hierarchy, which I also like. Whether you talk to a manager or a partner, you do not notice a certain dominant attitude. Finally, I want to give some advice to the students. -Start with or keep connecting with new people. This helps you a lot to ultimately find your optimum workplace. Moreover, it is always nice to meet new people and to share things. -Participate in events that are organized by both Asset and the accounting firms. Try to be as diverse as possible and to visit as many events as possible. Of course, this takes some time, so it is recommended to compile a top x list of offices that appeal to you the most. -If this article doesn’t provide enough information about my experiences at EY, don’t hesitate to contact me via LinkedIn! -Don’t rush through your studies! Enjoy your student time and think about taking a little longer on your studies because you will be working enough soon. This comes from someone who has completed his master in one year.
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.
Working at EY
Who am I? My name is Diede Hoenderboom. 22 years ago I first saw the light in the Achterhoek, in Aalten to be exact. After getting my VWO diploma (Economics & Management) I moved to the oldest (fact) and most beautiful (opinion) city of the Netherlands: Nijmegen. There I graduated from the bachelor’s Business Economy at the Radboud University in three years, after which I started my master’s Accountancy in Tilburg last year. I am pleased to take you along my story with EY! EY Experience My very first contact with EY was in the beginning of 2017 during an In-house day at the office of Arnhem. This resulted in an informative afternoon and a great dinner. Half a year later I got called by a recruiter with the question whether I was interested in applying to partake in the Business Course. Four days with EY and 25 students from the whole of the Netherlands to a (back then) unknown location, that really interested to me! After an application round at the office in Amsterdam I got called with good news: I was selected to partake in the EY Experience. A month before we left the destination got announced: Paris! In a hotel with a view on Arc de Triomph and a fantastic group the days were over before I knew it. The days were well-filled with working cases at the office and many informal activities to get to know each other and EY better. A good example is the concluding partner dinner in Rotterdam, where twenty partners of all offices in the Netherlands came to answer our burning questions. What I can recall to great extent about these days is the nice and accessible atmosphere that surrounds EY. ”During my thesis internship I tagged along when visiting a large retail customer and a local government. These weeks gave me a good image of the work and duties of an Auditor and then I knew for sure: I want to be an Auditor at EY.” Thesis internship at EY During the Master Accountancy in Tilburg there is a lot of room for a thesis internship at an accountancy office. I wanted to use this opportunity, preferably at EY. When this option got offered to me, I took it with both hands and that’s how I started at EY Eindhoven at the start of this year. There is a great deal of advantages of writing a thesis at a company. We get an extra mentor from EY, we got offered the opportunity to go along towards customers and experience what working in audit is like, got to know more about EY and even got a generous monthly compensation. During my thesis internship I tagged along when visiting a large retail customer and a local government. These weeks gave me a good image of the work and duties of an Auditor and then I knew for sure: I want to be an Auditor at EY. Before I could realise this, I still had to graduate. Thankfully, also due to the good mentoring from EY, I managed to do this after completing my master thesis. I still had a few months left to enjoy my last summer as a student before my working life began. EY Induction My career could not have started better: A week with the starters of EY Netherlands and France to Greece during the EY Induction. This week was filled with trainings to train us for the first customers that would quickly follow. The evenings consisted of informal activities like a partner presentation, a Mr & Mrs EY election, EY’s Got Talent and different theme parties. An intense, but wonderful week. My first month Back in the Netherlands with a backpack of new knowledge I started as an auditor. I positively look back at the first month, where I met my first customers and teams. My customers for the coming year are very different, from large listed corporations to small care-institutions. The reason for this is to gain as much knowledge as possible and to see what is best suited for me. Because I started my Post Master Accountancy (PMA) at Tilburg University, I work from Monday until Thursday. Fridays are filled with working groups and colleagues at the university. This will continue until January when busy season begins: The busy season for auditors, when studying is put on hold for a while. Support from EY Just as with my thesis internship, as fresh new employees we get a lot of support from EY during our career. Everybody is divided across Development & Learning Teams (DLT): five people from your year and a senior that gets together four times a year to discuss experiences and challenges in an informal matter. Besides that, everybody gets assigned a counselor. With this counselor a study-plan is devised and discussed to help your career at EY. My advice Just like you probably noticed, I’m extremely happy with my choice to work for EY. During my orientation period I have been in contact with different Big4 offices. From my surroundings I often got the advice to pick ‘something that feels good’. Back then that was a tough choice. When is your feeling good enough? Now that I’m looking back at the past time, I can surely say that I chose based on feeling. In essence the jobs at different Big4 offices are very similar, which is why the company culture and its employees became more important in my choice. Within EY I appreciate the accessible culture that prevails amongst employees. My advice to students that still have to make a choice: Choose what feels best for you! How can you find out? By visiting different companies and their employees during in-house days, business courses and/or (thesis) internships.
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.