As a recent college graduate, I find myself regularly answering the question: “What do you do?” When I say I am an auditor, generally, few people know what that is. Even though it’s my job, I find it difficult to explain to people because I can never get across why what I do matters to me.
It is easy enough to give the textbook answer of what an auditor does. Careerexplorer.com says, “An auditor is responsible for examining and verifying the financial records and reports of an organization to ensure that they are accurate and comply with the relevant laws and regulations.” While technically correct, if my high-school self had found this definition when trying to explore future careers, I don’t think I would have been drawn to accounting.
People who know a little about what auditors do will often ask if the majority of my work is done in Excel. I hate this question. While a large portion of my workday is spent using spreadsheets, Excel is not what I do. Yes, minute-by-minute, much of my day as a staff is spent detail testing, writing memos, and following audit procedures – all tasks done behind a screen – however, these things are not, at the essence, what I do. Let me explain.
My manager frequently reminds me that we work in a mutual service environment. In an audit engagement, everyone is serving everyone. Our clients hire us to perform the audit, but they serve us as they provide the support we need and answer questions that come up.
As a staff associate, I serve my senior, manager, and partner, by performing detail work thoughtfully, efficiently, and with understanding. I am served by my senior as they set me up for success, giving me the relevant information on my client, the industry, and the tests I complete.
I could go on to describe how every engagement team member is both serving and receiving service from one other in a unified effort to offer the best service possible to our clients. We all serve each other and we all receive support from one another.
So, What Do I Do?
I provide assurance that my client is accurately presenting their financial information so that real people can be given the information they need to make important decisions. I care about the livelihoods of the people who rely on my client’s financial statements, and care that in my work, I am serving my clients well. I audit so that companies have the clear and accurate financials they need to support their mission and vision.
The end goal of my efforts is not simply clean test work; it is also to support the mission and vision of the client I serve. I audit so that my clients can better understand the story behind the numbers. We, as auditors, can help give the financial statement readers an accurate snapshot of where the organization stands and where they are going.
What I do is not about spreadsheets or numbers –
it is about real people and inspiring organizations with big missions.
If I perform my work poorly, I do a disservice not to a spreadsheet or a test, but to an actual person who is hoping to use my work to make decisions, receive funding, or further pursue the organization’s mission. Every day at work, I have two opportunities: I can serve someone else and decrease their workload by performing my job well, or I can do a disservice to someone else and increase their workload by performing my job poorly. This potential for my professional contributions to become an asset or a liability both scares and inspires me.
I am fully aware how much of my day is spent in front of a screen. But, the mindset difference between seeing my work as a task performed in Excel and seeing my work as a service to another person makes a big difference to me. Maybe I am mincing my words. When I recognize my work as a mutual service, it is a reminder of why what I do matters.
Why Do I Do It?
When I begin to think of my job as task-completion, I leave work feeling unfulfilled and unsure of what I accomplished during the day. Sure, I ran tests and wrote memos, but for what end? When the work is hard and I view my job through this lens, I lack motivation, and effort and excellence are hard to muster.
However, when I recognize my job as mutual service, as the work gets more difficult, it is also more meaningful. I can offer greater service to my senior, manager, partner, client, and financial statement user when I perform my job well. My efforts to improve my skills directly provide a positive impact for the people I am trying to serve. As I work, I have the privilege of receiving a lot more service than I give – especially as a staff associate who is still learning through experience.
I’ll be honest, while sometimes I want to, I don’t actually get on my soap box and say all this when someone asks me if all my work is done in a spreadsheet. I usually laugh and agree with them. Not everyone needs to know that our work as auditors is deeply valuable and service-oriented. But I do, if I want to do my work well.
