For the Dutch version, click here In your student days you are in the prime time of your life, in which you progress towards your future. During this time, you might be building up a nice resume. Over the last couple of years, however, many things are expected from you. In 2015, the standard scholarship was abolished, which caused us to build up debt along the way to our graduation (see article Uncle Duo). Besides this, firms expect more often from students to build up a resume of a certain level. Therefore, the Faces editors did some research by interviewing various working students. Dennis Smulders – working student at PwC Dennis Smulders is a third year student Business Economics at Tilburg University. Dennis has been working at PwC in Eindhoven for more than a year now, at the department Assurance. Being a working student provided Dennis with personal growth, but also growth in the academic area. “You learn how to handle things professionally and besides that, you learn how the job as an accountant looks like. In my case, PwC offered me a coach. This coach helped me to develop my professional skills and helped me with my questions in general. I have experienced this as a very positive aspect of being a working student, because someone who has already done this for a few years can provide you with meaningful insights.” Dennis was also directly involved in the audit process. The direct contact with different customers makes the job extra diverse. “It is nice to discuss directly with the customer, and look for solutions to accountancy questions. By doing this, you obtain a good image of firms within different sectors.” Having a good schedule while studying and working is crucial according to Dennis: “By doing this, you avoid having extra work when the studyload is more intensive. Fortunately, your coach helps you with this as well.” Dennis recommends talking to as many recruiters as you can at the events of Asset. “They are open to inform you about the firm and the possibilities. I would say: Give it a chance!” Ella Boerkamp – working student at BDO Ella Boerkamp is currently studying MSc Accountancy at Tilburg University and is a working student at the Audit & Assurance department at BDO. Furthermore, Ella has worked as a working student at ‘Bureau Vak Techniek’ (BVT) at BDO. She started with this in the second year of her bachelors and sees this as the perfect opportunity to start: “It is easy to combine the job with your studies. You choose which days you work and whether you work 4 or 8 hours. Besides that, BDO is located next to the university. So even on days that I had lectures, I could work 4 hours that day, before or after the lecture”. After this, Ella switched to the A&A department at the start of her masters. “This switch felt good to me. At A&A I had the opportunity to perform full control activities that a starting accountant does as well. It is a perfect opportunity to gain experience in practice next to your bachelors or masters. Being a working student can also help you choose whether you want to do the Post-Master Accountancy or not” As a tip for current students, Ella says the following: “Being a working student provides you with much knowledge and you get to know the business life at an early stage in your life. Therefore you are ahead of your fellow students if you have been a working student!” “The knowledge that you gain as a working student cannot be described in academic format which leads to a mutual effect as motivation for your studies.” Luc van den Tillaart – working student at Deloitte Luc van den Tillaart shares his experiences as Staff Audit at Deloitte. In february 2019 he started as a working student at his current employer Deloitte. “I worked three days a week in the audit practice. I performed the same working activities as a starter and had the possibility to look at different types of firms, which made my job very diverse. By working you gain a good image of what an accountant does, rather than just following your colleagues. You are a fulfilled member of the team.” Luc started as a working student during his master and emphasizes that this is the best period to start a working student: “At the end of your bachelors or during your masters is the best period to start. At that moment you get a really good picture of the activities of the job and you can see whether it is your cup of tea.” Although working besides your studies may be time consuming, Luc would definitely do it again. As a tip for other students he says: “Try to orientate during your studies what you want to do. This is the easiest to achieve by going to different events. Via these events you get in touch with employees of accountancy firms. However, do not forget to enjoy your time as a student as well!” Stan Paau – working student at Rabobank As a working student at the headquarters of Rabobank in Utrecht, Stan Paau gained his first experience within the banking sector. He worked in the department Wholesale in the co-operative Rabobank. “The knowledge that you gain as a working student cannot be described in academic format which leads to a mutual effect as motivation for your studies. Besides this, you can use your knowledge that you have gained as a student, to implement this and learn more about the recent developments within the capital markets and the different ways of financing.” Other benefits mentioned by Stan are the significant enlargement of your network and the good orientation on how the function of a starter may look like. A disadvantage according to Stan is the combination of work and studies, what might be difficult for some people. “It is though. However, I personally had a
Just Graduated: Luc van den Tillaart
For the Dutch version, click here My name is Luc van de Tillaart and I am 23 years old. I completed my master’s in Accountancy last January and started working at Deloitte in February. In this article, I will talk about the transition from being a student to working at a company. How would you describe your student experience in Tilburg? I started my student life with a bachelor program in Business Economics. During my bachelors, I found courses in which numbers are important such as accounting and finance to be more interesting than for example marketing courses. For me, this was the reason to become active at Asset | Accounting & Finance during my second year as a student. During my time at A&F, I was active within the Activities committee, StudyTour committee, and Faces committee. I experienced this as a very fun and educational period which I would recommend to everyone. Through my activities within A&F, I got a better perspective on how work within a company would look like after completing a master’s in Accountancy or Finance. In the end, I choose to follow a master’s in Accountancy. I finished my master in one and a half year, which allowed me to be a working student at Deloitte next to writing my thesis at this company. This work internship gave me the opportunity to work at Deloitte for three days a week during a period of five months. The master program in Accountancy is very theoretical and working at a accountancy firm gives you a good view on how your working activities will look like. “For the past six months, I have been writing my master thesis at Deloitte’s office which already gave me a good impression of the atmosphere.” How did you end up choosing Deloitte? I’d recommend visiting as many A&F or accountancy firm activities as possible, in order to get to know which accountancy firm suits you the best. In the end, I went for a BIG-Four company, namely Deloitte Eindhoven. For the past six months, I have been writing my master thesis at Deloitte’s office which already gave me a good impression of the atmosphere. How did you experience the transition from studying to working? I have been working fulltime for four weeks now, yet the transition from being a student to working has been relatively easy for me due to the fact that I have been at Deloitte for one year already. The major difference between these two is spare time. During your studies, you do not have lectures all day and as a student you are very flexible to do other nice activities. If you want to party during carnival, which I like a lot, you first have to consult your manager whether this is possible or not. Another factor that I had to adjust to is waking up early on a daily basis, as this is not always necessary as a student. Therefore, going out during the weekdays is not possible anymore. Could you shortly describe your current function within Deloitte? At Deloitte, I started my career within the function of Staff Audit. I have clients within different sectors, which gives me the opportunity to get insights into different companies. My client portfolio consists of profit organizations, municipalities and educational organizations. During my internship at Deloitte, I also worked at several health care organizations. Another nice addition is that each time, you work within different teams and with young people. In addition, a major advantage is that during the weekends, you do not have to think about any study related stuff. What do you do besides your new job? From September on, I will start the post-master’s in Accountancy. Then, I will have lectures on Fridays, and I will have to study during the evenings or in the weekends. Besides my job, I am also active as city counselor within the municipality of Meijerstad, which asks for some hours of my spare time as well. I hope to be able to continue this once I start my post-master’s, yet so far so good. I still have spare time left to do some sports in the evenings and weekends, or to do other activities. To conclude, working within a company after your studies takes some time getting used to, yet it suits me well.
Working at Deloitte
Our names are Tim Langewisch and Bolot Ebbing. We are 24 and 22 years old and we are both almost finishing our Master Accountancy in Tilburg. Next to that, the two of us are going to work at Deloitte Audit, starting from September 2017. As any student knows, choosing your path regarding your study and finding the right first employer are not easy tasks. In this article we will write about our choice for the audit profession, our current employer Deloitte, and how we got where we are now. Where do you know each other from? Tim: We met at Study Association Asset | Accounting & Finance, of which we had both been active members. Next to studying, I also wanted to acquire other skills, such as soft skills that you can’t learn by reading a book. For that reason and because my interests were focused on accountancy, I decided to become an active member at the study association. I have even been a board member at Asset | Accounting & Finance for a year. Bolot: I also wanted to participate in activities besides just studying and I had heard from my friends that becoming an active member at Asset | Accounting & Finance was a great way to do that. During your time as students, you both came into contact with Deloitte. What were your main reasons for choosing this accounting firm? Bolot: I met people from Deloitte at an Inhouse-day. We had to solve a case about the Efteling, after which we had dinner in the center of Eindhoven. With these ‘Deloitters’ I was able to talk about working at the firm, as well as about many other topics. I really had a wonderful day, and I immediately felt a warm connection with Deloitte. Tim: During my time as a board member, I’ve often had to contact Deloitte. We hosted many events with Big 4 companies, but the people from Deloitte were the ones I liked best. Next to that, a few friends of mine already started working at Deloitte, which made my choice a little easier. The two of you are in a relationship right now. Did you deliberately choose to work at different offices? Bolot: I’m from Breda, and I really wanted to return to that city after my graduation. Therefore it was an easy decision for me. Tim: My ambition was to work at Deloitte Core Audit. That is the department that audits the large multinationals and publicly traded companies. Those departments are located in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Eindhoven. Personally, I enjoy the Brabant-life. That’s why I decided to work at Deloitte Eindhoven. So it wasn’t really a deliberate decision not to work at the same office. Nonetheless, I think it’s for the best that we’ll both work at different locations. “The thesis-internship is a great way to get to know your future colleagues and to get a feeling about what the atmosphere is like at Deloitte” What are your experiences considering working at Deloitte so far, and do you think it is valuable? Bolot: The past half year I was a working student at Deloitte. It has been an amazing experience! I recommend anyone to do it as well. You’ll get to know so many different companies. Clients I enjoyed working with the most were Fokker Elmo and BrabantWater. Fokker Elmo makes wiring for Boeings and Airbuses, whereas BrabantWater makes sure we have clean drinking water every day. It’s a good way to get to know the systems and the way of working at Deloitte. I’ve met a lot of colleagues because I worked together with many different teams. Three days per week I worked at Deloitte, and the other two I attended university. The moment you start working four days a week, next to completing the RA-course, everything seems new and very busy. When you are already used to working besides your study, it makes the transition to a working life a lot smoother. Tim: Even if you are working on your thesis only, you still get to know a lot about the systems and business activities. Besides that, the thesis-internship is a great way to get to know your future colleagues and to get a feeling about what the atmosphere is like at Deloitte. From the start, you’ll get involved in activities, random nights out and skiing holidays. In a couple of weeks we’ll even be going to Manchester together with all the guys from our department. How would you describe the atmosphere at Deloitte? Bolot: I would say the atmosphere at Deloitte is very nice and friendly. The audit department in Breda is not so large, so you’ll know everybody within no-time. During my time as working student, I attended a big party, including an overnight stay. The people were all very open and I had a great day. Tim: I would describe the atmosphere as follows: work hard when you have to, but have a lot of fun outside office hours. Bolot, what did you exactly do during your time as working student? When I was a working student, I was in the interim audit team. During the interim audit I was accompanied by a senior staffer who showed me what had to be done and why. I really appreciated the guidance I got and I felt that I was really able to develop myself in a good way. The people immediately treated me as an equal colleague, and I didn’t have to do any chores. I felt part of the team. What is it that makes the audit profession so enjoyable to you? Bolot: You work for a lot of different clients and in different teams. That’s why I like it so much. Furthermore, I enjoy working with numbers and being social at the same time. Tim: I would like to add that the accounting profession is subject to technological innovation. It is ‘on the move’. Nobody is able to tell you exactly what the job looks like
Overview Big Four Audit Rotation
Overview Dutch listed companies and their external accountant (Deloitte, EY, KPMG or PwC). Public interest entities, in the Netherlands referred to as OOB’s (ondernemingen van openbaar belang), are obligated to rotate of audit firm after a period of 10 years from 1st January 2016. OOB’s include Dutch publicly listed (at a European stock exchange) companies, insurance companies and banks. Naturally a tensed discussion has risen between different parties. Most OOB’s and audit firms are not pleased with the future obligation to rotate and claim it will do more harm than good on their quality of financial reporting. The government is determined to implement this new rule to increase the quality of financial reporting. OOB’s and audit firms claim that it is costly to change audit firm and quality will be lost. Quality, they say, will be lost due to the fact that the new audit firm isn’t as capable as the former audit firm from the start to conduct a high quality audit. It will take time to gain the required knowledge about a company to conduct a high quality audit and therefore high quality financial reporting. Others, mostly political parties, argue this statement and claim that rotation will increase independence of audit firms and OOB’s and therefore improve the quality of financial reporting. Below you can find an overview of the first changes that have already taken place due to the mandatory audit rotation: *No liability accepted for errors. If you find any errors or have more information about upcoming changes please contact us via info@asset-accountingfinance.nl.
Insight with Nienke de Wit
Nienke de Wit, Chairman Accounting Insight 2014, was asked to give us some insight regarding her experience at Asset | Accounting & Finance. She mentioned to have gained both social and business experiences. If you would like to learn more about why she became an Active Member or why she believes you should attend Accounting Insight, you can read her story. Who are you and what do you study? I am Nienke de Wit, Chairman of the ‘Accounting Insight 2014 committee’. I just started my master in Accounting. Last year I graduated from my bachelor in Business Administration Why did you join Asset | Accounting & Finance? I joined Asset | Accounting & Finance in January 2014. I was in my last year of my bachelor and decided I wanted to be involved in something besides my bachelor studies. I decided to take a look at the committees that Asset Accounting & Finance offered. After some well thought out considerations I decided to choose Accounting Insight because its details fit my interests very well. I wanted some extra challenges besides the lectures I had during my study. Next to that, I also wanted to meet new people at Tilburg University and I always got the impression that Asset | Accounting & Finance was a really nice study association. And I was right! Why did you join Accounting Insight? I wanted to gain more knowledge and experience in accounting and organizing an event. Accounting Insight suited my interests’ the most because you are continuously involved in topics that are up to date in the accounting news. What is the purpose of you and your committee organizing Accounting Insight? Accounting Insight is an event to help bridge the gap between the academic lectures given at Tilburg University and the practical situations that individuals are exposed to in companies. During lectures, students only get theoretical information from books, while during Accounting Insight there will be topics discussed that are more applied and relevant to the accounting world today. What and when is Accounting insight? Accounting insight is the 6th of November this year. During Accounting Insight multiple statements will be discussed which are focused on fields related to accounting. At this event you will hear the opinions of several important speakers, who all are very experienced in their own profession. The speakers are from four different categories, these are business, government, accountants and academic. Students are invited to participate and discuss the statements with the speakers and this makes the event interactive and interesting. Another element of Accounting Insight are the speeddates at the beginning of the evening. Students can choose to sign up and join the speeddates which give them opportunity to get in personal contact with the companies: KMPG, EY, Joanknecht & van Zelst and Wesselman. Have you gathered any benefits from being involved in this committee? The cooperation and collaboration required in a team is one thing that I learned whilst being involved in this committee and it is something I really liked doing. Another aspect of the committee that I really liked is that I had a lot of contact with the high profile speakers and professors that will attend the event. During your study it is hard to come in touch with important CEO’s and CFO’s and I had fortunate chance to visit them. Which guest speakers will there be at Accounting Insight? Gosse Boon will be one of the guest speakers. He is a registered accountant and CFO from Nutreco. Jan ten Kate, RA will also attend the event. He is the CFO from Amsterdam Commodities. Another guest speaker is Jan Dalhuisen, managing partner from EMEA Deloitte. A professor in accountancy at Nyenrode Business University, Marcel Pheijffer will be present as well. Finally, Henk Nijboer, member of the parliament for the PvdA and spokesman for Finance will attend and speak at Accounting Insight. Which companies will be present at the event? The key companies that will be present are the big 4 accountancy firms: KPMG, EY, PWC and Deloitte. Besides these four companies we will have some other very interesting firms attending the event, these are Joanknecht & Van Zelst, Wesselman and NBA. How did you develop the event? What were the processes from beginning to end to organize Accounting Insight? The first thing we did as a committee was establish the different topics to address and then we started contacting possible speakers. This was harder than we expected at first, but in the end we managed to find some seriously interesting and enthusiastic speakers. During the process we came to the conclusion that we would not focus on one specific subject, but rather on many different and relevant statements. We decided to organize the evening in a ‘house of commons’ setting. When this was all finalized we started looking for sponsors for the event. Once we found our sponsors it was time to cross our t’s and dot our i’s. This meant starting the promotion of the event! What are the benefits to participants of the Accounting Insight evening? Why should students participate? The students who have chosen to participate in the speeddates have a huge advantage because they have the opportunity to network and come in direct contact with companies that they could be working for in the future. For the other students it is an interesting and informative evening that will provide important insight into accountancy topics. They additionally have the chance to get actively involved in the discussion about very relevant and interesting issues. And besides that, how often do you have the chance to get into a conversation with a CEO or professor? Discuss your experience with regards to the contact with companies and speakers for the event? I thought it was very interesting and I learned a lot from it. It was nice to visit the companies for which the speakers will be representing on the event night. Most of the contact was made through the secretaries of the speakers,
An overview of differences between Dutch Accounting Standards and IFRS
1. Overall Approach There are fundamental differences in the overall approach between sets of accounting standards. The first fundamental difference is whether accounting standards are principles-based. Principles-based accounting standards are developed based on specific principles or objectives that govern financial reporting that is ‘useful’ to decision makers. For instance, the matching principle that expenses be matched with revenues. Rules-based standards are the counterpart of principles-based accounting standards. Although rules-based standards are based on principles, they include more exceptions to these principles and more detailed implementation guidance. Both IFRS and DAS are considered principles-based accounting standards. Perhaps driven by the litigious environment in the USA, USGAAP is believed to be more rules-based. A perceived benefit of rules-based standards is greater comparability of financial statements (Schipper, 2003). Another fundamental difference is the option to deviate from the set of accounting standards. Deviation from a set of accounting standards being applied is commonly referred to as true-and-fair-view-override (TFVO). The essence of accounting standards is providing guidance in a way that reflects economic reality and provides a true and fair view. Under IFRS the TFVO is only permitted in extremely rare circumstances to achieve a true and fair view. IFRS than requires specific disclosures with respect to the TFVO. Departure from DAS is required (!) if necessary to provide a true and fair view and there is no requirement to disclose this departure. Under DAS the TFVO is required whereas under IFRS it is almost forbidden. Absent the requirement to disclose deviation from DAS it is difficult to quantify the use of the TFVO to assess whether this is actual difference between DAS and IFRS (de facto difference) or whether this is merely a difference ‘on paper’ (de jure difference). Early research on the implementation of TFVO across EU member states in Europe shows that only 10 out of 400 listed companies across Europe used TFVA (van Hulle, 1997, p. 716). Research on listed firms reporting under UKGAAP, with a similar TFVO as DAS, substantiates its limited use (Livne and McNickols, 2009). Livne and McNickols (2009) attribute this limited use in part to the high cost involved. For instance, litigation cost, conflict with auditors, and scrutiny by analysts and institutional investors. 2. Strictness Specific accounting standards with a set of accounting standards generally address the following issues: recognition and measurement of transactions, presentation, and disclosure. Recognition/ measurement pertain to when a transaction has to be recognised (derecognised) on (from) the primary overviews. Primary overviews are the statement of financial position (balance sheet), the (comprehensive) income statement, the statement of changes in equity, and the cash flow statement. For instance, IFRS requires that when financial instruments are being recognised on the balance sheet they are measured at fair value. Presentation is where and how transactions need to presented on in the primary overviews. For instance, IFRS requires the comprehensive income statement to minimally consist of a number of defined items. Disclosure requirements are additional disclosures in notes on specific transactions presented on the face of the primary overviews. For instance, IFRS and DAS require a movement schedule of tangible fixed assets that includes investments, divestures, and depreciation. Several detailed comparisons have been made between IFRS and DAS (e.g. Ernst & Young, 2013; Deloitte, 2013). One way of comparing differences between sets of accounting standards is by their strictness. Based upon the Ernst & Young (2013) publication I present an overview of differences in strictness of DAS and IFRS.[1] From this table it follows that IFRS is stricter in 241 requirements compared to 111 requirements were DAS is stricter. In 80 requirements IFRS and DAS are contradictory. These differences will be discussed per topic below. Table 1. Differences between DAS and IFRS Issues IFRSstricter DASstricter IFRS and DAS contradictory Total Presentation 33 53 15 101 Recognition and Measurement 152 30 65 247 Disclosure 56 28 0 84 Total Differences 241 111 80 432 This table is based on the 2013 Ernst & Young publication: Vergelijking IFRS met Nederlandse wet- en regelgeving. 2.1 Presentation Contrasting the notion that IFRS is overall stricter, DAS is stricter with respect to the presentation of primary overviews. This is not surprising. Under DAS there are specifically defined sets of primary overviews. IFRS does not provide specific guidance for the presentation of the primary overviews. IFRS merely states the minimum required items in the primary overviews and includes the requirement that additional items are required when it is relevant to the understanding of the entity’s financial position or performance. Another general difference is that IFRS requires 2 years of comparative information on the statement of financial position. In table 2, I present a breakdown of the differences between IFRS and DAS per topic. The table shows that especially equity and financial instruments are topics with significant differences between DAS and IFRS. Especially presentation of items within equity is strictly defined under DAS. For instance, this refers to legal reserves to restrict dividend pay-out to equity holders of unrealised gains to avoid expropriation of debt holders by equity holders. With respect to the presentation of financial instruments IFRS is stricter and is related to for instance detailed guidance on the classification of a financial instrument as debt or equity. 2.2 Recognition and Measurement Given that most differences between sets of accounting standards are related to recognition and measurement, most professional publications focus thereon. Areas with major differences between IFRS and DAS are fixed assets and impairments, financial instruments, investments and consolidation, and business combinations. Derivative financial instruments under IFRS are in principle measured at fair value whereas under DAS it is a policy choice to measure them either at book value of fair value. With respect to fixed assets there are for instance differences how to account for goodwill. Under IFRS goodwill is not depreciated whereas under DAS it is a policy choice how to account for goodwill (depreciation, recognition in equity, recognition in the profit & loss). Also, goodwill and other intangible assets that are not depreciated have to be tested
